I came to the U.S during my freshman year of high school. I’m currently a junior and am in the process of applying for asylum here in the states. My family suffered from violence based on religious differences in my home country, and coming here two years ago was a big relief. When I apply for colleges this fall, my asylum application would be pending, and will (hopefully) be approved after admissions. Would all of this effect me in any way? I will be applying as an international student even though I live in the states, because I’m staying on a non-immigrant visa and haven’t gotten a refugee visa/green card yet. I know my situation is unusual, can anyone comment on this? Thanks
The refugee status makes for an incredibly interesting story. If you have good SAT scores and decent grades, I’m sure it will help.
If you don’t get the green card by the time you apply, then consider all of the need-blind for international schools. There is a good list of these schools on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
Both comments above are correct. Having refugee status will definitely help you!
Having refugee status will definitely help you. By how much depends on how you let your personal story shine through in your essays and other parts of the application.