<p>My older d graduated from Brandeis and I realize that the merit money picture has changed since she applied and graduated but they do look for students with interesting backgrounds and so it is definitely worth a look. Younger d graduated from University of Rochester and another school that is worth a look as it is a somewhat similar profile and attracts a similar level student. Other schools that are not quite as selective that you might look at are American, Case Western, Boston University. None are LACS but offer merit money-all are located in urban areas, not as huge as either Berkeley or UCLA. Pitt might be another good one to look at.</p>
<p>Another thumbs up here for Trinity in San Antonio.</p>
<p>MoH, I think you’ve received some good advice here, and more school names than you could research in a lifetime. I suggest that you take a breather while you do two things: </p>
<p>One, Establish your financial aid expectation. Income is not the only factor considered, and you might just qualify for some need based aid. </p>
<p>Everyone has the same problem so don’t be hesitant to ask your friends and colleagues to share their experiences. If your school is anything like my son’s, the college counselors focused on academics and fit, but shied away from talking about money with the parents. This was unfortunate because it caused disappointment (and shock) down the road.</p>
<p>Two, Get your son into an SAT prep class. If you’re in China they must be on every corner. My guess is that he’ll end up in the 1500 range, but it may take a couple of tries. After that forget about it. 1400 to 1500 won’t keep him out and won’t get him in.</p>
<p>At selective colleges, grades, scores and rank are just the price of a ticket to join the pool of applicants. Especially at LACs, the statistical part is just the beginning. After that other factors take over. I think your son is a reasonable candidate for ANY school in the U.S. as long as he presents himself effectively in his application. That’s the purpose and the power of the essays, recommendations, resumes and supplemental information. </p>
<p>As a good writer, he should ace the subjective part. As an MUN participant he must be well spoken, so line up interviews when your visit. Along with submitting a sampling of his writing he should include a detailed resume of his accomplishments, awards, significant experiences. Including comments on his IB essay. For LACs, more is better.</p>
<p>Of course, he needs a balanced list of reach/match/safety. Everyone does. But based on what you’ve told us I wouldn’t eliminate any reaches just yet. The process of elimination at this point really should be financial and fit, not admit-ability. </p>
<p>A note on counselors: Again, just going from personal experience. Listen to what they have to say, but do what you think is right for your kid. My son was not the one of the class superstars, but he was accepted to one of the most selective colleges in America – I think on the basis of his writing, artistic talent and life experience. The counselors were amazed.</p>
<p>Colleges, even the most selective, really like kids with international life experience especially in underdeveloped countries. You’d be amazed at how many first years even at the most famous name schools don’t have passports. A kid who can speak from experience about life in China, Cambodia, Argentina would be an asset to the community. Don’t underestimate this “hook.” Colleges are looking for interesting kids who do interesting things.</p>
<p>PS, What is his GPA, weighted and unweighted for all three years? Colleges do respect the rigor of the IB. It’s the job of the counselor to get this across in his/her recommendation.</p>
<p>OP,
has your son considered some more middle-of-the-road schools? What about some of the schools that have significant foreign contingents…I was thinking of the schools in DC or Boston with a lot of students from all over the world.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone,</p>
<p>Just a quick note to say I’m reading all your posts and learning so much! I can’t thank you enough. My workday is just beginning here, but I’ll return to address the points raised later. I’m so glad I discovered this community!</p>
<p>Momofhawk - No need to panic. Most of the parents on this board were initially shocked about the college processes / costs. You’ll figure it out. Try hard to work with school GC and/or teachers, other parents. That will give you a few data points relevant to his situation. </p>
<p>(Many US hs now have a helpful program called Naviance with data of stats vs accesstance. That helped us get some initial ideas. You probably don’t have that to see things on a large scale. But even a few examples can be helpful.)</p>
<p>I just want to mention that if he is considering Berkeley or UCLA, he should look carefully at the requirements for eligibility, which (at least for instate students) include one year of performing or visual arts in high school.</p>
<p>OP, you state your S is a late bloomer grade wise. What will his cum be like at the end of his Jr year?</p>
<p>Lawrence University. It has a large international contingent, good air connections, fantastic campus and great place to visit. 
My son grew up overseas, Europe/Middle East and he loved everything about it. He went on to University of Michigan for his graduate studies and is now in the region working. (I am originally a Californian and retiring this year and going home.)</p>
<p>I recommend Wooster as well for its attention to internationals. Wooster was second choice and I recommend it to our juniors.</p>
<p>Just an aside (re post #19 from Momrath)–I haven’t heard the term “third culture kids” since we lived in Singapore 10 years ago–it really brought back memories.<br>
Our daughter is at USC and it really has a large international student contingent, although it may not work for the OP’s son for cost reasons.</p>
<p>OK, here are some notes:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>My son’s dad and I split up years ago. I know he and his new wife are expected to contribute, but the economy has hit them hard and he’s been employed for a few years now with the new wife just finishing up law school. So, when I estimated on the FAFSA calculator just now, if I used only my pretax salary (80K although it is really more as our housing [20K/yr] and my son’s private school tuition [28K/yr] are covered by the school, my employer) and nothing for his father’s income, then the EFC came out to be just shy of 15K. I played around and put an arbitrary amount for his dad’s salary, assuming he finds a job at 30K, and the EFC came out to be just shy of 25K. I realize I need to see a financial broker or something, rather than address the web at large about this sort of stuff. :)</p></li>
<li><p>When I say I can contribute cash up front, I don’t mean additional expenses like medical insurance (my work will cover S til he’s 30) or international flights (again, my work covers his visits). I will still have to fly him to Cali (assuming he doesn’t go to college there) to stay with relatives on long weekends. Weeklong breaks I plan to be in the US or have him over.</p></li>
<li><p>I really am hoping to work the international “hook.” The school that I work at and that my son attends is very competitive, and just based on the stats of graduates last year, every single person got into Berkeley who applied, and the lowest gpa in that group was UW 3.4. I predict that my son’s cum GPA UW by the end of this junior year will be about that. Affording Berkeley seems to be out though.</p></li>
<li><p>Having mentioned Berkeley, I feel like I should backtrack from that school and UCLA a bit. My son is pretty open to suggestions. In fact, he’s pretty passive about this whole college process, which is both annoying and good (he will listen to my suggestions). What this means is that we are willing to look at the middle-tier schools for financial reasons. I understand he is more likely to be in the top % of a middle-tier school and get merit that way. East coast, midwest, the south – it’s all fair game. And thanks for the suggestion to research big state schools with honors colleges.</p></li>
<li><p>S is a talented speaker – joined forensics at the last minute and took first place in debate, for example. Plus, his MUN experience adds to this skill. I will be sure to arrange interviews when we visit the schools this summer as that may just be his ace-in-the-hole (along with the essay and intl experience).</p></li>
<li><p>He’s taking the SAT in May, and we’re thinking the SAT II in Literature and Spanish in June. Asking him to prep is like fighting an uphill battle. Unless he tanks the May SAT due to illness or whatever, I’m not sure he’ll take it again. Basically, S is a very smart, talented, but lazy student. :/</p></li>
</ul>
<p>That’s it for now. We’re going in to talk to the GC in a couple days, and I’ve composed quite a list of questions based on this thread.</p>
<p>AGAIN – THANKS for the help!</p>
<p>I’d add two schools in the Pacific NW to your search: University of Puget Sound and Willamette. Both are in somewhat urban areas (Tacoma WA and Salem OR) and both have strong international presence and are good schools that give merit aid. Worth consideration.</p>
<p>Correction: S’s dad has been UNemployed for a few years. And my 80K salary is net – no taxes, in addition to no housing cost. I’ve a feeling I’ll be expected to contribute more than 25K/year. I need to consult a professional to work it all out.</p>
<p>The CSS Profile schools that require NCP info, will use the income of the exH and his new wife (all 3 people’s income/assets)</p>
<p>When you say that your $80k salary is “net” (no taxes)…are you saying that your income is really higher, but your net is $80k? If so, then you didn’t put in the right numbers.</p>
<p>For schools that don’t meet need, your EFC and/or CSS estimate is meaningless. Those schools will expect you to pay more than your EFC or estimated family contribution.</p>
<p>Do you have to file any tax forms in the US?</p>
<p>As for contributing $25k per year…that’s more than $2k per month. If you feel that’s do-able, then great. If you’re scratching your head and wondering how you’re going to find more than $2k per month to put towards college over a 4 year span…then you need to find larger merit options that will leave you with a lower amount to pay.</p>
<p>As a parent of a USC grad I would also recommend that school. It is very expensive but there is considerable merit and other aid available.</p>
<p>I qualify for the Foreign Income Exclusion, which exempts any US citizen working from paying taxes if they make less than 87K (or some such) a year. And yes, 2K a month I can do easily. 3K a month is doable but a bit more painful. </p>
<p>USC is looking better and better, but we’ll def put it in the stretch category.</p>
<p>USC has good packages. They offered my son more than any school. He just wanted to go to Lawrence U. So I sighed, shrugged my shoulders and he went to the Midwest. In the end, he knew what he was doing. But it took me awhile to get over it. USC was my school.</p>
<p>MOH, we are also overseas Americans in Asia. DS is a 2012, and still waiting on some replies. </p>
<p>For the financial side, you may want to also look at the CSS— this was required for all of my DS private schools. The CSS seems to ask more detailed questions about one’s finances, and automatically defaults a version for international/ overseas Americans. Employer paid benefits such as housing, are considered income. Schools now have on-line aid calculators, and these can also be useful to give you a better idea of the financial aid picture. We found these school calculators varied widely since each school can have its own institutional policy.</p>
<p>Overseas Americans do get some boost in admissions at many schools. Based on our city, there is far more boost to kids who have lived overseas during all of high school (or even much longer) compared to just one or two years. There is a wealth of info on CC, however, it needs to be tweaked and put into a different perspective when applying from overseas.</p>
<p>It appears that your IB school is using a USA marking system along with GPA. Many IB schools in Asia and outside of North America do not use GPA and will only present IB predicted grades for university application. This can actually be an advantage for a “late bloomer” since the Junior grades tend to be stronger than Freshman and Sophomore years. SAT subject tests also seem to be very important (maybe more so than US-based applicants), and some schools such as Middlebury accept 3 SAT subjects with IB in lieu of any other testing. Though SAT/ ACT is part of the picture, based on admissions officers and DS school (and affiliates) results — scores on the lower 50% range seem to easily gain acceptances.</p>
<p>Some data points from DS school and affiliates:
–Berkeley/ UCLA : IB 34+ pt with SAT 1800+: 100% admitted. Note — most are full pay.
—USC: IB 33+ pt with SAT 1850+: 100% admitted. 39+ pts is the range for ½ tuition scholarship or more.
—IVY and similar: 40+ pt is very competitive (but always still a lottery); 37 – 39 pt less likely, but do get some offers. These are just entry bars for consideration, then the whole application matters.</p>
<p>—LAC: many are recruiting in Asia, but since not as well-known, they can be very generous with merit $$$. Schools that have awarded merit $$$/ or very generous financial aid for 35+ points are: Whitman (good debate team), Kalamazoo, Furman, Macalester, Richmond, Dickinson, Lewis & Clark, Occidental, Skidmore, Rochester (small uni), Loyola-Marymount (small uni?).</p>
<p>—The COA for the western Canadian universities, such as UBC and Victoria, is about US$30,000 for Americans. There are entrance scholarships for Americans and like many US state universities they tend to make offers based mostly on student stats. There are many internationals at these schools, and easy access to CA during breaks.</p>
<p>For LACS, they tend to interview students when in Asia, and the interviewer is often the first reader after an application is submitted. Schools tend to visit in either late Spring and the Fall. Once you compile a preliminary list, your son should contact the schools for their travel schedule and setting an interview while in Beijing.</p>
<p>Make sure to run some “what-if” calculations for future year. You want to avoid a situation where son gets lots of aid freshman year, than loses it if step-mom get a high salary (unless of course that makes them able to pay the difference - but she likely has loans etc).</p>
<p>Wow, the feedback I’m getting from you all has been amazing – so eye-opening! And I really appreciate hearing from overseas American parents. The odd part about teaching in an international school is that we are in a sea of over-privileged kids/families. As a teacher kid, S is nowhere in his peers’ league financially. And the Chinese parents are INSANE about the whole college process – as you might expect – we have HS kids spending their entire spring break or summers in SAT boot camp. The average kid is pushed to take it 4 or 5 times to get a superscore. It’s all about the Ivies here with tons of kids doing a summer program at HYP because the parents are hoping it’s a foot in the door. </p>
<p>At first, I was beating myself up for bringing a well-rounded humanities-type kid into this cutthroat math/sci environment (S was doing double accelerated math in grade 9 and 10 – he was on that track from the american intl school in Buenos Aires, but lost so much self-confidence here that he’s dropped to normal math junior year – the bad grades came from math those years, mostly Cs and C+s). But now that it’s our third year here, I can see how being more humanities-bent is helpful; he’s a big fish in a small pond at our school in that area.</p>