Hello everyone,
I am an international student and I intend to apply to Barnard College.
I am taking the SAT on may. The first time, without knowing anything about the exam I scored a 1180, and I studied pretty hard since December so I expect a 1320 or so this time.
In my highschool (French highschool) we only have unweighted GPA and I have the equivalent of 4.0 unweighted.
Is it a disadvantage that in my highschool we don’t have AP classes or IB?
Anyway, about extracurricular activities, well, in my highschool we don’t have lots of associations so, as my counselor wrote in his recommendation, I am enrolled in every club/association. But basically the important ones are HeForShe (feminist “club” created by the UN): I organized a fund-raiser ball for abused women, and organized a clothes collect for women raising their children alone, and my participation in MUN’s.
I have won the 3rd place in a public speaking contest organised by a highly rated university in my country.
I have also been riding horses and show jumping for 7 years, swimming for over 10 years, and learned the guitar all alone.
I am fluent in Arabic, French and English and I have a pretty good level in Italian.
Intended major: Political science (minor: econ? Philosophy?)
Do you think I have a chance at getting into Barnard College, knowing that I will be applying for financial aid ? (I have a cousin enrolled there) do you know any safety schools for Barnard (I already plan to send my application to Bryn Mawr)
Thank you!
PS: I’m applying ED to Barnard
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A 1320 SAT may be too low to receive significant financial aid… the middle 50% of Barnard students have SAT in the 1330 — 1500 range. It is a selective school, as is Bryn Mawr.
Unfortunately, for an international student needing financial aid, there is no such thing as a “safety.”
Financial aid isn’t based on one’s stats, or is it? I thought it was need based not merit based…
Financial aid is competitive for international students and they are not need blind for internationals.
From Barnard’s financial aid page. https://admissions.barnard.edu/apply-barnard/international-students/fin-aid
Financial Aid Process for International Applicants
All Barnard aid is based on financial need, and we are committed to offering the College’s educational opportunities to as many students as possible. Unfortunately, limited federal and state aid funds severely restrict Barnard’s ability to cover the need of all eligible international first-year applicants. A small number of need-based scholarships are available to international first-year students each year. Selection is extremely competitive for these scholarships, and given that Barnard meets full demonstrated need for admitted students, the review of applications for admissions for International Students is need sensitive.
So I would have to aim for a 1400 in my SAT’s?
Do you have any safety schools to suggest?
As I mentioned before, there are NO safety schools for international students who need significant financial aid. And yes, you should aim for the very highest SATs possible. You should also be smart in how you apply, researching schools that are less selective (Barnard and Bryn Mawr are difficult to get into) or those located in parts of the US less popular with international students: the southern part of the US or the mid-west (northern center of the country) or Western states such as Montana, Wyoming or Utah. Since fewer international students apply to schools in these areas, the competition is a bit less intense. Read through these threads to see where people apply/get in.
And you should have a back-up plan in your own country, because most international applicants who need a lot of money do not get it, and are unable to study here.
Understood, thank you!
(I do have backups plan in my country and in France)