<p>I know topics such as this has been talked about many times before, but my situation very particular, so please bear with me, thank you. You see I am a US citizen, but I haven't been living in the US for around 7 years now, and I have taken a gap year off after graduating high school in Hong Kong. My gap year is in its second half now and I need to start preparing for college entrance. But I don't have the slightest clue about college admissions in the first place, it's especially more confusing now after a gap year. I have emailed certain colleges for admission info and by the looks of it I will still be considered as a domestic student, which will allow me to apply for federal aid (thank god for that). But here's my biggest problems and questions.
After so many years out of the US, can I still be counted as an in state student? I still have my state ID card which hasn't expired yet.
How will I apply for freshman scholarships if I never had a GPA score before in high school? In Hong Kong they don't use the GPA system until university level. I can get my SATS as a private candidate here easily, but I'm most worried about having no chance of getting grants.
I know the national application deadline is May 1st. Is it ok if I apply after that date and what do I stand to lose if I do apply after that date? I don't want to rush to take the SATS after so many months out of school, but in Hong Kong the only SATS testing periods before are in JAN and APR only, and I doubt I can get my test scores back in time before the national deadline if I test in April.
Last, is there anyway I can use my experience as part of the Hong Kong junior rowing squad to my advantage to get some grants or easier admissions? ( I have retired from active rowing at elite level since I turned 18 last year, but I would love to compete again at the collegiate level and maybe trail for the US U23 Team) (But please to anyone who has rowed before don't laugh when I tell you that I am only 170cm/62KG with an erg score of only 7.00, I've always been a technical rower so my water times which I know can vary greatly depending on conditions, is between 720-740 on a single.)
I'm sorry if this is a lot to read, but I really don't know anything after so many years out of the states. The reason I'm asking so much about grants and aid is that I heard too many horror stories about student loans and my family aren't some well off diplomat or expat, so a 20K USD a year education is really pricey.
thanks for any advice given later.</p>
<p>I very much doubt you will be considered in-state anywhere in the US. Most states require a student to graduate from a state HS though you can look up residency requirements on the college web sites. Those are tied to state laws. Private schools don’t care what state you attended so you might have a chance at those. </p>
<p>Does your school have experience in sending students to US colleges? They should know how your transcript will be viewed (with or without grades). </p>
<p>For the SAT, if you haven’t taken it yet this year it looks like you’ll need to plan on applying next year. Good merit aid usually requires a very high SAT. Applications for merit aid had to be in already at most colleges for this year’s entering class.</p>
<p>MAY 1 is the REPLY date, when students tell colleges which one they chose: applicants receive their admission between March and April and apply well before that. Application dates were January 2, January 6 (thanks to the storm and the CA technical glitches), and will be Jan 15, Feb 1, and sometimes March 1. There are also “rolling” deadlines where, the earlier you apply (ie., September), the better.
Finally,on May 2, the association “NACAC” publishes a list of colleges that miscalculated yield, meaning they still have places available for their freshman class. You need to have everything ready to send then to the colleges on the list. Most will not have as much financial aid as previously, though.
If you need financial aid, the schools with the best financial aid are those with the Jan 1/15 dates, sometimes the Feb1 ones. </p>
<p>A school that would be interested in your international background is Macalester, with a 1/15 application deadline.</p>
<p>IF you want to attend college in the Fall of 2014, you need to register for the SAT that’s Jan 25 and for the ACT early Feb. This way hopefully one of the scores will be decent. Then, practice for it… while preparing your applications. Go to the website “commonapp.org” and start filling things out.</p>
<p>You will be considered along with applicants from your educational system for evaluation/admission purposes, but with Americans for financial aid (which is good for you).</p>
<p>“In state” is where your parents pay taxes; since they live in another country, you’re not instate for any college. So your best bets are either the cheaper public universities at OOS costs (UMN-Twin Cities, UMN-Morris, SUNY’s, “directionals”), private colleges where your stats place you well within the top 25%, and any college that has rowing. If you were that good, then you’d be considered a recruitable applicant.</p>
<p>First thing to do: find out which colleges have rowing at D3 level; then, go to the school’s athletics page and fill out the “prospective recruit questionnaire” with all your stats. You should hear back fairly quickly but you need to do this TODAY and within the next couple days.I’d suggest starting with Hobart&WilliamSmith, Trinity,U Puget Sound, St Lawrence, Ithaca. Those may be accessible to you academically based on what you said but I’m not into rowing, so these schools may not have it as an intercollegiate sport, just a club. You’ll need to check.</p>
<p>So, in order:
- register (“late”) for the Jan 25 SAT test, possibly for the ACT too (since you’ll need money, the higher your score, the better and some students test better for one than for the other)
- find out all D3 rowing colleges and fill out the “prospective recruit questionnaire” at EACH
- find tutors or buy books to prepare for the SAT
- request letters of recommendations from your teachers</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. i think you may have confused me for a girl, I know, I know 7 minutes is awful for a lightweight male. So you’re saying I should not only focus on in state institutions (I’m from Georgia originally) since I may not be considered a resident anymore anyway.
My only problem is that I have graduated almost a year now, and I need more time to prepare for the SATS and I don’t know what is the curriculum and I don’t think I can get a good score with only 20 days of practice papers. If i dont rush everything now, it means i may not have a choice besides applying for Fall 2015??</p>
<p>About my rowing, my PB on water times are 640 for junior double (av 64 kg) 618 j18 LW M4x (ave 70kg ) j18 M4- (av75kg) 630 - the quad and double was a tail wind while the four was flat.</p>
<p>Don’t give us your stats, contact the schools ASAP!
Hobart&WS, Wentworth, Denison, RPI, BU, SUNY Geneseo, Fordham, Vassar, URochester all seem to have a men’s rowing team including lightweight. But look for them online and hurry.
Look for pages like this:
[Hobart</a> and William Smith Athletics](<a href=“http://www.hwsathletics.com/index.aspx?path=mcrew&tab=rowing]Hobart”>Hobart Rowing - Hobart and William Smith College Athletics)
[Aberdeen</a> Dad Vail Regatta - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dad_Vail_Regatta]Aberdeen”>Dad Vail Regatta - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>yes, don’t focus onGA in-state colleges, since you won’t be considered a resident.</p>
<p>If you don’t take the January SAT’s, I doubt you can get admitted to a good American college with scholarship. However if you have the TOEFL and are full pay, there are lots of colleges that will have you even without an SAT score.</p>
<p>I don’t think i can get any of it done in time, I have talked a lot with my parents in these past few days and we agree that it may be best for me to hold out until next year. i know it sounds really stupid to not try, but after contacting some schools and counselors, the chances for me to get into a school thats good is low and i dont want to just go to any school just because i’m in a rush. But thank you for all the details you have given me.
Please understand I didn’t wait until this long on purpose, there some personal reasons that were in the way and had not until recently, been cleared.
I would be really grateful, if you can tell me whats the best choice i got next?
I have been thiinking of the following and any opinions would be great, and i know some of them may sound ridiculous but i have not been able to find much help besides on this forum
A) I can get a working holiday visa and travel to another country to start saving money( its much easier outside of HK) and take the summer sats and apply for fall 2015 ( which is basically the same situation i am in now, but with a bit more money and time to prepare for the SATS and any othe roadblock along the admission path)
B) i can go either to new york to live with my mother and reestablish residency, go to a community college and hopefully transfer out for junior year
C) i can go to back to georgia and live with relatives and I dont know if its possible , but amaybe get residency again after 12 months and go to a CC and try to move on for junior year
*** I dont know if because im a student at a CC, whether or not the state will recognize me after a year. and to reestablish residency, i need to be out of school and working for a year first
D) go to back to the USA as a high school dropout (although i got my diploma) and just work for year and try to apply for fall 2015 and if they consider my absence from formal schooling too long, apply for to CC?
correct me if i am missing any key factors i havent considered.</p>
<p>You’ll need to check the web sites for each school to see what is required for residency. For some it won’t matter if you didn’t graduate from HS in the state. For others it will solely be based on where your parents reside and pay taxes.</p>
<p>most of the schools dont state that, goodle always points me to each states residency handbook or something. but i will email some of them directly later</p>
<p>Your best bet is to go back to New York with your mother (who would then become your custodial parent for FAFSA) and work for a year and/or volunteer or do whatever (NO community college). It would also have the advantage of reacquainting you with US culture and values. You would then have a choice between the SUNY’s and CUNY’s at bargain price, as well as being able to apply to any private university. That would give you enough time to prepare for the SAT and establish residency. As a bonus, if residency is establish 12 months before you enroll (vs. 12 months before you apply), you could use your WHV to travel/work somewhere for a couple months, thus doing something worthwhile with your gap year and having something unusual to recount for your essays. If it’s 12 months before you apply you couldn’t do that as readily.
What do your parents think?</p>
<p>That does sound perfectly possible. My only problem is that I already have been out of school for almost a year. I graduated when I was 17 last year and the way I count it, correct me if I’m wrong, is that I can’t apply till Fall 2014 or Winter 2014 and won’t be in class till Fall 2015. I would have been out of school for 2 years, I was wondering CC because it sounds kinda like a waste of time if I have to wait another 12 to 18 months before going to school again. And I’m not sure how do they count whether I’m a dependent or not. I’m over 18 now, but I do know that because my parents will contribute to my education, I will be classified as a dependent, though they won’t be in the USA with me. A little side info, my dad was given custody rights over 10 years ago, not sure how it will affect living with my mother.
I also got an email from a college, they said there are ways I can apply for in state tuition.
- Prove my last residence in the US was GA, plus my dad’s tax records
- I can somehow apply to get residency after a year there while in college, I know normally studying at college would not grant you a residency since its stated that post secondary institutions don’t count - seems possible tho, I can’t be a US citizen living and studying there but be stateless for 4 years, right?</p>
<p>My dad is considering to whether to let me go to NY or get his lawyer, tax preparer for records.
Personally I would rather go to GA since I grew up there and cause I actually know my relatives from my dad’s side that lives there. My parents had a messy divorce and stereotypical of asian families, they don’t tend to cooperate very well.
To be sure, when you said that to live with my mom, I can pretty much get residency straight away right because she will be my guardian?</p>
<p>You are dependent until you are 24, have dependents of your own (married or a child), or a veteran.</p>
<p>Custody has nothing to do with determination of FA. If you look up the residency rules many states allow students to live with “the other” parent for residency.
Yes you can. You can be a non-resident forever. Don’t try to pull a fast one by starting CC before you have the residency time period covered. You’ll only be hurting yourself.</p>
<p>You’ll need to carefully review the requirements for residency in GA. Here is the first item for UGA:
<a href=“https://admissions.uga.edu/article/residency-for-in-state-tuition.html[/url]”>https://admissions.uga.edu/article/residency-for-in-state-tuition.html</a></p>
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<p>Thanks Erin’s Dad. I have spent the last few days just constantly sending emails and getting more info.
Based on what you showed me above. I would like to ask this, since this is something I can’t seem to find online. If I was to live with a family friend for say a year (e.g. Aug 2014 to Aug 2015) would I still be able to get residency, although I’m won’t living with either parent, but one or both of them will still be paying for my schooling. Or am i completely tied to whichever parent is in the US. I much rather avoid having to stay with my mom since she was never the caring kind to begin with. Sorry for so many questions.</p>
<p>From the link I supplied:
</p>
<p>HI, i am officially moving back. I know its been roughly 7 months since my last reply, but the proceeding months has been a big limbo. I will be moving to Cal instead. I have started taking SAT courses and plan on taking the test itself in November or December. Thanks for all the advice. I will post again once im back stateside in a few weeks and starting the applications. But I is there some things I should be aware of when applying for Californian schools? Such the UCs</p>
<p>You do know that you’ll be considered an OOS student and will have to at least pay the $23K OOS surcharge for UCs, right?</p>