International student needs advices.

<p>Hello, I will try to make this as short as possible, so let me begin.
I live in Croatia, and I am 18. Until about three years I just wanted to finish economy or biology, work here and that's all. Now, my goal changed into this: Studying Biology (with economy as a minor, and/or vice versa) and pursuing hobbies such as acting in the same time, BUT, in US! However I figured everything out too late. What tests I need, how does it work anyway, etc. I have many questions, and not so many answers. I apologize for putting the same Thread in several forums, I did it because of different questions (about tests, colleges etc), so if moderators think they are unnecessary , delete them, just let me know before you do it.</p>

<p>Anyway, all of this probably won't make a lot of sense (how it got from simple life goals to extremely complex ones), and you would probably understand it only if I told you the whole story, but the message would be too long. (I can do it on PM however)</p>

<p>So, here are the questions.</p>

<ol>
<li>Colleges</li>
</ol>

<p>Considering I want to study Biology as major and economy as minor, OR only biology OR economy as major. Which college would suit me the best?My grades in high school are: 4,2(1st year)3,9(2nd year)4,5(3rd year) and now I am the 4th year. I don't know how to translate these into your system(GPA). We don't use A B C D E F, we use numbers, from 5 to 1, 5 being A and 1 being F.
So not sure if 4,2 would be 3,2 or not. Also college should be in NY or LA.
For now, ignore the fact that I don't have money to afford an expensive college, and that I haven't written SAT/ACT or TOEFL yet.
I would just like to know what are your advices.</p>

<ol>
<li>SAT, TOEFL tests.</li>
</ol>

<p>I don't understand how should IO study for these. I have two huge books (one from College Confidental and another one from...I don't know the name, but also for these tests)
There are only test examples in them. I thought these books would have some material to study from. Test examples are great, but it doesn't cover everything. Or at least I think so. So I guess my question would be:
How to study for SAT/ACT, TOEFL and other tests?! Is looking at example tests really enough?</p>

<ol>
<li>Money.</li>
</ol>

<p>I don't have money for college, so how can I raise my chances of getting into a college (whether as a transfer student or graduate student) I haven't really had any activities during high school (lack of money :D ) and I just started looking for volunteering (lets just say that i have never heard, anyone in my school talk about volunteering, let alone about being a volunteer) so I know my chances are almost none, but this is what I really want( I wouldn't say this if I didn't mean it, I did some stuff students don't do here usually, such as college interview,so I am not saying it just like that), so yeah.</p>

<ol>
<li>Transfer and exchange.</li>
</ol>

<p>What are the chances of coming to a college from Europe to US, as a exchange student, and transferring to that college ( due to being a good student or something, Idk) Is it even possible?</p>

<p>I had some other questions...but I forgot them, so I will just post them later.
If you have any advice about anything I asked please tell me. Any help, even just a link or an e-mail of someone who could help me would be highly appreciated! You can send me a PM too.
Again, sorry for posting same topics. Remove them if necessary.</p>

<p>Thanks!
Cheers :)</p>

<p>Hi, </p>

<p>I’m a student currently doing 11th grade in India. I am a beginner too. But i could possibly help you with one part, The books. I’d reccomend you buy SAT 2400 and Hot Words for the SAT By Barron’s and “How To Write A Killer SAT Essay” By Tom Clements. :)</p>

<p>Thanks. Actually, right now I have three books. SAT book by Kaplan. Strategies, practice and reviews. Then, The official study guide for SAT subjects (or something like that) by College board. And I have a small book about writing essays (in 10 steps). </p>

<p>But I still don’t understand how to study from it. I mean, obviously, these books are helpful, but I thought there were books with actual materials to study from. I can learn all those answers from practice tests, but I am not going to get same questions on my SAT. Thanks for your help :)</p>