I’m what some schools would call “domestic student abroad” and others just “international”. I have dual citizenship, one of them being from the US but I’m completing high school in other country where the school system is completely different: we have no honors, no APs, and no clubs and organizations at my school. Likewise, we don’t use the GPA scale thingy so Idk what my GPA would be (but I’ve used online converters that are probably not accurate at all, but according to those) like a 3.67 or 3.7 unweighted. However I took 1 year of the IB Diploma Program (which let me tell you it’s hard) so idk if that counts for a weighted GPA. Moreover, my SAT score (I took it once and plan to take it again) was reality mediocre at 1060 (ik, really bad, in my defense I didn’t study at all and will study for next time lol)
Because my school has no clubs and organizations, my ECs are also mediocre compared to other candidates I’ve seen (and I can’t put any fancy stuff like “president of the student body” and things like that because we don’t have that in my school)
-Choir (more than 4 years)
-Guitar, piano & individual singing (2, 3 & 3 years respectively)
-Theater (2 years)
-Photography (1 year)
-Part time translator chinese-spanish (a few times)
-Worked as hostess at chinese-peruvian events (a few times)
-Community service (idk how many hours)
-Award as best group at educating others in splash organization (1 time award)
-Took part of Junior Achievement Peru (still ongoing)
-Basketball (2 years)
I prefer the northeast or california, basically where it’s diverse. I’m planning on majoring in business with most likely a minor in psychology. I’d prefer in or near a big city. My family income is around 80-100k (I think). I might rush for greek life but not completely sure so far.
Ik I’m in disadvantage because my school (and I think most of my country) doesn’t offer honors, APs and organizations but try seeing this with an international POV or take it with a grain of salt?
Main issue is that you would not be in-state for any state universities, which is very limiting on the cost and financial aid front (also some have merit scholarships only for in-state students or which cover only in-state costs).
Have you asked your parents what the price limit is?
I’ve talked to my parents about it and they didn’t seem to care much about the cost. Of course, I wouldn’t want it to be crazy expensive but as far as I’m concerned cost isn’t a main issue for my parents @ucbalumnus
Unless your parents have massive amounts of money tucked away to pay for your education, I think money will matter. A 1060 SAT is average, which is good, but it’s not going to get you tons of merit anywhere. The CA publics would cost you $60k/year. I don’t think that’s affordable on an $80-100k income, and a college has to be affordable to be a safety.
How much can your parents pay per year for school? You can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan, but because you live overseas I think you’ll be considered OOS at all state schools. Your stats aren’t high enough to get you into the schools that offer a lot of need based aid and they’re too low for substantial merit. That’s going to be a challenge. Do you have family anywhere who you could live with while attending college? That would cut costs a lot.
@intlgirl28 I wouldn’t fret about the lack of AP. IB is considered just as rigorous by most colleges here.
Your parents gave a vague response about finances. This is usually a red flag that indicates you have parents who don’t really understand how it works and they are hopeful for vague magical “financial aid” and don’t really understand the true cost of college. This is understandable to some extent but not a good plan at ALL. You need to sit them down, pin them down and have an open and honest talk about finances. How much do they have saved for you to spend on college per year?
Then you need to come back here and learn how the financial part of the planning and strategizing works. This will help you create options that are affordable. MANY students in the US want to go to college “…in California” or “the Northeast” but these are usually not affordable for students who don’t live there. California schools will give you zero financial aid and will cost you the FULL out-of-state amount as mentioned above. Colleges in the Northeast will be similar but require looking at a completely different strategy since they are full of private schools that are generous with need based aid…but these are notoriously difficult schools to get into and it can be a total crapshoot for admissions.
How “different” is your country? That could be something going for you with smaller LACs that like to attract a wide geographical region for their student body. If it’s China, then it won’t likely help. If Peru, perhaps. (Only grabbed those from your ECs.)
I’d check out colleges in the Colleges That Change Lives book or website. Your stats are not at all out of line for most of them and you might find a few that really appeal to you. I’m not sure how many have a business major though, so that could be limiting.
Study hard for the August SAT (don’t forget to register). Try the September ACT. Head to the testing forum here, look up “xiggi and silverturtle method”.
Run the NPC on Lewis and Clark, USeattle, Western Washington University, Southern Oregon University, Cal State Chico, UMN Twin Cities, St Edward’s, SUNY New Paltz.
(All these colleges are in diverse areas).
Bring results to your parents: which ones can they afford? Which are too expensive?