Helping a friend

<p>I have a foreign friend and he wanted me to ask some questions for him since his English isn't the greatest. He essentially wants to know what colleges would be good for him; he's got a 3.2 GPA, 27 ACT, and 1800 SAT. He wants to major in Bio and go into pre-Med (like me). He's taken a few APs with me and scored mainly 3s but a couple 4s, his family can't afford much either. Any help would be awesome because he's a great guy.</p>

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<p>What ethnicity is he and where does he live? And does he do extracurriculars?</p>

<p>He’s from Britain but moved here a few years ago. He does a couple but a family event made it difficult for him to really do anything. No varsity sports or anything. </p>

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<p>He was born in Africa lived there for a while, moved to Britain, stayed there a couple years, then came here and had been here since. Sorry for not clarifying.</p>

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<p>I was about to ask why he couldn’t speak English if he came from Britain, haha. I’d say that any public flagship would be a good choice.</p>

<p>So he wouldn’t really have any good chances as some of the more selective colleges?</p>

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<p>Not really. With a 3.2, 1800/27, he’s have very slim chances of getting into selective colleges. If you’re thinking selective like Ivy League, the average is probably somewhere around 3.9 and 2250. If you’re thinking selective like top 50 universities, probably 3.8 and 2150. Sorry, but those stats just aren’t good enough for selective colleges.</p>

<p>What is his immigration status? If he is not a citizen, doesn’t have a green card, and doesn’t fall into one of the other special categories (like certain refugees) that are eligible to file the FAFSA, he will be applying as an international student. This means he will have very little chance of financial aid. Which makes his choices of colleges to apply to even more cost sensitive than normal.</p>

<p>What state does he live in, and does he meet the requirements to qualify for in-state tuition and fees there? This policy can vary from one public institution to another even in the same state.</p>

<p>He needs to have a conversation with whoever it is who will be helping him pay for college. Once he knows his budget, he will be able to start working on his list.</p>

<p>If he needs more work in English, he should do this now. His lower skill level will hurt him and could keep him out of med school.</p>

<p>He’s got dual citizenship here and in Africa, and can fill out the FAFSA. He lives in Oregon with me…he asked if going to a state school like OSU or University of Portland would remove his ability to get into a good medical school?</p>

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<p>Bumppp</p>

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<p>You don’t need to go to a selective college to go to medical school. You do need an excellent college GPA and MCAT scores. There is a ton of into in the pre-med forum.
I agree that if his English skills are that weak, he needs to attack this problem or else he will have a hard time getting through a pre-med curriculum.</p>

<p>BeanTownGirl is absolutely right. My cousin went to our state flagship, and now he’s at a great med school (not top 10 or anything, but still good) that is well respected in the South. In fact, a lot of colleges like to get kids from their flagships, because it balances out the class rather than having all Ivy kids, because then your med school class would be boring :-P</p>