<p>Brandeis has full tuition scholarships, but not full rides. So you would be looking at $13,000 for room/board/reqd fees/books.</p>
<p>Also, the middle 50% SAT is 1930-2130. You would need to get significantly higher than 2130 to receive a full tuition merit. IMO – the meets full need schools would be a better bet for you.</p>
<p>SAT US History in May with the APUSH exam is a great idea.</p>
<p>I think the ACT in the spring is good too, but look at the ACT test sites NOW. It is seldom offered on all dates at PA locations.</p>
<p>Brandeis is a full need school and an excellent choice and less competitive than Brown, Carleton, Columbia, Chicago, and Penn though more competitive than Oberlin. </p>
<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)
[Brandeis</a> Admissions | Costs/Financial Aid | Financial Aid](<a href=“Applying for Financial Aid | Affordability | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University”>Applying for Financial Aid | Affordability | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University)</p>
<p>If you want easier admissions, try Beloit, Dennison, Lawrence, Mt Holyoke. </p>
<p>Would your parents be more supportive of you going to college in the US if you want to a Women’s college? You are going to need them to fill out the financial aid forms.</p>
<p>One of my favorite lists to peruse is the list of schools that are both need-blind and full-need.</p>
<p>The ONLY schools that you should be looking at from THAT list are the schools that don’t put loans in the FA packages. That is a smaller list.</p>
<p>You won’t be able to cover your EFC with a student loan if your FA package already has a student loan in the package.</p>
<p>And…you’ll need to look at schools that will give huge scholarships for stats.</p>
<p>In the meantime, study for the PSAT, SAT, and ACT. You need the best scores possible. You also need a top GPA. During the summer, work and save your money.</p>
<p>Just a head’s up–Huntsman is extremely selective and tends to accept a lot of internationals. I think that it might be a high reach for you. I suggest that you consider Penn CAS instead if you want Penn to be a more reasonable reach/very high match.</p>
<p>@Longhaul - Yeah, I figured that it wouldn’t be completely full-need since it’s listed in some places and not in others, but I don’t think I’ll discount it just yet. It’s almost a perfect fit save for the financial aid. I’ll probably contact the FA office to clarify their policies.</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad - No, in the Philippines I’d be going to a coed school anyway. My mom went to all-girls Catholic schools her whole life and doesn’t want me to go through the same thing. And I doubt picking a Catholic school would help either. My parents do like Yale (and their FA policy) - but I don’t think the sure agony of rejection isn’t worth the application fee. I think they’ll help me fill out the forms, but as for actually paying once we find out our EFC, I don’t see them following through.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids - What schools do you think I should consider where my stats are above the norm?</p>
<p>@hellohurricane - I’m quite aware of Huntsman’s minuscule acceptance rate, but I think that the perfection of the program is worth applying to. Besides, I’ll probably elect to have SAS as the alternate school to be considered for.</p>
<p>I’d suggest Haverford College.</p>
<p>Checkout these videos: [Haverford</a> College Office of Admission: Admission Videos](<a href=“http://www.haverford.edu/admission/videos/]Haverford”>http://www.haverford.edu/admission/videos/)</p>
<p>Sorry - I should have specified – I meant to say meets Full Need without Loans since you will need to take out loans to cover the EFC that your parents won’t pay.</p>
<p>I was also thinking about the OPs work situation. I know you have a family committment to Nanny your sibling. Do you think your parents would permit you to work as a paid private tutor? That may permit you freedom to schedule the hours you can tutor around your Nanny hours.</p>
<p>I think you should relax until you have more standardized test scores. With the scores you’ll be able to create a customized list of schools.</p>
<p>You will also need to decide what “tier” of school is worth staying in the U.S. </p>
<p>I don’t know what would be required as far as your green card status, but have you looked into what would be required to remain in the US and work a year before attending school? It may not work if your parents won’t allow you to live with them because the cost of housing may be too high handle on your own, but I was just trying to give you some out of the box ideas.</p>
<p>Do you think you could qualify for QuestBridge?</p>
<p>I had thought it was only for US Residents - But I found this on the website:</p>
<p>US citizens, Permanent Residents, and international students residing in the United States are eligible to apply for the College Prep Scholarship. </p>
<p>[QuestBridge</a> College Prep Scholarship - Eligibility](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/cps/eligibility.html#Other]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/cps/eligibility.html#Other)</p>
<p>About my work situation, I’m now trying to convince my parents to let me work at the mall once my father gets home from work (this will be tough, since my father is a patron of the old branch of thinking where fathers take no part in child-rearing save for disciplinary measures, and my brother is far too incompetent to do my job himself). I’ve tried out the tutoring thing, but Kumon, Huntington, and especially NJHS/NHS have such a monopoly on tutoring in my area that nobody would even hire me for $5 an hour.</p>
<p>I’m aiming for around 2150+ on my SAT, which seems like a big leap from my PSAT, but I’ve been doing really well on my practice sessions. I’m hoping that I’ll be admitted into a prestigious and top-tier school, but if a lower ranked second-tier school catches my attention and offers a full ride, I might stay for that. I just want to go to a recognizable school with stellar academics since I want to have an international sort of career.</p>
<p>And I’m not really sure I’m following what you’re saying in your last paragraph. Are suggesting that I go to school in the Philippines but come here to work at intervals?</p>
<p>EDIT: As for QuestBridge, I’m not sure if I qualify since my parents may be making over $60,000 a year. But I’m not sure, since my dad was a dislocated worker for a long time and now is in a temporary stage of his new job and my mom just recently started working. Maybe it’ll apply as a special financial circumstance. I’m not really privy to information such as their salaries, but I’ll badger them about it.</p>