Is it worth trying?

<p>I'm an international student from Croatia. I'm interested what would be my chances of getting into need-blind colleges in USA (undergraduate study). So these schools would be: MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth and Amherst. I'm only able to pay up to 8k-10k $/year :/.</p>

<p>I'm currently in my junior year so I'll be applying to these schools a year from now. So my question is if applying to these schools is worth my time and money (SAT and TOEFL is quite expensive in my country ).</p>

<p>SAT: I didn't take it yet. I tried it once and I got about 2000 (I know that it's not enough, I scored 800 in math section but WR and CR are high 500's and low 600's). I'm going to study english hard and I think that I could get to 2200's.</p>

<p>GPA: Croatian system is much different when compared to one in the US. We don't have any AP classes (at least they aren't official ) and our grading system is from 1 to 5 (where 5 is the best). I was able to convert my scores to unweighted GPA</p>

<p>YEAR 1: 3.73
YEAR 2: 3.79
YEAR 3: don't know yet</p>

<p>My school is considered to be the best in Croatia (especially for math/physics/chem/bio ). And we have 15 different subjects each week (In USA system this number is smaller?)</p>

<p>EC's
I play the piano (was going to piano school for 4 years).
I'm also singing in a latin choir in my school.</p>

<p>I've been on national competitions in informatics (programming and algorithms) since I was 12 EVERY year. I was a national champion when I was 14 (that was still elementary school, your 8th grade, I don't know if it counts ). In my first year of high school I was 3rd. In my second 5th.</p>

<p>In my school we had some sort of an IQ testing, and I was recognized as a gifted student. My school has some sort of agreement with our best Croatian college for math/bio/chem/physics where we can consult with professors there and work on our own projects (that's only for gifted students ). For the past two years I've been working with electromagnetism. We also had an organized trip to Germany where we were in DLR school lab (DLR is an institute for aerospace, traffic and energy ) and I have a certificate of being there and doing experiments.</p>

<p>I'm taking extra classes of math, informatics and physics (but that can't be confirmed :/, these classes are held by past competitors from these subjects who are now on college)</p>

<p>I'm also taking courses of neurobiology (but also from past competitors) and know how to get around Yale's program NEURON.</p>

<p>I could potentially have two international competitions:
ACSL (American computer science league)
IYPT (International young physicists tournament)</p>

<p>This are the most important things I can remember at the moment. There are more for sure.
Just tell me what I can do to make my application better, or should I stop because there is no hope? Will the fact that I'm from Croatia help me?</p>

<p>And I'm interested in studying biology. (major in neurobiology I think)</p>

<p>If you get into Harvard or Yale, by the grace of God, you’ll likely get full-ride or full-tuition.</p>

<p>But, if you do well on the ACSL and the IYPT, you might have a chance.</p>

<p>Are you interested in need-blind colleges only? There are other institutions giving aid to international students.
If you can score 2000 now and are willing to prepare and feel confident, definitely try!</p>

<p>I wrote down that I can only spend 8k-10k $/year (that is tuition+rent+food, all in all, everything). So if there are any other not need-blind colleges but which would give me enough money so that 8k-10k would cover the rest I would really like to know.</p>

<p>[Colleges</a> That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need]Colleges”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2012/02/16/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need)</p>

<p>All of those colleges meet 100% financial aid needs of their undergrads. They don’t all necessarily apply to international students, but if the school is on the list you shouldn’t hesitate to check since they might give you more than enough anyway.</p>

<p>bump. Can someone recommend me some colleges that would accept me for sure and give me a merit scholarship?</p>

<p>@Croata - Jacobs University Bremen, UPenn, UChicago & Stanford they might give you good aid. If you can get 1470+/1600 on SAT(M+CR) try SUNY at buffalo and Boston University, they’ll cover your Total cost of living and education via presidential scholarships/Trustee scholarships;. Also apply to NUS(National University of Singapore) and NYUAD(New York Uni at Abu Dhabi) as for these two, SATs are not a requirement. Good Luck with your college applications.</p>

<p>@Croata - Hey! Also try SMU(Singapore management University & Nanyang Technological Institute)</p>