Do I have a chance?

Student Lounge International Students
1

Hello,

So, I live in the republic of Georgia and I’m dreaming about getting into a U.S college.

I’m an academically excellent student. The thing is that the scoring system here is different but I do have the highest grades in every subject. I’m fluent in English and I’m a pretty good writer too, so I expect I’ll do well on the TOEFL test.

I’m also bisexual, doesn’t seem relevant but I thought I had to mention it. I’m planning on writing my essay about the difficulties and challenges I face everyday as a closeted, yet still bullied bisexual teenager.

As far as my extracurricular activities go, I am a very tech savvy yet still very communicable, people-loving person. I have a YouTube channel with over 20,000 views and 300 subscribers and a Behance portfolio of my work with over a thousand views and 300 likes!

I was a part of the student government in the 8th grade and do plan to join next year (I expect I’ll be elected, I’m the only one who volunteers from my class to join the thing). I swim but it’s more of a seasonal thing.

Next year, I’m planning on creating two school clubs - Math club and Environmental club, since there are no clubs at all in my school.

Finally, I’m also going to play chess next year, I’m so excited!

By the way, I’m trying not to cram everything I can do into my schedule, because I’ll need to prepare for the SAT, its subject tests (Math level 2 and probably U.S History or English Literature) and the TOEFL. I’m also trying to stay authentic and real, because I know the admissions officers will smell BS from a mile away.

I’m so eager to continue my education in the U.S and I know I have a very good chance of getting in a lot of colleges but since I can’t afford a lot of them, the only ones I can apply to are the Ivies and some others.

With all the info about me stated above, if you have any questions please ask!

Do I have a chance at getting into the Ivy league schools or Stanford?

2

Also, I want to major in either Computer Science (Software engineering) or Graphic Design.

I also do a lot of freelancing work, especially on Fiverr on which I was awarded the Level 1 Badge and am rated 5 stars.

3

You have a chance, assuming you have great test scores, but your chances are as slim as most everybody else’s. You might want to look at colleges which offer merit scholarships to international students.

4

The few most-elite schools that are need-blind for international students(Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Amherst/MIT) are also extraordinarily competitive (for everyone, but especially for internationals). That’s not to say you have no chance, but it’s hard to tell from a CC post.

Then there’s a larger category of schools that do offer financial aid to internationals, but are need-aware for international students (where they are need-blind for US applicants) - so getting admitted is harder, the more aid you need: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission

What is your budget? If you can afford OOS public rates but not private university rates, then you can consider schools like Purdue.

This list of schools that have larger percentages of international students can be helpful in identify places that may be a little more international-friendly in admissions… but you then need to sort for cost and the availability of aid. (Some schools, like Northeastern and NYU, heavily pad their budgets with full-pay international students.) https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/most-international

Also consider that at universities that admit by major, CS is often one of the toughest programs to get into.

The other side of the coin, though, is that you don’t have to go to a big name school to get a great CS education. There are some more affordable and less competitive but still excellent programs at non-flagship public U’s. UMass Lowell, for example, is just outside Boston and is rising fast in CS reputation.

Hope that helps.

5

I most likely will require a full ride scholarship… Maximum I can get a loan hear of is 7 grand at best. I’ve been looking into Skidmore College lately. What do you think about that?