<p>My name is Larry and i am from New Zealand.I am looking to apply to some american universities for Fall 2007. I scored 2290 in the SAT and in the 700's in some SAT II which were in physics and maths. My High school results will not transfer easily to a GPA because the system in New Zealand is quite complicated.</p>
<p>I understand that financial aid for intenational students is very hard to come by and i do not think that i am a top notch student so this puts me in a dilemma.</p>
<p>Should i apply to top notch colleges or more mediocre colleges that have high likelyhood of giving me financial aid. I dont really mind what college i go to in USA as long as it gives me financial aid (around 85%) and the college is better than average.</p>
<p>Please advise me on which colleges i should apply to considering my situation.</p>
<p>your scores are really good. i would a pply to some of both. go to princetonreview.com and do the councelor-o-matic thing they have, it helped me a lot. also try searching collegeboard.com they have really specific criteia. i dont know hwat kind of college your looking for, or where, but there are tons of schools that offer finaid to int. stud's, as long as you really need it. i'm not an expert ,but i would apply to schools like vassar etc, with your scores. good luck</p>
<p>Use the common application and apply to as many schools as you can manage, including some top schools, you never know where you will get in! </p>
<p>But only apply to colleges you actually want to go to, otherwise its a wast of time, but if you love a college: apply! You never know what will happen!!!!</p>
<p>And also apply to some lower-tier schools that does give int'l students finaid, like Allegheny and...I believe Connecticut College? Try to look for schools that offer a combination of both merit and need aid for int'l students. For some schools, the ability to diversify their population is a hook, kinda. </p>
<p>You can definitely get into good schools and get financial aid with those scores. Apply to top schools, to matches and to safety schools. I suggest you apply for Boston University's Trustee Scholarship. It's a full scholarship and it's totally worth it so take a look at it. Suffolk University in Boston also gives aid to intls as does Clark University. Manhattanville is also generous. You could also apply to Boston College's Presidential Scholars Program, it's a full ride but you have to apply early action.</p>
<p>Your scores are nice,....and i think so will your High school record.
So, make your essay nice, get your teachers to write good recos....and try for some good schools.
i suggest you work on your college list frm right now, and choose your reach/match/safety. You might want to try for sme Ivy's as well, you never know if you get accepted!
Stick around at CC's forums to get more info. on stuff...</p>
<p>Counseler-o-matic is one way to get your college list started, another way is going to Collegeboard's college search engine....</p>
<p>a word of advice about collegeboard's data about colleges: it is seriously outdated! I have seen colleges that had SAT scores on the CB site even 100 points (composite) below the actual scores of the last admitted class (taken off the college's website). for SAT scores in particular do check out class profiles on each college's website.</p>
<p>nice scores. Apply to 2 ives(Brown, Duke, Cornell), 2 public ives(Michigan or Uva), 1 safeties(U Maryland Cp), maybe Candadian school too if you wish. (Mcgill or Toronto)</p>
<p>I believe U Maryland Cp, high chance of getting aid. Mcgill probably can get the basic scholarship.</p>
<p>I would advice to apply to at least all ivies that use the Common application, it wont cost you a lot of time, and you never know what will result from it! You have a chance, considering your sat's, you just have to present yourself very well!</p>
<p>Hi, Thanks for all your help. The only thing that could seem a problem is that I dont think that my High school transcript would be recognized or even understoon. The High school in my country is totally easy and its extremely easy to get into university here. Do you think this will matter?</p>
<p>Also i have a more modest list of EC's unlike some of the nerds (no offence intended) on this forum who won national awards etc. Do you think this will be an issue??</p>
<p>hey man, im from venezuela and im kinda in the same situation as you.
I have high sat scores, good gpa , and very few extracurriculars, because in my high school there werent any extracurriculars.High school in venezuela is very easy also.
I am also looking for a University with fin aid to internationals, the only ones that i have found are totally need blind are Harvard, and Princeton, and Yale, but they are very hard to get into. However a lot of good colleges have financial aid for internationals, but it is very limited.
One college I found to be very cheap, and that gives loans to Intl is Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. But i dont really know if i want to spend 4 years of my life in utah.
and i just checked the University of Maryland.College Park website and it says it is unable to give finaid to intl</p>
<p>I think extracurriculars, just like academics, will be viewed in context of your country/highschool. Just make sure you stand out from your peers in your school. For instance many applicants from China don't have stella extracurriculars either, but they still get in like nobody's business :p </p>
<p>Apart from Harvard, Princeton and Yale, MIT, Williams and Middlebury are also needblind. But yeah, they're all very hard to get into. But there's no harm giving a shot. You seem to be looking at only large research universities, why not consider liberal arts colleges as well? Many of them offer finaid to internationals - and are not nearly as hard to get in compared to large research universities for finaid applicants coz most internationals who apply to LACs apply for finaid anyway.</p>
<p>From my point of view, LACs are great for intl aid, and those that give admission based on whether they can meet your full need, in other words, non-need blind. Some awards tend to be more merit-based than others .e.g [wes vs. conncoll].</p>
<p>transcript/grades is no problem cos a school profile or grade interpretation can always be sent. </p>
<p>i haven't had any experience with larges school save USC and WashU. most of the money you'll get from these is in form of scholarship, except the need-based ones like the Ivies, Stanford, etc.
Although WashU is "need aware" they still accept some intl aid applicants without offering any financial assistance.</p>
<p>public institutions, like UM college park, rarely, if ever, offer financial aid to intls since they are funded by government funds. and also, the fact that a school is totally need blind doesn't mean they will meet one's full need everytime. non-need blind schools are the surest in terms of meeting one's absolutely FULL need.</p>
<p>just see to it that your ECAs and the common app essay are strong and you are totally good to go......i kno because my friends with lower SAT1 scores that yours got into Duke and Top LACs.....apply to the top nationals and top LACS, that is where the money is so they can afford to be generous with aid with your kinda scores...and lower LACS dont have much money unfortunately...i had a 2030 and i got waitlisted in my top schools while all my so-called safeties rejected me.....but then once again-- really really take care on the ECAs and essays, that is all you need right now, ur academics are pretty much covered.......altho i am kinda curious tho, what are your physics and math 2 scores??</p>
<p>
[quote]
Hi, Thanks for all your help. The only thing that could seem a problem is that I dont think that my High school transcript would be recognized or even understoon. The High school in my country is totally easy and its extremely easy to get into university here. Do you think this will matter?</p>
<p>Also i have a more modest list of EC's unlike some of the nerds (no offence intended) on this forum who won national awards etc. Do you think this will be an issue??</p>
<p>Thanks for your help
[/quote]
I asked my counselor to send a letter basically explaining the grading system in Australia (I think our ENTER system is similar to the one in NZ?). You should do the same.</p>
<p>And make sure you write REALLY good essays; I had very good stats score-wise but I think my essays failed me at most of my choices, don't repeat the same mistake :P</p>
<p>Look at St. Louis University. They have 30 Presidential Scholarships that cover full tuition for 4 years. It is strictly merit based. 200 are nominated for the scholarship. You must come for an interview weekend, but I know of a young woman from Africa who just did the interviews over the phone and received one of the scholarships. </p>
<p>If money is an issue, do look at lower ranked schools. There are some wonderful schools out there who would love to have you as a student. Check out some of the Midwest State Universities. Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa and Iowa State. You might have a great opportunity at those places with some merit money. The top schools are wonderful, but be realistic. So many International Students try for the ivies and other top schools because those are the ones that they have heard about. However, there are many schools where you could be happy, and receive money, if studying in the US is that important to you. Good Luck!</p>