Hello,
So I will be a senior this coming fall.
The issue is that although I study in the US and my parents pay taxes here and everything, there is a high chance that I will be applying as an international. I may or may not get my permanent residency by most college application deadlines (Jan 1). Most of the steps have been approved, but it’s just the final part. If I do not get it by January 1st, then I will for sure get it by April (I know that I will get it for sure because all the necessary steps have been approved, its just a matter of the USCIS issuing it).
So, what should I do?
I was considering to apply to all colleges as normal, and just seeing how it goes.
If I do not get accepted to the colleges that I wanted to go to (Which also happen to be really competitive schools), then I was thinking of taking a year off. Likewise, if I do not receive any financial aid (Which I understand is likely for Int’l students), then also thought about taking a year off so that I can get my permanent residency by fall of 2016.
I have very productive things to do too; I run a Non-Profit learning platform, and have the option to partner with a school for mentally disadvantaged students in India, so I would live there for 8 or so months and use my content to teach the students/introduce it to the classroom so that teachers can use it.
Then, after spending a year in India, I’d be able to apply in fall of 2016 in the domestic pool because I’d have my permanent residency by then.
OR, should I just consider attending my backup?
Thanks in advance.
I don’t think taking a year off will help you cause most colleges only look at what you have done during your high school career… Plus, you’ll probably get into colleges in India. I know they look at grades wayyyy more heavily but there are not a lot (comparitively) of international students applying to colleges in India. Domestic would comparably be harder to get into. If you’re wondering about my credibility, I’m Indian and although I live in America, my cousin lives in Gujarat and he goes to Nirma College, which is very, very selective. We helped him with his admissions process so I know a bit about these things. 
Good luck.
In your case, a gap year is an excellent plan. It will set you up to take full advantage of your status as a permanent resident, which as you know will make admission much easier, and will greatly improve your chances of receiving sufficient financial aid.
There also is nothing wrong with applying this year and seeing where you are admitted and what your aid packages look like. Find out if you are already considered an in-state applicant where you are living. If the green card is still pending during the application process, make certain to communicate that information to the admissions and financial aid offices so that they can keep your situation in mind. Many students are in your situation each year, and the colleges have their own ways of dealing with you. Don’t be afraid to discuss it with them.
@happymomof1 domestic would be harder to get into, especially for selective colleges because they look heavily at grades (more so the 10th and 12th board exam i think). @PartyNextDoor probably didnt take those so… even if you took those, you would need at least 90% to get into those really selective colleges. those are the colleges you should be looking at cause although acceptance levels are low, they teach American material which would be useful if you ever wanted to come back to America.
@marie122 - Perhaps I misunderstood, but I got the impression that @PartyNextDoor is currently living in the US, and is only waiting to get his/her green card. If that is the case, the second he/she has the green card in his/her hot little fist, he/she is a domestic applicant here in the US. Nothing is stated about the test scores or GPA. Provided the GPA is decent, there will be decent admissions options, and any missing tests can be taken care of during a gap year. Waiting for the green card, and applying as a freshman US applicant once that is in hand is the best option for this student as it will significantly improve chances of both chances admissions and aid.
@happymomof1 Thank you for your reply! I’ve already talked to my guidance counselor to see if she can include a detailed statement about my situation in her rec letter, and she said she’d fully help me, so I’ll let them know about my situation through my GC.
@marie122 Hi! Sorry I’m a little confused. I think Happymomof1 meant domestic colleges to mean those in America. Although I will consider some colleges in India, to have my permanent residency approved, I cannot leave the US for an extended period of time to live or study abroad. Plus, I’m not even a citizen of India, I’m only going there for my gap year work, so I have no idea about admission there, but I’ll check it out. If I were to somehow attend college in a country other than America, I think I would attend a college in the European Union, because I am a EU citizen, and thus my tuition is very, very, very cheap, if anything.
Thank you again both for your help!
@PartyNextDoor - Before packing off to India (or anywhere else outside the US) do check carefully with your family’s immigration lawyer about how long you can be away while in green card status. Friends in Miami were told that they had best return within 6 months. Your situation may be different if you get your green card because of a parent, and if you would still be legally a minor.
oh whoops i guess i misunderstood your question but…
in this scenario, i would apply as a domestic @happymomof1 i agree with you. most universities only accept about 5% international applicants, 75% in state, and 20% out of state/dont meet academic requirements. so apply domestic, you’ll have a better chance. but if you’re a genius then you can apply wherever you want and many colleges will accept you
In your case, taking a gap year would make perfect sense. Once you’re in the Domestic applicant pool (“citizen&permanent resident” + “DACA” at many colleges + “graduated a US HS” at some colleges) , all the special hurdles reserved for International (visa) applicants disappear and only the regular hurdles remain. 
You may want to apply to Pomona regardless (their categories aren’t domestic/international but “graduated from a US HS” and “Didn’t graduate from a US HS”).
@Marie122: your percentages are completely made up, try to avoid that - if you don’t know something just don’t say anything about it or if it’s a personal observation based on one thing, preface it with “in my experience, at college X” rather than making a blanket statement.
There’s no such thing as a universal/uniform policy regarding percentages of internationals, in-state, out of state, and I’m not sure what you mean by “don’t meet academic requirements” as a category with the OOS. It all varies depending on the university being public or private, regional or national, directional or flagship, etc. as well as the State (To give you some examples: California has the Competitive Admission system with the UCGPA+scores + essays system or the CSU Eligibility Index, the ELC pathway, the Statewide pathway…; Texas goes by percentage, top 7% for UT, top 10% for TAMU, then academic admits, then other cases, and then there are different spread depending on major within each university… Then you have Mount Holyoke, with 26% internationals but making no distinction between IS and OOS because it’s a national, elite, private college and what they do has nothing in common with what UMass Amherst and MIT do…)
@MYOS1634 Thank you very much! I actually have Pomona on my College List, partly because it’s a Questbridge partner school and I intend to apply through Questbridge if I am a Finalist. I’ll try to research some more schools that have a similar such policy. Are you perhaps aware of any more schools like this?
sorry @MYOS1634 i didnt mean to make it seem like i had no experience in this topic. i’m applying to colleges soon so i’ve been in touch with my GC for a while and thats what he told me. it was my mistake because i thought he meant most colleges in general not most colleges in texas. i should have clarified that for me, “most” universities, means Texas (because I do live in Texas and am planning to apply to those colleges and you would have known that if you had looked at my threads before saying my percentages were made up). my percentages are accurate for texas though cause i’ve done my fair share of research. But even in many other colleges, they look at in state status, out of state status and international status. i cant tell you about all colleges but i can share what i know.
For the “dont meet academic requirements”, i mean automatic admission requirements such as minimum scores on standardized tests or GPA.
@PartyNextDoor i did not know you meant pomona otherwise i would not have commented because i know nothing about that school.
@marie122 No prob! Still, thank you for the info!
@marie122: no problem. Your percentages are indeed accurate for top Texas public universities - the cap is 75% in-state minimum, automatic admission based on class rank with various thresholds (some are virtually open admission if you meet advanced diploma requirements so there’s no threshold per se ). Even in Texas, this does not apply to private universities such as SMU, TCU, Baylor, Austin Trinity, st Edward’s… which I good for Texas applicants, who thus have two shots 
one with rank, one holistic.
@PartyNextDoor : as far as I know it’s the only private college with such a categorization.
When you apply through QB, remember that your list needs to reflect both research universities and LACs, unless you’re more interested in LACs.
Applying to a college 400miles from home gives your application an automatic geographical diversity boost.
What’s your European country of origin?
I have one more question on this thread. If I apply this year to a college and get rejected as an international, but decide to reapply the following year as a domestic, will colleges be more inclined to reject me since they already have my info on file from the previous year that I was rejected?
Most students here at CC who took gap years and reapplied to places where they had been rejected in previous years were rejected again. However, those were domestic applicants, so your case might be different.