<p>Hi, everybody... I am an international student who would like to study in the USA after graduating in high school. Well, my desire to go there burns me because I love Pure Mathematics (which I study a lot), and I love also Philosophy, but I am obliged to study Physics, Engineering Sciences and some other subjects in parallel, in high school... -_-
Well, I would like to double major in Pure Mathematics and Philosophy, and I would like to opt for a Minor in Psychology. I am applying for the Fall Term 2012, and I am preparing the SAT and SAT Subject Tests at the moment. I have previously taken the TOEFL (April, 30, 2011), but my score was relatively low (88). I was sick and I was afraid, so I didn't do well on the test... I am planning to take the SAT in the 19th of November 2011, the SAT II (Mathematics Level 2 + Physics + French) in the 3rd of December 2011, and the TOEFL either on the 2nd or the 9th of December. I have been searching for many colleges and universities that would fit into the model I have in mind, which can be broken into some components :
-Double Major;
-Accelerated Study;
-Full-time study;
-Pure Mathematics, Philosophy and Psychology;
-Financial Aid;
-Housing available for international first-year students;</p>
<p>The problem is that I really need to get some scholarship(s) because my father cannot afford the tuition and costs... His annual salary is about 31,000 $, which is obviously not enough. So I am trying to put all the odds in my favor.
My GPAs were : 4/4 for the 11th grade, 4/4 for the 10th grade, and 4/4 for the 9th grade. My mathematical abilities are highest at school, and so is it concerning Philosophy and English. (We study Philosophy in high school, in my country.)
I have participated in the Mathematics Olympiads of our high school and I won twice. (Last year and this year.) I have participated in a French writing contest ("Le Prix du Jeune </p>
<p>Look into Rutgers University - New Brunswick. It has a top 20 mathematics program and a top 3 philosophy program.</p>
<p>It would be difficult to assess chance without test-scores. However, you do have a unique background and have great ECs. I hope you get into your top college and program. Good Luck!</p>
<p>One of them is a religious (evangelical Protestant Christian) school. If that does not describe your religious faith, it may not be that good a fit for you.</p>
<p>Other suggestions:</p>
<p>Michigan, Ann Arbor
Harvard
Stanford
Berkeley
UCLA
UCSD
Wisconsin, Madison
UNC, Chapel Hill
New York University
Maryland, College Park
Minnesota, Twin Cities (note: relatively low price)</p>
<p>My senior year roommate at Knox College was a math/philosophy double major. Knox also prides itself on its high percentage of international students. It’s in Illinois and competes in athletics and in some academic competitions against Ripon and Grinnell, which are already on your list. I don’t know what their scholarships are like for international students, but it’s worth looking into.</p>
<p>As a math/phil major myself, I’ve met a fair share of international students who like to study mathematics and/or philosophy while at McGill University. It’s a lot cheaper than American schools. Sure, endowment is nowhere near top American schools but to be honest the academics are great. You’ll have enough good professors at McGill to give you a good education. But really, for an international student looking for an affordable university education, McGill is a pretty solid choice. Also given that you’re Moroccan and post in French forums, life in Montreal will be pretty easy to adjust to (maybe aside from the winter)</p>
<p>Thanks, people. ^<em>^
I will come back as soon as I get my SAT scores. ;D
But I can’t apply to Harvard. It’s the most selective school, and it frightens my father, financially speaking. It’s the same for Berkeley and Stanford. I mean : I am already applying for two monster universities… xD
Do I seriously have a chance to get there ?
I am talking about the Wheaton in Massachussetts. And I have no faith. Not only when it comes to religion, but many other domains (like Science, and so forth) because I am a nihilist. So I am not an anti-theist, but it would be better to get into a non-religiously affiliated school. (I’ll stop speaking about this. If someone wants to debate about that, he/she can ask for my e-mail or Facebook. It would be a pleasure, but not here. n</em>n)
And normally, I should get something around the 800s in Mathematics level II, French and Physics. All of them are easy for me, and I still have one month to prepare. I write nearly perfect essays in the Writing Section of the SAT I. I only have problems with word choice, because of the time, but I try to cope with it. And I do something like 2 or 3 mistakes in Passage-based CR tests. I am also trying to improve my vocabulary as much as possible for the Sentence Completion Section and the Improving Sentences Section. And the Mathematics Section is a piece of cake. I’ll wait and see.
I will also take a look at the universities and colleges you told me about.
Thank you again !
I have just seen the fifth reply. Well, a friend of mine has also told me about McGill, but I seriously do not want to go to Canada. I help people on this Forum only because I am used to it. But I would really prefer to study in the USA. I don’t like the Canadian lifestyle, so I will feel not that good, anyway… :(</p>
<p>Unfortunately, Michigan (as well as most good public universities) does not provide any financial aid to non-US citizens and is only moderately generous with OOS US citizens. As such, I would not recommend it, although its Philosophy and Psychology departments are generally ranked among the top 5 in the US and its Mathematics department among the top 10. For top departments, Mathematics and Philosophy at Michigan are unusually undergraduate-focused, almost LAC-like. Psychology is far more impersonal due to the large number of students who concentrate in that discipline, but the same could be said of any psychology department at any major research university.</p>
<p>MIT, Princeton and Williams are all on the OP’s list and are excellent choices. I would also add Amherst College, Dartmouth College and the University of Chicago. All those schools are reaches though, so selecting a couple of matches and safeties would be wise.</p>
<p>And do not understimate the Canadian lifestyle. Montreal has a culture as captivating as any in North America. McGill would be a safety for you and would cost roughly half of the cost of going to the US.</p>
<p>But don’t forget, what is really essential for me is Pure Mathematics (I insist on Pure because I dislike Applied Mathematics) and Philosophy, but also financial aid.
What does OP mean ?
And I do not underestimate the Canadian lifestyle. It is not about the culture or anything. It is just that I would love to go to the USA. Because I don’t think that I would opt for Canada if I am admitted in a US university.
Thanks again.</p>
<p>Salam,
Me too am a Moroccan student (1st year of high school ). Why don’t you choise an undergraduate program in a business school in USA, like what my brother did. He had the TOEFL, and studied BBA degree and he worked 4 years and now he’s studying the MBA (Master of Business Administration) in Univesrity of Pennsylvania. It’s a good idea, isn’t it ? That what am goind to do.</p>
<p>Well, I am not interested by anything related to the professional fields. I want to become a philosopher and a researcher in Pure Mathematics (maybe Topology, because I really like it). So I doesn’t seem like a good idea to me, at all… ^^</p>
<p>You are mistaken regarding the cost of attendance at McGill. For non-Canadiens tuition and fees is $17K/year. Additionally, there is a special financial aid program for students from developing countries which allows them to only pay the Quebec tuition rate which is $3,700/year. Interestingly, the Moroccan quota is one of the largest at 150 spots per year. </p>
<p>I think your chances would be excellent to get into such a program and there is no deal like it in the US. As an international student, financial aid is virtually non-existent in the US with a few exceptions such as MIT and Princeton. Universities in the US, as a general rule, see foreign countries as a source of full pay students, not as a group that needs financial aid. </p>
<p>I also don’t understand your comments about the Canadian lifestyle. It would be hard to tell it apart from the lifestyle in the Northeast or Midwestern US. Additionally, Montreal is a great multicultural city with McGill right in the middle of it. My nephew from France just started as a freshman and loves it. McGill is extremely well known internationally and highly ranked.</p>
<p>If I my memory works fine, McGill requires a 100 minimum score for the TOEFL. Will I get automatically rejected if I get a score like 90 + x where x < 10 ?</p>
<p>I don’t believe McGill has a strict cutoff for the TOEFL. 90+ should be just fine. </p>
<p>Since you are looking at being admitted somewhere with financial aid, you have infinitely more chances at McGill than MIT or Princeton. Admission rates for internationals at both schools are somewhere around 2%-4%. For MIT, unless you are an IMO medalist (and even then), you chances are nearly nil. </p>
<p>You are in a very difficult situation where you need financial aid as an international. The schools on your target list will happily admit you but won’t give you a dime! A number of them are already stingy with US residents so forget about internationals getting help. Don’t waste your time on application fees if you know the schools won’t help. You will just be very unhappy when you get the admission letters with zero dollars in aid. You also don’t qualify for student loans as a non-resident.</p>
<p>If I were you, I would take McGill very seriously as you can’t possibly find a better deal of an excellent university, at near zero tuition. You should contact the Moroccan student association at McGill (look up on their web site) and get more specific information than you can get on a general board such as CC.</p>
<p>Aren’t there any other schools that may give financial aid and that offer Pure Mathematics, Philosophy and Psychology Programs ? (+ Double Major, besides…)
Because I can’t only target McGill. Aren’t there any other schools in which I could get admitted somehow more easily than McGill or the schools I have listed ?</p>
<p>Your problem is similar to OOS students applying to public universities in the US. There are several threads on CC on the COAs for these schools. But again, do not expect any aid. At a bare minimum, it will cost you $25K/year at a public university including room & board. </p>
<p>Frankly, if I were you, if i could not get into McGill, I would work on a backup plan in France for instance where you can study for free and then come to the US for grad school. I have many Moroccan, Tunisian and Lebanese friends who followed that route some with great success. Undergraduate studies in the US are just very, very expensive!</p>
<p>It depends on your budget limit, but among US schools, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities has a relatively low list price compared to others ($18,060 per year tuition, $28,946 total estimate including room and board, books, and other expenses; see [Costs</a> and Aid](<a href=“http://admissions.tc.umn.edu/costsaid/tuition.html]Costs”>Cost of Attendance | Office of Admissions) ).</p>
<p>cellardweller : If you take into consideration the programs I’m opting for, it is impossible.
I will be obliged to study Physics and Computer Science if I want to study Pure Mathematics, in France. And I won’t be able to study Philosophy at the same time… I can only opt for the american system. And I hate the french way of teaching. I have been watching many French lectures in Mathematics on the net, and I have seen many courses notes. Sincerely, I have learned much more thanks to the MIT OCW, the IEP and some Schaum’s books I have found on the net.
I was asking if there were other schools that could be a good match for me. I am not necessarily looking for a great school… I am just looking for a school that offers the programs I want and that may help financially speaking. So do you know some schools that respect the criteria I have listed in my first post ?
And I still can’t know my budget limit, but it should be around the $15K, I think… My family’s income per year is around the $31K.
And, cellardweller, could you please tell what the acronyms you have used stand for ?</p>
