<p>Hi. I sat down a few days back and tried to budget the costs I expect to incur while applying to the US.
No of colleges=8
College app fee- Average= 65USD(Net 65<em>8=520USD)
SAT I report=11USD(88USD).
SAT II report= 11USD for two subjects(176USD)
CSS Profile= 25 USD + 11</em>7 USD=(102 USD)</p>
<p>Net cost=886 USD.
I can't afford that.
Assuming I can get a waiver from every college I apply to(annual family income=12000 USD), that would still leave the net costs at about=366 USD. I need to bring the net cost down to something below 300 USD.
Am I eligible for a waiver for anything else? I'm an international student from India.
(PS- I've heard that most colleges ask AP score self reporting and don't require the official reports until after admission. Is it true? Or do I need to figure that in my budget as well?)
(PPS- Some of the colleges that I'm applying to don't require/recommend SAT IIs. I could choose to not send them the reports and thereby save money, but I think the SAT IIs say a lot about my academic strengths. So should I send them or not?)</p>
I thought that SAT score reports automatically included all SAT scores (including subject test scores) unless you opted to use score choice? So your total for score reports should be 8*11USD.</p>
<p>
If you ask, some colleges might allow you to use the International Student Financial Aid Application. It’s a paper application, free to fill out and was popular before the CSS Profile was adapted for use by international students.</p>
<p>Also, since the no of colleges to which I will apply depends upon the no of application fee waivers I get, when should I apply for application fee waivers?</p>
The International Student Financial Aid Application? Yes, you’d send that by snail mail to every college individually together with supporting document. (You’d also have to send supporting documents by snail mail if you use the CSS Profile, but then you’d only have to send it to a single central location, which will scan the documents and make them available to all of your Profile schools.) </p>
<p>A quick quote from India Post suggests that mailing a large envelope to the US via airmail is less than $1, so you’d safe money over using the Profile. However, you have to check with colleges if they’d let you use the paper application. They may or may not.</p>
Consider the pros and cons of reporting your AP score at all. </p>
<p>Pro: You show that you understand basic physics. (Wasn’t that obvious from the rest of your application already?)</p>
<p>Cons:
You might give off the impression that physics is the only thing you are good at. If you were competent in anything else, why is physics the only AP exam you took?
If you get placed into courses based on your AP score, you’ll have to retake first-year physics. I would appear that you haven’t seen half of the first-year curriculum (the electricity and magnetism portion).</p>
<p>I got a full year of college credits for my German high school diploma and I got to place out of intro classes where ever I requested it. No AP scores necessary. I can’t promise you that your Indian credential will be treated the same way though.</p>
<p>I could only afford one AP exam, so I took Physics. But I’m good at a lot of other stuff too. He he. Won’t my school grades convey I’m good at English literature, classical languages, chem, music, C++ etc etc?
Also, I took AP Physics <em>C</em>. So is that basic?
I can take E&M next summer.
Also, colleges like MIT have separate sub-courses for Mech and E&M.
And Indian and American curricula are WAY different.</p>
Yes, it’s basic. In Europe that’s standard high school physics. In the US, the stronger students take it in high school and the average student in their first year of college. </p>
<p>If you want to impress MIT, you need to do well in the International Physics Olympiad. AP Physics ain’t gonna do it.</p>
<p>
Which begs the question: why did you take it at all? Did you self-study the material and wanted to prove that you’ve mastered it? Because if it’s part of your regular school curriculum, there’s no point in taking an AP exam. Your high school transcript would be proof enough.</p>
<p>Okay. I guess you’re right. That stuff is pretty basic by Indian standards too. I just thought it would leave no room for arguments about physics being my strength, as I’m not sure how well would adcoms interpret my Indian grades.</p>
<p>I understand. However, as long as your grades are strong for Indian standards, adcoms to the schools you are applying to will be much more concerned with your extra-ordinary accomplishments than details of your high school record. A friend at MIT, for example, told me that most international students at MIT had an award from an international math/science/engineering competition. </p>
<p>A contact at Princeton explained that they rate applications as follows. Each applicant gets assigned two numbers, reflecting their academic and non-academic accomplishments. 4 denotes an international accomplishment, 3 a national accomplishment, 2 a regional accomplishment, 1 a local accomplishment. Almost all admitted students scored at least a 5 (sum of the academic and non-academic scores) but they also rejected many 5 applicants (and almost everyone below). That was for domestic students though. International students will probably have to be even more special, given that Princeton can only admit the most outstanding individuals from each country.</p>
<p>Grades and a few AP scores are at the “local” level on Princeton’s scale. You want to invest your time into a much more ambitious project!</p>