How to start?

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>I'm in need of help right now!</p>

<p>I'm from latin america, Panama to be specific, and in last year of high school. </p>

<p>I've been searching for colleges in the U.S. and I'm not sure what to take into consideration. </p>

<p>I'm going to take a TOEFL course next week and after that, the SAT course and after all that I'm going to take the actual test for both and see how I scored and then start to "apply" to some colleges. But the problem is that I don't have ny specific college in mind.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how the system over there works. I see they are expensive but I don't get how the scholarship works and the financial aids. </p>

<p>I'm not sure about the "recommendation letters". And I've read about how important are extra-curricular activities are, but I have not participated in almost any from school but mine are mostly frmo outside of school... will that work?</p>

<p>I'm really not sure how to do... could you guys help a clueless international student?</p>

2

<p>Well… more important for me is, financial aid. Beacuse I’ve seen colleges that go up to 40,000$ a year, and I don’t think we could support that.</p>

<p>How does the financial aid work? I don’t have the best grades you’ll ever see but I can work hard. </p>

<p>And about GPA… In our country we use a system that is rated from 1.0 to 5.0, how do I submit the stuff to them? And I read that you have to submit it translated… How does that work?</p>

3

<p>Apparently you need lots of aid. I suggest you try to find colleges which have lots of aid for international students. Start looking now. Its a long process.
Meanwhile work hard on the SATs and the TOEFL. But know this that they are not the end of the world. the most important thing is your high school gpa and how tough your high school curriculum was.
Financial Aid in US Colleges and universities is usually based on need. However, there is merit Aid/Scholarships available at some places. You need to fill out a financial aid application- show how much you can pay, how much aid you need, etc. There are hardly any need blind colleges in the US so if you ask for aid it will affect your chances of admission adversely. You will be in a more competitive pool.</p>

4

<p>Your best shot would be to find places which meet the full demonstrated need of accepted students. Lots of LACs (Liberal Arts Colleges) do that. Look up their rankings and start from there.</p>

5

<p>rankings don’t tell which LACs meet full need. but here’s a list to get you started:</p>

<ol>
<li>Whitman</li>
<li>Dickinson</li>
<li>Macalester</li>
<li>Gettysburg</li>
<li>Hamilton</li>
<li>F&M</li>
<li>CT college</li>
</ol>

6

<p>Your first step is to read everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) at <a href=“http://educationusa.state.gov/undergrad.htm[/url]”>http://educationusa.state.gov/undergrad.htm&lt;/a&gt; After that, you need to make an appointment with the counselors in their advising office in Panama:
Universidad Santa Mar</p>

7

<p>In addition to all of that, frequent this forum. CC has some really knowledgeable people and you will benefit by hanging around this forum…</p>

8

<p>I’ve been reading and searching a lot lately. </p>

<p>What are liberal arts colleges? Aren’t they the same?</p>

<p>I want to study arts, like graphic desing and illustration, psychology and humanities. I found a college that had all of that in California (one of the places I wanted to go), and it had the sports I wanted (soccer and table tennis). It was the San Jose State University. The cost wasn’t that out of place for me, like 15,000$. </p>

<p>Is this college good? Any reviews?</p>

9

<p>And maybe after my undergraduates studies, I’ll go to the Academy of Arts-</p>