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 ) 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>

<ol>
<li>SATs
The SAT books (the proper ones anyway) are mainly study guides and usually consist of all the material you need to study for that specific SAT. Some, however, are ones that only contain practice tests, for students to use after they are done studying the material. Its great that you already have that book, because you can use it to practice with it after you have pretty much memorized the Study Guide (not litterally, but the more you study and the more you know of the material, the better. the key to acing the SATs lies in how much study hours you put in your time.)</li>
</ol>

<p>Here’s a link to a book for the SAT I; Reasoning Test (it should tell you everything)
(basically, the test consists of three main Topics: Critical Reading, Writing, and Math and is the test all US colleges and universities mainly look at.)
[Cracking</a> the SAT, 2013 Edition (College Test Preparation): Princeton Review: 9780307944788: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-2013-College-Test-Preparation/dp/0307944786]Cracking”>http://www.amazon.com/Cracking-2013-College-Test-Preparation/dp/0307944786)</p>

<p>Considering you are planning to major in biology and/or economics, i advise you to take SAT II; Subject Tests (not needed by many colleges (mainly the top ones) but will give you a push if you do good.) (they are shorter than the SAT I, but are scored differently and each focuses on one subject only)
there is a variety of different types of this test and each focuses on a different subject, i recommend doing the biology and math subject tests…
Here are links to books about the SAT II; Biology subject test:
[Barron's</a> SAT Subject Test: Biology E/M, 3rd Edition (Barron’s the Leader in Test Preparation): Deborah T. Goldberg M.S.: 9780764146145: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764146149/admissionsconsul]Barron’s”>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764146149/admissionsconsul)
[Cracking</a> the SAT Biology E/M Subject Test, 2011-2012 Edition (College Test Preparation): Princeton Review: 9780375428104: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375428100/admissionsconsul]Cracking”>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0375428100/admissionsconsul)
And here are links to the SAT II; Math I & Math II subject tests:
[Barron's</a> SAT Subject Test Math Level 1, 4th Edition: Ira K. Wolf Ph.D.: 9781438000305: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/dp/1438000308]Barron’s”>http://www.amazon.com/dp/1438000308)
[Barron's</a> SAT Subject Test Math Level 2, 10th Edition: Richard Ku, Howard Dodge: 9781438000312: Amazon.com: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1438000316/admissionsconsul]Barron’s”>http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1438000316/admissionsconsul)</p>

<p>just go to [College</a> Admissions - SAT - University & College Search Tool](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5DCollege”>http://www.collegeboard.com) if you need to search anything, it’s great and helps in so many areas. (including things you have asked about LA or NY college and alot more things about the SATs.)</p>

<p>Thanks! I am definitely going to check them out. I have SAT book by Kaplan. Strategies, practice and reviews. And, The official study guide for SAT subjects (or something like that) by College board. From what I saw, both of these books have only practice tests. I will try to get books you suggested.</p>

<p>But beware that if you’re applying as a transfer, some colleges may not even ask for the SAT provided that you earned a particular number of hours. As for the toefl, I advice you to know the parts of the test, and solve as many sample exams. You’ll realise it’s an easy exam. Good luck ^^</p>

<p>You mean they might not look at my SAT scores?</p>