International 2.0

Student Lounge International Students
1

<p>Hello,
My name is Vladimir Todev and I am, as suggested by the title of the thread an international student. I am from Bulgaria. I create this thread in order to ask for some advice and of course discuss with you the situation with international admissions to US colleges and universities in 2013.
My story is the following:
I have applied to many US colleges and universities last year(to be enrolled this fall) and was rejected or waitlisted everywhere(than rejected from the waitlists :D). However, to understand my situation more thoroughly, here are some facts about my circumstances.
I have SAT scores 2140/2400(650 CR R, 760 MATH, 730 Writing with 8 on the essay). SAT 2 -
World History 780/800 and MATH level 1 740/800. Toefl score - 107/120(30 Reading, 30 Listening, 22 Speaking, 25 Writing). My GPA by the Bulgarian System is 5.93/6 or in American one 3.95/4. About the other things - my extracurricilar activities were not so many/playing two sports - but I had some on national level in sports(karate), and volleyball(regional level) as well as a little research experience(a statistical project in my hometown), co-creator of the first Bulgarian textbook written by students and a little work experience(with computers). In the academic field - some honors with national merits in English, and lots with regional merits in History, Literature, English and Math. About my recommendation and essays I am not sure how good they were, but I cannot show them since they were too many. Maybe one of my biggest problems was that I needed full financial aid that covers everything. My wish was to get into one of the best schools and therefore, I applied only to such ones, and some I can say just below that. I applied to 17 colleges - all Ivies , Stanford, Amherst, Williams .... you get the point. I was invited to 4 interviews with the Ivies and I think they all went well. However, in the end of March I received 12 rejection and 5 waitlists(which were future rejections) so I got nothing. Nevertheless, I will try I again and reapply this year to some of the same schools. However, two things concern me a lot these recent months - what went wrong and how to improve my chances and avoid the mistakes I made(obviously there were mistakes); I will be glad if I can hear a different point of you than mine and since I read so many remarkable comments in the other threads I am sure that you can help me a lot. Here, what I think:</p>

<p>I will try to improve my SAT scores especially the critical reading since my biggest problem is there. I decided to take one more SAT 2 - Physics and possibly wiil try to improve the MATH SAT 2 score. Here comes the first question- will the taking of 4th SAT 2( I may be able to do well in Literature too if I try hard)and in that way of thinking the 3rd one improve my chances since most colleges say that they need 2 and I have them?
Since I have finished school this spring i cannot add to the other acadamic achievements but I will try to do some volunteering and possibly some more work experience. Any other suggestions?
And the last problem that concerns me so much is the financial aid? I will not be able to contribute much if any to the cost so I will need again almost full or full financial aid. The question about the top tier universities is closed I will apply to them but now I need a backup plan. So I researched many times about other colleges that give lots of money to international students and I found about a thread here but the information was old from 2006, and so many things changed since then. Many colleges give less and less money to int than before. Can you link me a site with an actual info(not collegeboard since there there is no search critirea to arrange the colleges by the money they give) or give advice where to search. My idea is to apply to some safe schools which give merit scholarships and to be able to win one with my scores, but I cannot find many who give enough for people with full need or close to full. The other question is do you know an outside sources of scholarships who can give me some money based on my academic merits?
Last but not least, if I can be of help to anyone who will apply this year I will glad help, since I past through everything last year. Thank you very much for your attention, and I hope this thread will thrive and turn to a collection of information for international students like me</p>

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<p>Search this thread - people have posted lists of college that have, fairly recently, given financial aid to internationals. Many of these schools are smaller liberal arts colleges, good schools, but without any significant reputation. You should also search for universities and colleges in the southern and central parts of the US, areas where fewer international students apply and therefore less competition for financial aid.</p>

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<p>Your achievements, scores and ECs are impressive. The problem is that your list of colleges was made up entirely of “wild cards”, that is, even candidates with perfect everything can’t be sure to be admitted because so many applicants are as qualified as you are.
You need to make sure your counselor writes a school profile explaining your school system and your school’s place within that system, and <em>in US terms</em> preferably with numericals since words may have different meaning (for example, in the US “Good” is below very good, which is below excellent, which is below outstanding, which is below top few in career. In other systems, “good” is what you get if you are above 90% students in your country. Therefore, it’s more useful if you explain that x% in your school reach a score of 1, x% in your school reach a score of 2… at national examinations, and so a score of 2 at your school corresponds to the top z% nationally.)
A 5.96 in Bulgaria may not mean a 3.95 UW in the US and most definitively IS NOT a 3.9 weighted.
Find your educationUSA center, read everything there, and make an appointment to meet with a counselor. Read the threads here like Katliamom said you’ll find tons of info.
Now, as for improving your prospects:

  1. take math2 and one or two other tests. Prepare them thoroughly so that you can score 700+
  2. Find more schools where you’re likely to get admitted with aid and reapply to the schools you like best in your list of 17 from last year. Show interest.Initiate contact with the admission office, indicate you really really like your school and will be taking a gap year to reapply again, or, for the new schools, just email to ask basic questions; you can also ask questions about some courses for majors that interest you, etc.</p>
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<p>Hi !
That’s very nice of you to share your experience! I am sorry you didn’t get into the universities you wanted. I hope it’ll work for you next year ;)</p>

<p>As a matter of fact, I am also planning to apply to American universities, as an international student. If you have a moment, there are several questions I’d like to ask you:

  • You talked about interviews. How does it work ? What did they want to know about you ? What did you ask ? Wasn’t it a bit stressful to be interviewed through a webcam ? (instead of having a classic face to face talk)
  • What criteria did you use to choose your universities ? (beyond “the best”)
  • What is in your opinion the hardest part of the admission process ?
  • And finally: Do you have any advice ?</p>

<p>Thank you very much ;)</p>

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<p>Hey, I am probably a more lazy version of you, but I have experienced the same thing. I got rejected from all colleges except Vassar College which waitlisted me last year. This year I applied to schools which would be easier to be accepted at. I got into 5 out of 7, but only one of them gave me enough financial aid. First time I applied to Amherst, Dartmouth, Vassar, Colgate, Colorado (College) and Middlebury. The financial aid was probably my biggest problem too, but I didn’t have top SAT scores either, so I can’t say for sure what was the largest factor.</p>

<p>This year I applied to colleges which I know accept many international students and usually give great aid to international students as well. I also searched for compiled lists of the most generous colleges when it came to international students, but there is no such thing unfortunately. I used tips from here in different threads and then went to check out percentage international students in those colleges and then the total amount of students in the college as well as the total amount of fin aid given to int students last year. Then with some simple math I figured out the average of what they provided international students with. It took some time, but in a few days of lazy research I compiled my own list of colleges to apply to: Franklin and Marshall (I’m going to attend this school), Gettysburg, Dickinson, Wooster, St. Lawrence, Hillsdale and Depauw. I did not get enough aid at Wooster but I am in contact with someone here who got almost a full-ride! Note that these colleges all have late application deadlines since I realized a little late that I wanted to reapply for college again after last time. I know Oberlin, Macalester, Villanova and lots of other schools with earlier deadlines which give great aid to internationals. I would really recommend you aim for these kinds of smaller liberal arts colleges in the top 50 rankings, since they generally give more aid to int students and in ym opinion you get more for your buck, since you get much better access to professors and learn through discussing things in smaller classes and etc. There should not be very big difference academically (other than specific majors and fields perhaps) among these ~50 LA colleges or so since they are among the best 2% undergraduate programs in the whole country! It is like comparing the valedictorian with the salutatorian, but take the comparison with a grain of salt! Go through US News 50 best ranked LA colelges and do what I did with the financial aid calculations per int student and then choose the 10 best of those and I almost guarantee you that at least one of those will cover your tuition costs if not more. Good luck and feel free to message me or something!</p>

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<p>First, I want to thank for the advice you(Katliamom,MYOS1634) gave me, it is very helpful. MaximeP, thank you for your wishes, I really hope that things will be better this year. I will be glad to help you if I can from the experience I gathered last year.
Interviews are very interesting part of the whole process, if you are called it means that you have passed the first round I can say(if interview is available) They work that way: If for example, the deadline for applying to the university is January 1(the most common one), you will be contacted in late January or February- there is no particular date for that it depends on the number of applicants they have this year and how quickly they see all the applications. However, interviews are not obligatory. If you don’t get one, it doesn’t mean that you cannot be accepted. In fact, most colleges and universities do not have interviews for international students, so don’t be discouraged if they don’t call. Indeed, in my country only some of the Ivies made interviews. You can check the websites of the universities and usually there they say what they do for the interviews. And now I will be more particular, Yale doesn’t not make interviews for int, Harvard on the other hand has an obligatory interview(99% let’s say), if you are not called you by an alumni, you will be 99,9% rejected, even though you will not receive until late March the rejection. About these alumnus- they are usually from the same country as you, but do not talk to them in<br>
your language unless they start first. When they contact you, they will give you the right to reject the interview, don’t do it, it is an excellent opportunity to show the university who you really are? About the questions they ask? There are some general questions which are almost the same for every interview. For example, why do you like this university? What do you think you can brought to it? What do you like to do in your free time? What subjects are you interested in? How do you see your life after 10 years? However, sometimes they can ask you not so ordinary questions, which are very interesting(like what would you do if you have limitless power and money), I mean every schools has its own style in some way and they want to see whether you will add something to this style. About my questions. Honestly, I prepared very carefully before the interview. I wanted to avoid cliche questions, so I tried to dig deeper, and asked specific things about a program or something unusual I heard about the college. My advice is prepare before the interview, not only for the questions you will ask but also for the answers you will give-because they will definitely ask you some of the general questions, I mean, clear you view of the college(why do you like it, what attracts you to it, what subjects are you interested in, and never say I like that you give lots of money:D). About the way the interviews went- they were not all on the webcam. I had two on the webcam, one on the phone, and one face to face. Usually these alumnus are still living in your country so usually they ask if you could come somewhere to meet face to face with them. But if you live far away from them, the offer webcam interview. About the stress, these interviews are not like the one you will have for a job, I mean the alumnus do not decide whether you will be admitted or not. They just send report to the college about the things they understand about you, it is like a recommendation. All alumnus are very polite and good-tempered, this is like a casual friendly conversation(which can change your life :D). Yes, it was a little bit more stressful on the phone because I prefer to see the people’s reaction when I talk to them, but it is fine?
About the criteria, I still adjust them for this year but last year I used this, you can try using some criterias in collegeboard - 4year college,private, coed(which have both men and women), housing guaranteed for 4 years, for me was also very important - having financial aid for int students. After that I used different techniques to decrease the list. I searched for the universities that say will meet 100% of your need(because I couldn’t afford it otherwise). I also preferred universities in the East -because it was a bit closer to home(only 7 hours time difference :D). I searched for universities that have strong economics and business programs because I am interested in that. Last but not least, I wanted only a liberal arts education, since I like lots of subjects. I also used one book called Fiske Guide - there are reviews(3-4pages for each) for the best colleges, it was really good, because it helped me undestand the colleges better.
The hardest part of the process is maybe that you cannot understand how long it is until you pass through all of it. I waited, for instance, until november to start preparing the essays and I can say there is a lot of work if you apply to 17 universities. I succeeded but it is exhausting. And when you feel the relief that the application is send, no, you are wrong,it is not over, the financial aid documents are a lot if you apply for one. And after that the interviews require lots of work and concentration if you want to be perform good on them. My advice is that prepare with patience, this process has lots of ups and downs, but it is really worth it, it was the most interesting and satisfying thing I have ever done so far.
Finally, if you have any other questions (of any kind), I will be really glad to help you, if I can. The knowledge I gathered last year will be far more useful if it can be shared with someone.</p>

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<p>SwedishChris thank you for the info, you inspire me that I can succeed with my re-application. I will check these universities. And one funny thing to add, one of my waitlists this year was Franklin and Marshall :D. I really like it, it is an excellent school. This strategy with the little lower ranking liberal arts colleges may be really successful, and I will dig deeper into it.
I wish you all the best in F and M!</p>

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<p>Thank you for your answer Vladi12311 ;)</p>

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<p>No problem, if I can help you with something else, just ask.</p>