I’m applying to colleges next week. I’ve got a 116 on my TOEFL, three national awards, 1400 on my SAT, and am in the top 10% of the country. Also strong ECs with many leadership roles and strong letters of recommendation (among which Dean and Principal)
My college list so far:
- Safety:
Manhattanville College
Ohio Wesleyan University
Wittenberg University
- Match:
Ithaca College
Creighton University
Hofstra University
Drake University
- Reach:
Denison University
Emerson College
Should I skip any colleges (and why) or add any? I’m hoping to receive good merit awards and would also like LACs with some sort of need-based aid for international students, though not required.
Please let me know! Thanks!
With your stats you could also consider looking into Vassar College and Connecticut College as high reaches. Good luck! 
I think you can do much better than Hofstra.
What’s your intended major, what are your geographic/size preferences?
Thank you! I hope to major in Media Communications/Communication Studies and if possible double major with Journalism or Marketing.
My school doesn’t do GPAs (different country) but I’ve got a lot of As, some Bs and the occassional C. In grade 9 I had some Ds but there’s a clear upward trend visible in my grades.
My Dean also added a statement with that I follow a level of education that only the top 2% of the country does. I’m just worried that the fact that my grades seem lower may reflect poorly on my application, even though my Dean has added a statement and the rest of my application is impressive and I’m also a first-gen student.
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some sort of need-based aid for international students, though not required.
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Statements like this are curious to me. If need-based aid isn’t required, then how would you expect to qualify for need-based aid??
I am sure I qualify for need-based aid because I only have one parent and that parent only makes 21k a year. But I know that some colleges don’t award need-based aid to international students but are very generous with their merit aid.
Does that clarify things for you?
How much aid do you need? Do you have a solid financial safety in your home country?
University education is almost free in my home country, only a 2000 euros tuition fee and then 500 euros for books. There’s also no selection process, any student with a pre-university high school diploma can attend, meaning that there is a financial safety for me. 
I can pay 15k dollars a year toward my education in the States, which is a loan I take from my country’s government for education.
Ok, so you need full tuition scholarships.
Remove Hofstra and Emerson as they don’t have this level of funding.
Add Earlham, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Dickinson.
I’d add Macalester and URchimond, too.
Apply soon to Mizzou (journalism), Temple, Ohio University, SUNY Albany?
Not sure about GMU for scholarships but strong for com.
Note that in the US, media studies/communication is often not seen as a “serious” major so you may want to look at other majors, looking for the dpt/college where classes such as “intercultural communication”, “interpersonal communication” are situated, which may be in other departments (psychology, leadership, management, business).
Some colleges are very good at communication but I don’t think they have enough scholarships.
Wow! Thank you so much for this! This type of advice is exactly what I’ve been looking for.
Just a question: some colleges also offer marketing or advertising. Are these majors also not very esteemed or would they be a good alternative?
I’ll definitely look into and add these colleges!
Not all colleges offer marketing, journalism or advertising – especially not a lot liberal arts colleges suggested by MYOS. As an alternative, you might consider economics, for example, with something like film/media studies.
University of Missouri’s journalism program is very competitive, and it’s pure journalism, TV production, etc. It’s for people who want to be journalists, not “communications” majors.
Marketing needs to e complemented with a serious background in statistics.
Advertising is very specialized.
All in all, diversifying your list will serve you well.