International student needing help in finding colleges

College Search & Selection
1

Hello everyone!!!

So, I am an international student in Peru whose dream has always been study abroad. However, I did not know how was the application proccess until this year. (I am in my senior year) So, I am basically screwed up. I really need help in finding colleges where I can a have a chance. My ec’s suck (they aren’t too much nor strong) and I know that I am not competitive for the ivies o similar universities, so I am looking for middle or any university where you think I can get into.

Here is my profile:

Peruvian female
Want to study Economics
School: Middle class, private. Augustinian.
Class Rank: 3/160. Kids at my class are really competitive.
Will ask for 3-5 letters of recommendation.

SAT: 1360 (610 Writing, 750 Math)
SAT II: Will take Physics and Math I next week

Currently doing the IB Program (I know US Universities do not consider it as much as canadian or england unis, but the workload is so big)
Predicted: 37/45 (History HL 6, Spanish A 6, Business and Management 6, English SL 6, Physics SL 5,Math SL 6, TOK B, EE B)

Everything else:
90-100 hours of vounteer work: Dog shelter, cancer patients, visiting a school with little resources, volunteer a the national census of this year.
English Classes for 2 years (10 months with some recess months) It consumed my afternoons basically. Everyday, 2 hours a day.
Confirmation Catechism for 1 year (all saturdays, 3 hours)
MUN Club (Attended just 1 conference, preparing for another 1, but I stay in school every tuesday for 2 hours)
Babysitter (on weekends and ocasionally other day)
Swimming classes, 3 months (I did it because it was good for my scoliosis. I also went to therapy for 5 months aprox.)
Theater classs in summer.
Coaching: It helped me pick economics. 3 months, once a week, 4 hours.
Assisted to ADECOPA, a math competition. Had to stay in school to prepare. Won the cooperative work and leadership award.
Won Best Essay in a essay competition inside my school.

I don’t know if this counts, but I have a Word, Power Point, Photoshop and ISAT (an institute in my country) Certificate.

I also plan to take 2 online courses related to economics, and if I have time, 1 related to cinema.
I love (no talent) indie/alternative music, cinema, architecture and journalism.

So, what do you think? Also, I am applying with the Fulbright Program. They told me all undergraduate candidates are supposed to pick just middle universities, so nothing in the top 40 for example. But, I can apply to other ones on my own of course. Indeed, I will apply with the IB to Canada and the Netherlands, I think. Not sure about UK yet.
I contacted them because my family can pay 20k more or less a year. So, looking for financial aid also.
I know I am in the middle of a hurry. I will miss early decision,so that’s bad. But, I really need to choose universities for the regular decision.

Please, help me!!! Thank you much. You are amazing!

2

Your budget of about $20k per year is going to be a significant restriction unless you can get some aid. The Ivy League and equivalent in the US tend to be better for need based aid for international students if only because they have the money, but I don’t think that your stats will get you in there. I am not able to predict where, if anywhere, in the US will fit your budget. The top universities in Canada (McGill, Toronto, UBC) are likely to be significantly more than $20k per year for an international student.

However, there are quite a few very good universities in Canada, and many of them are closer to C$30k total per year for an international student. Currently this comes to about $24k per year in US dollars, which seems to be getting close to your budget level. You might want to look at the Macleans magazine university rankings (google “macleans university rankings”), which is the only major ranking of Canadian schools that I am aware of. Some good large schools to consider (going east to west, picked somewhat randomly and missing many since there are a lot to choose from): Dalhousie, Concordia, York, Ryerson, Manitoba (watch out for cold winters at this one), Simon Fraser, Victoria. Memorial University of Newfoundland might be worth checking out since it is a good university at a very reasonable price, but it is in a bit of an unusual place at the extreme eastern tip of Canada in a location with mild but stormy/wet weather. Some very good small universities in eastern Canada that are worth looking at: Mount Allison, Acadia, St Francis Xavier, Bishop’s. We visited these last four and liked all of them a lot (my youngest had a tough time deciding which of these to attend).

On the most part the Canadian schools won’t much care about your ECs, and while applying earlier has some advantages you are not running out of time at all. There might be some financial aid available, but I can’t guess at the magnitude or how likely it might be. In our experience we found out about financial aid quite a bit later than we found out about admissions, but still well before we needed to pick a school to attend.

3

You might have a fair chance at a school such as Macalester, as well as some other colleges with highly regarded economics programs:

https://ideas.repec.org/top/top.uslacecon.html

4

You are in a situation that requires a lot of research due to your budget constraint. The issue is that you don’t have a lot of time.

Here is one type of possible solution. You may not know this, but many State University (e.g. University of Wisconsin) have some type of satellite/regional system. They tend to less costly than the main campus. The University of Wisconsin System contain 13 four year (and 13 two year) universities. The one everyone knows is The University of Wisconsin - Madison (this is often referred to on CC as the flagship). This one is likely not affordable to you.Like I said, there are 12 others. The one that is best known in the region for business/economics is University of Wisconsin-Whitewater ( uww.edu ). The total cost of attendance for nonresident student is $27k/year. They do have scholarships for international students upto $6k/year.You would likely be a good candidate for this scholarship because your SAT is well above the 75 percentile. This is at least close from a cost perspective. Note: I used the Wisconsin system because I know it the best. This type of opportunity likely exists in many states. This is where the need for research comes in.

Your other options is to look at “lower” level private Liberal Arts Colleges that give full tuition merit for your stats.

5

Have you ever looked at Jacobs University in Bremen? It’s a great university and I’m sure you would have a good chance at making it in. They offer a great amount of scholarships and aid that would help you afford the university. It’s in Germany so they would take your IB into consideration, and considering tuition and room and board is 26,000 euros it would be a good option.

https://www.jacobs-university.de/study/apply-now

6

Bard College Berlin? American University of Bulgaria? American College of Greece?