Extremely Confused International

Applying to College
1

<p>My situation is unimaginably complex, long and difficult to analyze, but I would really appreciate it if I could get some valuable input on what I should do at this point in time, because I'm extremely confused and a little scared, too. This post might get a little lengthy, so please bear with me.
So basically I'm a US citizen who's been studying in India for the past 8 years. I was studying the ICSE curriculum for the 9th and 10th grade.
My 9th grade marks are quite low, but I had just moved to Mumbai in the middle of the year. I had missed quite a bit of school by the time I started, and I also had trouble adjusting to the a city, making new friends and learning to communicate in Hindi which I had never done before. This was, however, just the beginning of my problems.
After the 10th grade, I had enrolled in a junior college in India, but I left halfway because of my dad's job having been shifted to the US. I spent around 5 months in the US and only two months of those in high school. Basically a year (September 2011 to August 2012) had been wasted because of my dad'a work issues. I spent two months in a public high school in Massachussets. Those 2 months were very tough for me. I felt lonely in high school, left out and not accepted by almost all of the students. The unhappiness got to me a point where I decided to come to back to India ALONE.
So now I've been living alone here in Mumbai for almost a year. It definitely took me some time to adjust to living alone for the first time, and that too with a complete stranger. Plus, I again missed around 3 months of schooling I decided to pursue the CIE A Levels here, and my AS Level (11th grade) results are due in 2 weeks.
I'm pretty sure that I've matured over this past year, and with that in mind my parents and I decided that it would be best for me to join a university in the US. I am planning on applying for admission for the Spring 2014 semester, now.</p>

<p>A general overview of my standing as an applicant:
9th: 70%
10th: 87% (Board Exams)
I am expecting ABBCD in my AS level examinations, and my A level predictions are due in September. </p>

<p>SAT (second attempt): 2100 (M-660 W-730 CR-710)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars and awards:
Event coordinator for 3 years (this will be the 4th) for a cultural dance event hosted by my school alumni.
Event manager for a business fest hosted in my school.
Organized two soccer tournaments in the community.
One of 50 students selected for the Infosys CTY program (internship/training).
Interschool soccer and basketball for two years.
Participated and won in a couple of quizzes and creative writing competitions (summer before 9th).</p>

<p>Now here are my questions (again, quite a few):
1. Would the extenuating circumstances I mentioned above be a good enough reason to explain my bad grades in 9th AND 11th, a gap year between 10th and 11th and my lack of extracurriculars?</p>

<ol>
<li>Could the fact that I have been staying alone for the past year, not in a college mind you but in a normal apartment, act as a hook in some colleges?</li>
</ol>

<p>I have a list of prospective colleges:
NYU
Fordham
U of Pitt
TCNJ
Wesleyan
Northeastern
U of Miami
UCSB</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Do NYU, UCSB and Wesleyan even offer Spring admissions for freshmen? </p></li>
<li><p>Would I have a better shot at these colleges, or any reasonably good college similar to these, if I transferred out of a community college after a year? Maybe if I pursued some more extracurricular activities, do some community service, get a part-time job along with the one year of college? Because I'm seriously considering this prospect, too.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>I realize that I have not mentioned anything about finances, but I believe that a combination of my parents funds, financial aid and small loans should be enough for even NYU.
I'm sorry for the extremely long post, but I would really appreciate any replies and answers to my questions.</p>

2

<p>What State are your parents living in? MA? How much can they contribute - will you need need-based aid, will your parents be able to pay their EFC and if not do they expect you to find merit scholarships?</p>

<p>Most American colleges will not accept you with only AS levels. You typically need 3 A Levels + SAT/ACT + being in 12th grade (and since you may not have been educated/graduated from an English speaking high school meaning 12th grade, you may have to take the TOEFL but that should be a breeze). I realize 12th grade doesn’t quite exist since you’re in “6th form college” (called Junior College, confusingly for Americans, since here junior colleges typically are private community colleges, often for well off kids who didn’t work in HS :p)</p>

<p>Right now, you’re not really competitive for any of the colleges you quoted, except perhaps TCNJ or Pitt if you forsake the Honors College (and based on your skills that’s really too bad).
Yes your SAT score is excellent, and you do have extenuating circumstances, but fact is, you’ve missed part of your high school curriculum, your grades/AS level scores aren’t too great, your extracurriculars are good but don’t make up for those grades, and you would like to apply before you’re done with 12t grade.
Your best bets are either to suck it up and transfer to an American high school for 12th grade, or to apply to a community college. Potentially you could even get admitted for Fall to your local Community College if you apply before August 1.</p>

3

<p>

</p>

<p>Go to the college websites, the answers are there.</p>

4

<p>@MYOS
Sorry, I might not have been clear about my A Levels. My A Levels will be done by November, and the general consensus on CC is that predicted A2 grades should be sent along with the AS grades. So I’ll be sending my predicted A2 grades in September along with my AS grades. The final A Level grades will be out in Jan., so I can send them in then if needed. So does that change anything?
Thanks for the detailed reply :)</p>

<p>@entomom
Neither NYU nor Wesleyan say anything about Spring Freshman Admission on their sites. That’s why I specifically asked about them. As for UCSB, I have read conflicting information on CC and was confused about what’s actually true.</p>

5

<p>@MYOS
My parents live in New Jersey now. I expect that they can contribute around 35-40k a year. I guess the rest would be dependent on my EFC, any need-based aid I receive on said EFC. I’m pretty sure that there are marginal student loans that I’ll have to procure each year, anyhow.</p>

6

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</p>

<p>That means that they don’t have spring fr admits, many privates do not. For instance, for Wes, they list ED1, ED2, RD and then transfer deadlines, therefore they do not admit incoming fr in the spring:</p>

<p>[Application</a> Requirements, Admission - Wesleyan University](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/applying/requirements.html]Application”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/applying/requirements.html)</p>

<p>For UCSB, see #9 here:</p>

<p>[UCSB</a> Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/FAQ.asp]UCSB”>http://admissions.sa.ucsb.edu/FAQ.asp)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>CC is not the place for this type of information, while most members are well intended, they can have the wrong or old information. If you can’t find what you need on the college website, email the college Admissions office.</p>

7

<p>Find out about the community colleges that are closest to where your parents are now living. You should have in-district status there, and your tuition will be minimal. As a resident, there is every chance that you could enroll for the fall term. If need be, the staff at the community college will be able to advise you about completing the GED exam so that you have a recognized US high school equivalence. </p>

<p>For general information about what US colleges and universities require, spend some time with the counselors at the closest advising center of EducationUSA. There are several in India: <a href=“https://www.educationusa.info/India[/url]”>https://www.educationusa.info/India&lt;/a&gt; If no one at that center has worked with a US citizen recently, certainly one of their colleagues in the another office has. There are scads of US citizens who are in secondary school there.</p>

8

<p>@happymom
Thanks for replying, although I don’t understand why I would require a GED. I’ll have completed my A Levels by the end of November, and I want admission for the Jan. session. The A Levels seem to be accepted everywhere as an equivalent to a high school diploma.
I was wondering if it would be better to join community college as a degree-seeking student, and then transfer out after a year, thanks to my bad grades and a gap year (despite extenuating circumstances).</p>

9

<p>What will your predicted A2 grades be? You’re right he indeed you have the full A levels results by Jan you’ll be considered as having the equivalent of a HS diploma and actually more. email the schools that interest you to ask if they admit a couple freshmen in Jan. It’ll likely be on a case by case basis. Your record will certainly hurt you but if you show that for your A2 you have better results it may help. Since your parents are residents of NJ check out the public colleges. You would still have better odds if you considered you graduated one semester early and took a couple classes in community colleges while using your fall 2013 to apply for Fall 2014.</p>