<p>Hi,
First off, I'm an international student. I got accepted in all of the colleges where I had applied. My idea from the beginning, however, was not merely to get in; I wanted to get some good amount of merit-based scholarships as well. With all that I can muster, I don't suppose I can pay more than $6,000- $8,000 per year for tuition. As of today, my best-bet would be to attend Texas Tech University, where my annual tuition cost is slightly lesser than $3,000.
Yet, when I'd decided an year ago to study in the US, I'd imagined myself attending one of the more prestigious colleges in the country. Now, I'm in a conundrum. I'm certain that my SAT score would be 2350+ next time I take it (which would be this October).
I have no idea, though, if taking a gap year will pay off, or if, in-spite of the increase in score and everything, I will again end up getting into an institution similar to the one I've got into now. And even if I do get in to a much better college, is it worth spending one year to get into a better institution?
It would be great if you could help me out here with some advice and/or suggestions. </p>
<p>Thanks. </p>
<p>P.S. My school GPA is a 4. Apart from that, my EC's would just be a bunch of school-level achievements, so nothing that great really.</p>
<p>Not sure what schools you are shooting for, but the “more prestigious” colleges don’t give much in the way of merit aid that you say you would need. Not sure if you would meet the criteria for need-based aid, but only a very small number of the tippy-top colleges in the US meet need for internationals. Honestly, you are still just one of the crowd at the very top schools with a 2350 SAT, it is no ticket to to admissions without some very strong credentials besides the test scores (top grades and spectacular ECs). I would say you should take one of the options you got into this year if you want to go to school in the US.</p>
<p>Unless your EC’s are out of this world, unlikely that the vast majority of top colleges provide near full rides for international students. I don’t think it’s necessarily fair, but it is what it is. I think you’d be best off taking the offer at hand.</p>
<p>Also you should know that in a gap year unless you do meaningful work (internships, prestigious hopefully paid if possible for those 2) or community service (again more likely starting your own charity or such than simply volunteering) it won’t look good especially for top colleges.</p>
<p>I’m not sure but I guess SAT scores after a certain region don’t make any difference. I’d taken gap year and personally I regret it. here’s the reason:</p>
<p>it was another long year. I was always busy with my life in school and when I decided to take gap year, none of my friends were around me as they’d already went to colleges. And I was left alone. I thought at that time it would be fine but 1 year was a looooooooong time. </p>
<p>unless you do something really great, it won’t make any sort of difference. SAT scores isn’t everything at those top colleges. However, there are some colleges where ED with 2200+ scores is somewhat sure shots for US citizens but if you need aid as international, then i wouldn’t count on them. it sucks because hardly they will “match” your exact need.</p>
<p>but it’s your decision. for me, i thought gap year didn’t worth it. like if I went to college, I would graduate a year earlier.</p>
<p>The gap year should be about doing something meaningful like internships, going abroad, community service, starting your own business/charity, ect like the anaconda said that would make it worth it. A gap year is about developing yourself as a person and taking time off to figure out what you really want to do. I don’t think most colleges would look favorably upon taking the gap year simply to raise your SAT scores. The most prestigious schools are expensive and honestly overrated. Texas Tech University for less than 3000 sounds like a great deal, and I’d take it in a hearbeat.</p>
<p>The vast majority of top, wealthy universities do offer financial aid to international students (incl. full rides), but it is really, really competitive. There is trend of allocating financial aid dollars to international students these days (NYU started from fall 2013, and Emory and Pitzer started from Fall 2014). If you can only pay around $8k (not that you would PREFER to; rather that you NEED the difference), you need to research better. Liberal arts colleges are probably much more likely in terms of admission and getting enough aid than top schools (Yale, Cornell etc). With a 2350 (and good grades), you could apply for merit scholarships at many schools. I, for one, received a full tuition merit scholarship at Bard College (although I would have had to major in economics, which was kind of restricting).</p>
<p>I don’t understand why, as someone with top grades and a great SAT score, you applied to schools like Texas Tech. Definite no no. Even as an international who needs aid, you could do better, although you will have to look for some safety schools (and for us, these would just be schools that offer automatic merit aid). My safety schools were in Australia. IDK about you, but usually internationals have safeties outside America.</p>
<p>@International95
Some people don’t like the idea of going to college outside of USA. no matter how better their option at outside of US is.</p>
<p>Yes, but most needy international students probably don’t have a choice. The obsession with the US is kind of sad, though. I would have been delighted to attend the University of Sydney–it’s a really cool, hipster uni. I don’t know what makes people feel this way, but I suppose the media may be behind it. I’ve seen the romantic American college experience in SO many movies lol (there is a difference in opinion about what would be ‘romantic’, though. Some people may be more appealed to the frat party scene in American Pie, for instance). Personally, the movie Liberal Arts was central to my decision of applying to mostly LACs.</p>
<p>They do have choices IF they search extensively. I know someone who’s going to a top 100 universities in the world with a total cost of attendance ~2.5K per year (all he got was a significant amount of merit based aid with SAT score ~2000).</p>
<p>Many international students won’t consider a college outside of US mostly because they have jacked up notions of life in US college campus.Great student faculty relation, great social life and romanticism in the college campus found in the Hollywood movies and such things.</p>
<p>The prestige of going to US isn’t necessarily the same with the prestige associated with going to a college say from Uganda even if the latter has a great college (let’s consider an imaginary situation). </p>
<p>For some people the obsession. Seriously, many internationals think that if they go to a top college, they will get many “opportunities” to do whatever they want. As if at Yale, Princeton or MIT for instance, they will be only students who is going to be active and other 1999 people who are going to the same college, will watch the fun of their inventions.</p>
<p>From what I see, these days people are more concerned with prestige associated with going to a selective college rather than going to a college to become a better person. I’m not sure but I know many people who went to some low name colleges at their time because they LOVED it not because they didn’t have opportunities to go to a great high name college. </p>
<p>I’m surprised at the level of stupidity of some people. I asked a student once why does he want to go to a top 5 college? the epic reply: because there are opportunities. As if college graduates outside of that top 5 don’t get a job, they don’t get anything if they try heart and soul.</p>
<p>A low income international will choose to attend a college where he’ll have to maintain 15hrs/week job rather than going to a college outside of US for literally free.Consider 15 hrs of research or even volunteering at labs vs 15hrs of job at say, campus cafeteria? However, an international student will choose the latter. cause it’s so called American dream in most cases. All of their problems will go away soon after they graduate from US college.</p>