How much do I have comparing to REAL int'l students?

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Hey guys, I moved to US (AK) with my family when I was in 6th grade. I am now a 10th grader and I think I should start worrying about a little bit of my college application stuff:</p>

<p>So I am basically considered a top-notch student at my school (probably above the top-5%, very possibly ranked 1-5 out of 400 or so)</p>

<p>I currently take 2 AP classes (Calc BC and Physics) as a sophomore, and I am capable of taking about 5 or 6 more since that's the max amount my school offers.</p>

<p>I havent taken the SAT's yet, but I am confident I could score well above 2250 with intensive amount of study.</p>

<p>I am fluent in my native language and English (my proficiency is ranked at 90 percentile among Americans, I read a lot of various works of literature)</p>

<p>I am also semi active in outside activities. I am on the Varsity Tennis team, I volunteer as a Mathcounts Alumini coach. I am also participated in a science symposium that requires a lot of work and grants a lot of prestige.</p>

<p>-</p>

<p>Since I am in the international student pool, I realize I do have some advantage over real international students who's actually graduated from abroad and lived there.</p>

<p>First of all my English is very well, second of all I am used to America and I know what I can do to contribute to this country.&lt;/p>

<p>So relatively is my chance better competing with my American classmates or in the international pool? (unfortunately there's no chance that I will have residence statuts)</p>

<p>So how well can I do amongst the international student pool? I am looking at Stanford and Berkeley (B. is more likely because it's much cheaper).</p>

<p>If you know things about this, please reply. Also if you have college recommendations, please post back. I am desperate for answers. Ever since I found out I am in the international pool (duh.), I've become quite worried and lost quite a bit of sleep over this.</p>

<p>I don't want to disappoint my parents =&lt;/p>

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<p>why do you say ? Is that advantage economically or something ? </p>

<p>"Since I am in the international student pool, I realize I do have some advantage over real international students who's actually graduated from abroad and lived there."</p>

3

<p>No I dont mean that. I mean just by the chances of being accepted. I dont think I am making myself clear here, but I ll tell you a story and I think you will get what I mean by better "chances"</p>

<p>In China there was this young girl from Chengdu (coincidentally I lived there before I moved to America, so i know her story very well), she scored something like a 99% (i forgot what the highest score was) on her TOFEL. And Harvard accepted her without a doubt and then she became an instant celebrity. After that she wrote tons of books (well i think her mom did, but not relevant) and is currently attending Harvard with full expense covered.</p>

<p>When I m saying if I have a better chance or not, I am saying am I favored by the adcom in someway? Apparently with my English knowledge I could definitely manage to score as high as the girl in my story did on a TOFEL test, and I may score well above the 95 percentile on an American SAT.</p>

<p>-</p>

<p>No economically I am actually actually under-privileged. My family makes about 30k combined right now, and probably will make around 50k when I go to college. We are on the border of the poverty line.</p>

<p>I dont know guys, I looked on the other boards and somehow being unique (very, very unique) is helpful.</p>

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<p>Gee, I don't think that score got her into Harvard. She must have done other extremely amazing things. I scored a 117/120 on the TOEFL, which is 97.5% and I scored on the 97 percentile in Critical Reading. Those scores certainly benefit me, but it isn't like top school admission officers would kill to have me. </p>

<p>I think you should focus on yes test scores, but also taking the hardest courses available at your school, getting a 4.0 gpa, and great ECs. They take a lot of things into account, just because you are international doesn't mean "wow this kid is the next foreign Bill Gates, let's take him!". What is also key is how much money you can afford. An international student that can pay full is certainly attractive, so if you can't afford everything you should have something to compensate (sports, academics etc.)</p>

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<p>I guess you do, since adcoms would be familiar with the curriculum of your high school and all that. I went to possibly the most competitive high school in my country and while it could get me into any university back home, it doesn't matter here (thus, they're less forgiving of how "average" I am).</p>

<p>For English proficiency, yes you do have a bit of an advantage since I know some kids who scored a near perfect in SAT Reasoning Math but can't manage to get even a 500 on CR and W. But then again, my country's co-official language is English so the TOEFL has always been considered some kind of joke requirement to most of us there.</p>

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<p>i ve done a lot of researches already, no avail on useful information</p>

<p>do you guys have information regarding to preparing for college (academically, ec, general stuff) and also the specific process of applying for college -- as an international student.</p>

<p>if someone does please post some, thanks</p>

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<p>"First of all my English is very well"</p>

<p>-no it's not..</p>

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<p>If you have a lot of questions you can ask your college counselor. I just wanted to say I received an American education in my country, it seems a few people in CC did not, so it was easier for me compared to them. </p>

<p>Alright the best thing would be to apply online; fewer papers. Most likely you will apply to Common Application schools. </p>

<p>According to Wikipedia:
"The Common Application (informally known as the Common App) is a college admission application that students may use to apply to any of 315 member colleges and universities in the United States. Its goal is to reduce the workload of students who would otherwise have to complete separate applications to several colleges.</p>

<p>The questions on the Common App include factors such as the home life of the student, academic achievements, standardized test scores and other information that colleges use to evaluate students for admission."</p>

<p>more info at <a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.commonapp.org&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You will need two teacher recommendations. Make sure those teachers know you well, and can write well. You will send you transcripts, which will detail your classes and your grades. Take the hardest classes scoring As and you'll do fine. The fact you are taking AP Calculus BC is impressive, especially since you are a sophomore. Just two kids are taking AP Calculus BC in my school; I take regular calculus since I am not too math oriented. However, I am taking 4 AP classes out of my 7 classes this senior year.</p>

<p>So what you might want to do is just open a commonapp account, and see what they ask for. Depending on what it says work on those things. Check out CC often, and you'll have a pretty good idea. Oh by the way internationals fill out the ISFAA (International Student Financial Aid Application), not the FAFSA.</p>