im not doing all that well in hs compared to all the other kids who are applying from my country (im from india). i calculated my own gpa lol: it was a 3.74/4.0 based on my 10th boards ( i scored 93%) btw im yet to take the SAT, gonna be taking it in April 2024, aiming for 1500 above or 1450 above
very low income family as i come from a single parent household, a lot of personal issues during my hs years.
bad ecs: no significant ecs, i just have done a lot of things in relation to my school: been on the student council for 4 consecutive years, been on the editorial board for 2 years, this is the 2nd year and im editor in chief. head graphics designer at my school media club. volunteer at this non profit that shelters mentally ill women. i play my violin there. part of like three orchestras? my church one, one conducted by my violin teacher and also one that is conducted by greek, spanish people. but thats pretty much it. i plan to do some basic research but im not sure if its gonna be good since i have no mentor or guide. been tryna figure it out just by me and my hanging laptop.
aiming for med school (potentially, or continue to study biochem or chem). due to mid performance and financial contraints i am now contemplating community college and im pretty sure im gonna be applying there since a lot of what i have read so far on here seems to be in favour of it.
intended major: biology/biochem
financial aid: required definitely but dubious if i’ll get any due to stats. can afford cc if i go to the us and start working (im not sure about this, i need some advice please)
i do realize that being an american citizen gives you some financial aid perks but you gotta have some merit to get it right?
so now my main question: How do i go forward? is community college good for majors like bio/biochem? im looking into transferring to a state school (after cc of course) based on where the cc is. if my hs grades are going to be considered when transferring then i’m probably gonna apply to unis with high acceptance rate but build my profile strongly during those 4 years for grad school. (would that be possible? to get into like ivy league or t10/t20 for grad school if youve done well in those 4 years of undergrad of which half is spent in cc?) im pretty confident i’ll do better there since i got a lot of personal stuff going on here thats kind of inhibiting my performance. coming there is going to be fresh start.
what path exactly would you guys suggest? community college, then a state school? or would a public uni opr state school straightaway be better? im probably going to apply for med school so please let me know if thats possible, ie., if i do cc then a public uni which has a high acceptance rate or something, and then apply for med schools. would they accept me?
also please suggest community colleges that would have a good bio/biochem major. i dont really care about states, anywhere is fine but CA is not my favourite so anything else is fine (do suggest CA ccs if they are good, i will def consider them but its just not on top of my list)
also, which states have a low cost of living? do ccs have on-campus jobs that I can take to help me pay for college?
(Sorry for the long post. thank you for reading it and please let me know your thoughts and advice)
Don’t calculate your own GPA. Someone like @MYOS1634 can opine on the strength of your grades but it’s not a simple calculation like what you’ve done.
Financial aid has nothing to do with grades/stats. Aid is based purely on your financial need. Merit scholarships, on the other hand, are stats driven.
Depending on the state, the state school might not be affordable if you have high need. That’s because you’ll be paying out of state tuition rates. Add some schools to your list that meet full need (they are more competitive to get into, though).
Yes, there are on and off campus jobs, but they will not help pay for full-pay colleges. They can, however, help with your living cost.
There are both need-based and merit-based scholarships and financial aid.
Need-based financial aid is only dependent on getting admitted to the school.
However, many schools do not have very good need-based financial aid.
Those that do often require both parents’ financial information.
State universities may offer little or no need-based financial aid for those who are not residents of the state.
Merit-based scholarships are dependent on being a more desirable than typical admit from the school’s point of view.
Note that list price of state universities and community colleges is typically significantly higher when you are not a resident of the state.
As a US citizen, you are eligible for Pell grant if your family income is low enough, and direct loans, although these typically will not be enough to finance attendance at a university (or even a community college) including living expenses, without additional financial aid or scholarships from the school.
A 93% on classX boards is excellent and will constitute part of your GPA.
Scoring the highest possible score on the SAT will help you tremendously.
What subjects are you taking in Class XI and XII? CBSE, ALevels…?
Continue working as a journalist/editor/graphic designer. See if a volunteer group (not HS related but with adults) would “hire” your services for sth that can be verified.
Your best bet will likely be applying to a 4-year private college that meets need for AND likes internationally educated American citizens: Denison, Kalamazoo, Dickinson, St Olaf…
Run the NPC (net price calculator) on these 4: what net price do you get?
If you stay on this website, lots of people will be able to help you.
You’ll need to ask your parent whether they can spare anything to help you pay for your plane ticket. If not, you’ll need to work&save money from graphic design or anything you can do. If you have a budget from your parent, please indicate, even if it’s just $200.
reg that gpa calculation, how exactly exactly are my grades evaluated by admission officers?
would my actual gpa be higher or lower than my simple calculation?
yes ive seen the high tuition fee for out of state residents (which i think i come under). is it possible for me to get in state tuition if i show residence for 6 months or so? I read that it usually needs a year, but are there any colleges that grant it to people who have lived there for under a year?
if the case turns out to be the latter (needs residence for a year), can i qualify for instate tuition after i’ve stayed there for a year, attending college? im saying this in the context of community colleges and not state schools.
so you’re saying pell grant (if the income is low enough) +direct loans by themselves will not be sufficient to pay uni/cc tuition+living expenses? im not going to be solely depending on these but their contribution will surely make it less tight. combined with the salary i would get from a job (maybe more than 1 if i am allowed/time permits as one of the replies said only 20 hours/week is allowed), my parent will be working too so her income also, and some money we’re saving up now, would the costs be affordable then?
im taking PCB+psychology in the cbse curriculum (i know math would have been tougher but i love psychology more so i opted for it. its not that im bad at math or anything, i scored a decent 95 in the class 10 boards so yeah)
how do you find those type of colleges that would like internationally educated american citizens/can meet full need?
i am looking into jobs that can earn me any amount, but im not sure where to start. i cant exactly have an offline job since to my knowledge, my country and social setting do not exactly encourage a teenage student working, and my availability would be only on saturdays and that too only saturdays i dont have school on. but i shall try to find an online job. are there are websites etc., that you might suggest for such a job hunt? i have strong creative writing skills, i can design social media posts etc., also have video editing skills.
teaching isnt my strong suit but i can definitely do my best if it’s for grades up to 8th or 7th.
i shall ask and let you know about how much i can pay, we have not yet sat down and made an exact estimation. but my parent would mostly be able to pay for the plane tickets. she’s going to be coming along with me there, and she told me she has been saving up for the tickets.
if i apply for public colleges, after a year will i qualify for instate tuition?
please do suggest some private colleges with a good biology/biochem program.
thank you so much for your insight! gave me a lot of clarity
It depends on states: in most cases, you cannot qualify for instate tuition (ie., resident) ever if your parents haven’t been legal residents of a state and thus paid taxes toward the state that then subsidizes the tuition for you or if you have moved for college.
The exception is Utah, where (if you get into University of Utah) you can get instate tuition after a year, but you’d need 40k for your 1st year and Pell wouldn’t allow you to cover even tuition, let alone room&board (mandatory housing&food for freshmen). They do have a strong honors college with merit scholarships but it’s hard to get into.
For freshmen, the typical limit is 8-10 hours of work a week, so they can get used to college. For more avanced students, studies show 15hours is the limit before it affects grades. It allows you to pay for books, pens, printing (at universities where its not free), miscellaneous items like toothpaste and socks… it doesn’t allow you to pay for college or even living expenses.
Applying to CC means 1° you’d have to pay huge OoS costs since you’re not instate anywhere and 2° you’d lose your chance at merit scholarships. So, nix the CC idea, especially if you can get a 1450+ on the SAT.
There are 3,700 colleges in the US. We’ll help you find the right ones.
UUTAH can be one but your best bet really is private 4 year colleges that meet need. There are about 85 of them.
I gave you 4 names of 4 colleges that would be accessible to you academically, all excellent, and all favorable to internationally educated Americans. The issue is whether they’ll be affordable so can you run the NPC on them and indicate whether they’d be, in fact, affordable ?
Another option is to take a gap year. You and your parent can move to the US, work and save money for a year, and then you can go to college. This will allow you to be in state for public colleges. The main problem I see here is that just moving to the states and getting an apartment costs money. Do you have someone here to live with while you get going?
PCB+ Psychology is very good for most majors in the US.
Since you love psychology why not major in psych? It’s a perfectly good major for a premed (* ), which you can supplement with biochem or cognitive science or neuroscience if you wish.
(*: premed is not a specific major, it’s just an intention. You can major in anything. What matters is getting As in your chosen major, top grades in specific premed classes, and accomplish a lot in medical/clinical/volunteer extracurricular activities.)
Some states have two year residency requirements. Some states don’t allow you to establish residency solely for educational purposes. It’s complicated getting instate tuition and as noted, if you transfer to a 4 year from a community college, you are going to miss out on scholarship opportunities.
There are places in the US with very inexpensive in-state tuition. You can qualify as in-state for community college after as little as 6 months’ residency, in some states, and as little as one year for in-state for 4 yr college, in some states. Living expenses are going to be an issue. It is very difficult to work your way through college paying your own living expenses.
Do you have any relatives or family friends with whom you could possibly live? This could help out with your choice of which states to target.
You might be able to get substantial merit money at third tier liberal arts colleges, since you are a US citizen, but I don’t know that it would bring your cost of attendance down to below 25K/yr or so.
You can get into medical school with a high GPA from any 4 yr college in the US. Try not to take pre-reqs at a community college; med schools know that the level at community colleges is low. But you could do your gen eds at community college and then transfer to a 4 yr college to finish up, and take the premed pre-reqs there.
Just adding getting residency is fairly straight forward at U Missouri (and the other Missouri system state publics) too. It requires living in 12 months in the state (so first year plus the summer after for example), earning $3K in a job during that time. There are other requirements (like getting a drivers’ license and such), but the school has people to guide you thru the process. Missouri Residency // Office of the University Registrar
Some state schools that are inexpensive and same price for OOS include Western Il and Western Carolina.
Big picture I agree with Myos that your best bet is schools that meet full need, but they tend to be reaches. Meet need schools that have relatively higher admit rates include Oberlin, Lehigh and Macalester. You might also look at U Rochester, which comes close to meeting full need.
I do not know how to evaluate your grades relative to students in the U.S., but I think you might consider applying for the Questbridge scholarship for outstanding low-income students. If accepted and matched with a school, all of your costs would be covered at a 4-year school:
Washington and Lee University meets full need with no loans, and has a lot of diverse international students attending (my son has friends from Greece, India, Spain, England, Nigeria, Estonia, El Salvador and Tanzania, and I am sure there are others!)
it is sort of a complicated situation there for me. We do have friends and relatives but i’m mostly looking into being by myself but i think we can live with them for an initial month or two if need be.
while i did contemplate a gap year, i kind of think i’d feel a bit lost during a one. i could build my profile with extracurriculars and stuff but i personally don’t think i’d be able to put a pause on my studying. but maybe i’d have to do it if my finances become a real lost cause.
i see. yes, psych is also a major i have in mind. My major, to be completely honest, isnt exactly decided on. it’s oscilating between bio/biochem/psych, so yeah. is psych a popular major in the US? also a quick question: how do you identify if a college has a good biology/psych program?
so a 4 year university would end up costing more if a transfer, than what i would have paid if i attended all 4 years of it without cc?
instate tuition does seem to be a gray area and somewhat of a closed door so im not relying on it.
but i eventually would have residency in some state in the usa right? is residency is marked by one paying taxes?
thank you for your reply! and i agree @MYOS1634 has helped out a ton, thank you!