<p>Hello everyone, my name is Sophia, I am a 17 year old Guatemalan student who would like to apply to universities in the United States, so please, help me. :)</p>
<p>I still don't know what I want to pursue in life, but I've recently made a decision, and it's that I do not wish to study in my country; I would really love a university in New York, so please, I beg for your help.
In my country we start the school year in January and finish in October; I will be graduating from secondary school next year at the very end of October.
So, my first questions is: is it okay if I start applying in September 2014 to enroll in the in the fall of 2015? I should mention that I will be taking some time off, a "gap year". If start applying at the end of next year, I'm pretty sure that by December or maybe January I will be done with the application process (sending all the documents, I mean) and have those 8 months left to the things I want to do. So, is it going to affect me? should I apply after the gap year? what should I do?</p>
<p>@nicegood: etiquette - you only respond when you have an answer to provide.</p>
<p>Sophia, it’s perfectly fine to start applying at the end of September for Fall 2015. Some colleges have priority deadlines for schoalrships and Early Admission deadlines on December 1, and most have deadlines between January 1 and February 15. Then you’d have to fill out the CSS and other financial papers, so you won’t really be done by January. If you can get everything done by February, you’ll have a bout a month off before you start getting offers, which you’ll have to compare; then on May 1 you’ll announce your final choice, begin being processed for the I20, go to the Embassy, etc. So you won’t have 8 uninterrupted months, but rather one-month long periods spread over 6 months or so.</p>
<p>Be aware that New York City universities do not offer much financial aid in general, even merit, because so many students want to be in NYC.
Will you need financial aid or can your parents pay $60,000 a year? If you need financial aid, you’ll need to look at schools in areas where there are fewer applicants or at schools where your stats make you stand out. It’s very hard to get financial aid as an international student so you have to diversify your list (ie, applying to universities in NYC <em>only</em> is a very bad idea).</p>
<p>Than you so much for answering, I appreciate it.
I was actually thinking of only applying to colleges in New York, but now that I know that I will definetly have to change my mind, so thank you.</p>