I'm screwed. I NEED YOUR HELP!

<p>I am an international student living outside of the US. I have thought about going to college in the US, but never considered it seriously because apprantly it is pretty impractiacal for international students to study medicine/ dentistry there.</p>

<p>I'm doing my senior year now, and realized a few weeks ago that i will have to apply soon if i want to study in the US. Although i've acutally planed to go a german college, I am so obsessed with going to college in the US now, that the deadlines are coming up.. So.. i've made up my mind to at least apply to US colleges, so that i don't have to hate myself later on for not even trying. </p>

<p>BUT, the problem is I have ABSOULTELY no idea about colleges in the US. There are just so many of them that i dont know where or how to start. I desperately need help on this. Here's some info on me:</p>

<p>GPA : 3.35 (don't know if this is weighed)
My ECs are not particularly strong. (in fact, they are under average..)
SAT: I'm taking my first one in a week, expecting around 2000
SAT2: Taking Biology, Math2, German over the next three months. Scores will be above average.
APs: German-5 Psychology-5 Calculus AB-4 Biology-4 , Taking Chemistry, English, Statistics, and European History this year
Major: since medine/dentisrty wouldn't really work I'm thinking about biology or things that are somewhat related to medicine, like neuroscience, biotechnology, etc.
Nationality: South Korean
Scholarship: YES, i need some financial aid. This is very important! it wouldn't do any good to get in a college without getting a scholarship.</p>

<p>I prefer big colleges, warm weather, & urban areas. But, actually these don't concern me that much. Mainly, I want a college where i can accomplish a lot. </p>

<p>Considering all the info i've given you, what colleges do you recommend? </p>

<p>PLEASE help me decide my FUTURE!!! Thanks!</p>

<p>bump bump bump help!!!</p>

<p>Ah, let me tell you first off, I doubt you'll get into Harvard.</p>

<p>Second - only YOU know the types of schools you want. You can accomplish tons at any college. I'd recommend you get onto collegeboard.com and use their Matchmaker or princetonreview.com's COunsellor-O-Matic ASAP and find some places you like. THEN get back onto CC and we can help narrow down and tell you teh procedure.</p>

<p>You WONT get into Harvard, I can tell you that. WIth a mediocre GPA, even if unweighted, no EC's, and not much else to help you get the attention of an admissions officer other than being German, I strongly suggest that you look at schools in the mid tier. That is not a bad thing, actually because the United States is full of excellent schools who admit good but not BRILLIANT students, with great faculty, great facilities and so forth.</p>

<p>You mentioned you want a state school. I think that is a good idea, except that some mid tier private colleges may actually offer you more money for financial aid, so apply to both kinds of schools. Your SAT score is KEY. YOU MUST GET A critical reading and math score equal to at least 1250 to be competitive to good colleges. Below 1200 and you have to start looking at schools that are further down the list. Again, not that that is bad....it just means a lesser known or not quite so competitive school. LOTS of state schools fit that bill and many private lesser known schools fit that bill.</p>

<p>You mention weather as important. That means stay out of the northwest, midwest and the northeast. Focus on the south, southeast, and southwest.</p>

<p>With your stats, take a look at Auburn University and University of Alabama. Both very good schools with some great programs. University of Tennessee and University of Mississippi also have some great programs, and Ole Miss is a beautiful antebellum campus. Tulane in New Orleans is an awesome school, but it might be a stretch for you with those mediocre grades. If you slam the SAT, then take a look at it. I am afraid that prestigious schools like UNC, Virginia, Florida and probably Georgia Tech are out of the picture for you unless your SAT is incredible...like 2150 or higher. But you might take a look at Clemson, South Carolina, College of Charleston, NCState, James Madison. In the southwest look at Arizona, Arizona State, and some of the Cal State campuses. I am afraid that the uber competitive U Cal system might be a stretch, such as UC Irvine, UC Davis, UC Berkeley, UCSD, and UCSB. Those are becoming highly competitive. Again, if your SAT is great then maybe take a look at them.</p>

<p>For your information, go into an American Bookstore and grab a hold of one of the excellent Directories of American Colleges out there, such as Barrons, or Petersen's. They list all the schools, give a page or two description of everything about them ,size, scores, sports, campus life, dorms, student body demographics, religious stuff, etc etc. LOOK CLOSELY at their GPA and SAT scores and see where you fit. They list over 2,500 colleges in the United States, usually organized alphabetically by state. Find a college that is a good fit for you. </p>

<p>Most colleges in the United States have appliation deadlines in January or very early February. Some have late deadlines, like Clemson, but that is because they know a lot of kids get rejected at prestigious schools and scramble to get into schools like Clemson. Clemson by the way is a very good school and also becoming quite competitive. Write an EXCELLENT essay. Submit your forms EARLY if you can. Most kids apply before Christmas. The early bird gets the worm.</p>

<p>DO NOT APPLY ED (early decision) unless you are certain its where you want to go, to forsake all others. Its a binding decision. Better to apply regular decision and wait for the results in April. However, some schools also have rolling admissions, like St. Louis University, which is an outstanding school....but its in St. Louis and its not a warm weather school in the winter. Its bitter cold there in January-March.</p>

<p>Good luck to you. There are hundreds of colleges out there who are waiting for your application. Get the Barron's or Petersen or Fiske Directories and research the schools and then go from there.</p>

<p>Make sure you have all your paperwork in order and your visas.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

<p>And also do what tetrisfan recommended...go online to collegeboard and princetonreview.com and do a search with your stats...so they can pair you up with some good schools.</p>

<p>Also be aware that state schools generally don't have a lot of aid to give to international students. In fact, few schools below the top tier do give aid to internationals. Once you decide if a school "fits" for you, by using the criteria suggested above, you need to check out the financial aid pages to see what might be available for you.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for all the information & advice. I finally have some idea what i should be doing. I'll try my best doing research and come back here to ask more questions! </p>

<p>By the way, Harvard is supposed to be my lottery ticket, just to see if a miracle could really happen in my life. ;) I know it sounds silly, but you never know...!</p>

<p>One more thing: I didn't see anything about standardized testing. Most schools require at least SAT I or ACT; those that don't can be found at <a href="http://www.fairtest.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.fairtest.org&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Many of the top tier schools require SAT IIs as well; some will accept the ACT instead of both SAT I and II, but some won't.</p>

<p>And, if your primary language isn't English, you'll need to take the TOEFL. </p>

<p>There are deadlines for taking these tests and submitting scores. You need to check those out as well.</p>

<p>I'm taking the SAT and SAT2s over the next three months.
I've been going to an american school for 5 years now. Do i still need to take the TOEFL? </p>

<p>Anyways, i was thinking over my future job again, and realized that i would really like to be a doctor. Has anyone here seen an international student going to a medical school in the US? I heard only about 1% of international pre-med students make it to a medical school. If it's true, it's pretty depressing.. Anyone have any information on this?? if yes, please share it!!</p>