<p>Hi, I'm an international student hoping to enroll in an american college next fall.
I have followed the CIE curriculum till now so i really don't know about the GPA system that i see is stated for american highschools. I am looking for a medium sized college, and very flexible on location and type of college. What i really need is a college that will provide a lot of financial aid, because my parents can only afford upto 10000 dollars per year. I haven't decided what i want to study it, but I am probably going to study economics, or related subjects.</p>
<p>So here are my credentials:
SAT 1: 2310 (CR-800, MA-800 WR-710)
SAT 2: 2380 (Math level2: 800 Physics:800 Chemistry:780)
O levels: 7A<em>s 1A
A levels: 1A</em> 3As</p>
<p>I really need help to narrow down on my college list as there are so many to choose from, what kind of colleges should i really look into? Liberal Arts?
Any advice would be appreciated.</p>
<p>There are a handful of colleges that “meet full need” for int’ls. Typically, schools like the ivies, Stanford, Amherst, Williams meet full need for int’ls that they admit…but those are the hardest to get admitted to. AND, you don’t know how they’ll determine your need. They may determine that you have “less” need then your family thinks it does. </p>
<p>Apply to the ones that “meet need”, but also apply to some that give HUGE merit for your stats as “safety” back ups…for instance, UAHuntsville would give you a free ride for your stats. there may be a few others that would as well (but be aware, there are a number of schools that don’t award their scholarships to int’ls.)</p>
<p>Thanks for replying, yeah i did consider the ivys at first but I don’t think I’m cut out for those schools because well in my country there is no real way to show extra curricular activites, and my transcripts aren’t that great either because school is really tough here, and i don’t know how these colleges are going to measure my scores from school.
Do you have any other suggestions of colleges that are not so elite? </p>
<p>I forgot to mention my ECAs:
I have worked at 2 NGOs
I volunteer at a hospital from time to time
I can play the guitar and I am a vocalist (does these things help? doing music? there are no trophies or certificates to show for them though)
I play soccer, cricket, tennis and badminton.</p>
<p>Hopefully someone here can mention which other schools “meet need” for int’ls. Keep in mind that these schools (and a few ivies and Stanford) are “need aware” for int’ls. That means that those with 'high need" (like you) may come under even tougher scrutiny for admittance.</p>
<p>Most schools do not give ANY need-based aid to int’ls. That’s why you should include a couple financial safeties that will give you a “free ride” for your stats…that way, your parents’ money can pay for “personal expenses, travel, and insurance.”</p>
<p>There are a small group of institutions that guarantee significant merit-based aid that you probably qualify for. Go to the Financial Aid Forum, and look for the threads on guaranteed merit scholarships. Most have early cut-off dates, and you would need to apply by December 1.</p>
<p>There are many threads on aid for international students in the Financial Aid and International Students Forums, look through them for ideas too.</p>
<p>Another page on the same site lists colleges that are need-aware (and not necessarily full need) for internationals, but tend to be relatively generous with aid to internationals. Many are small liberal arts colleges (schools that are not so well known internationally, and presumably want to boost their international enrollments).</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone. I am looking into the lists and selecting some colleges, what is your advice on Tufts?? i really like Tufts and would want to study there.
Also any advice on applying to Vassar and Grinnell??
Any suggestions would be welcome. Still looking for a surefire safety.</p>
<p>OP: Based on your numbers, you stand an above average chance of admission to several of the top 6 need blind admissions for international students schools. Apply to all six:
Amherst
Dartmouth
Harvard
MIT
Princeton
Yale</p>
<p>Additionally, Stanford & Pomona are worth applying to in your situation. CalTech is another.</p>
<p>Axelrod Thanks for the suggestion,
Well I’m my situation is fairly difficult right now, I had applied to 5 colleges last year and got rejected and waitlisted, bottomline I didn’t get to go to college. This year my highschool is only letting me apply to 5 colleges. It’s a school policy that one student can only have 10 college slots. And I’m afraid if I apply to all high ranked colleges like the ones you mentioned and If I get rejected by all of them then I wouldn’t end up in a US College at all next year. So can you please name some colleges I can look upto which can be a definite safety for me? colleges that emphasize on SAT scores because I think that is my strong suit.
Thanks again.
I am applying to Dartmouth actually, but it is a long shot. I mean its an ivy, and the international students that do get into ivys have super ECs, unfortunately my ECs aren’t that strong.</p>
<p>This is not a guaranteed program and you have mentioned that your grades are not high by american standards. It looks like the average admitted student has a 93 average and a 1404 CR and Math SAT score (so your SAT scores are obviously well above average)</p>
<p>Thanks midatlmom
Any other suggestions?? what colleges should i consider as safeties? and can anyone name a few colleges that i can look into that prioritize standardized test scores first and not so much on ECs???
Also can i consider Trinity College as a safety??</p>
<p>Since your family can only pay ten thousand, unless you know for sure that Trinity will accept you and give you the rest of the money you need, you can’t consider Trinity to be a safety.</p>
<p>What is Trinity’s policy for aid for int’ls?</p>
<p>Yes you are right about that, Trinity provides one of the highest amount of aid to international students. But I hope trinity will accept my application.
My shortlist is seriously getting constricted because of the 5 college limit. Is there any way that i can apply to colleges without the aid of my high school?</p>
<p>That was last year, I had a 2070 SAT score then (CR:690 MA:750 WR: 630) and i wrote a very juvenile essay.
The colleges I was rejected from are: Northwestern, Tufts, Colgate. Grinnel and Bates had me waitlisted but got rejected later on.</p>
<p>You think so? I hope it does, Thanks Axelrod, I’ll look into these colleges straight away.
Although my ECs aren’t that strong, I’m an international student and in our country we usually do not have much scope for ECs. So I’ll try to do my best with the college essay.
Which colleges are you applying to?</p>