PLEASE HELP!!! A Student from Taiwan

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I am an international student in Taiwan(I am no permanent resident><)
I come from a middle class family. My family earn only 40,000US a year.
Therefore, I have to work hard for my future.</p>

<p>Throughout 10-11 grade, I studied in the class for gifted science students at National Taichung First Senior High School(A PR98 or above school with 3-4 students earning International Science Olympia medal per year)</p>

<p>It wasn't until this April that I decided to apply Universities in the States.
Students in Taiwan are hard worker, and are solidly trained in science area. However the education there is test-oriented and top students strived hard for profitable jobs such as Doctors or Engineering. I don't want to be such narrow-minded, therefore I choose to be different from my peers.Now I am doing my high school completion at Edmonds Community College </p>

<p>I need full -scholarships(or Financial aid) to cover my tuition
My family can only afford 5000$ a year for living><
Therefore, private schools may be my only choices.
I left out the UCs(They don't give scholarships to International students)</p>

<p>I am working hard for the early action now</p>

<h2>Which school should I apply for early action?</h2>

<p>interests:
Biochemistry(Though I was trained in Math and Physics in Taiwan)
International Relations(Work in UN or NGO and to speak for Taiwan)
politcial science(Foreign Policies )
Social Science(esp. Sociology, work in NGO)
Religion studies(Would like to become a Pastor in the future maybe)</p>

<hr>

<p>A friend of mine in Princeton recommended these schools for me</p>

<p>Reach: MIT, Amherst, Williams,Duke(Rumor has it that they favor Taiwanese students)
Cornel,Rice</p>

<p>Match: UW, Notre Dame, Boston College, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Uof Washington</p>

<h2>Safe: Tulane, George Washington, Lehigh</h2>

<p>Academic Performance:
1. 3.9 GPA
2. average grade: top 5% in my school
3. SAT1 around 2000(Just took my first SAT on 10/10)
Reading:around 610 Math :800definitely Writing:around610
4.SAT2 Math2, Physics,Chemistry around 780-800
5.TOEFL(IBT) 111
Reading 30 Listening28 Speaking24 Writing29</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activites:</p>

<p>1.Represented TCFSH for the Central Taiwan
Science Fair(A Physics project about Chladni patterns)</p>

<p>2.Admitted in Tsing Hua University Physics department cultivating project for High School Students</p>

<p>3.Taiwan Mathematic Region League Competition : Group Bronze medal</p>

<ol>
<li>2nd in school English composition/ 5th in school English Speech contest
6th in school Chinese Speech</li>
</ol>

<p>5 Chief Coordinator of Class science-project presentation </p>

<p>(Thoroughout our 11 grade, every student has to complete a science project in universities.Besides presenting each of our science projects to 7 best classes for science-gifted students in Taiwan, we managed to combine self-produce films to entertain them. )</p>

<p>Camps:
(I have interests in biochemistry, social science, STS,international relations)
1. National Taiwan Univerisity Department of Electrical Engineering camp</p>

<p>2.National Taiwan University Department of Sociology Camp</p>

<p>3.Science, Technology and Society camp(A camp held by Ministry of Education about STS)</p>

<p>4.International Conference on Women Scientist(related to STS and women studies
about the restrictions Women faced in pursuing their interest in Science)</p>

<p>5.Taipei Medical School camp</p>

<p>Volunteering(I like playing with kids^^)</p>

<p>1.Volunteered in Hospital for caring senior citizens</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Simultaneous interpreter at church services for 1.5yr</p></li>
<li><p>Organized a summer camp for childrens in remoted area</p></li>
<li><p>Organized a Christmas party for childrens in Cancer Ward</p></li>
<li><p>Volunteered for the Red-cross and my church in the Morakot Typhoon post-reconstruction(This Typhoon strucked Taiwan heavily><)</p></li>
</ol>

<p>6.Volunteered for Mid Puget Sound (Fisheries and Environmental Enhancement Group)</p>

<h2>7.Help 2hr per week for the Office of Student Life in Edmonds Community College</h2>

<p>I am taking easier classes this semester so I can get 4.0
English for Academic purpose, (I renounce the opportunity in College English
US History</p>

<h2>Pre-cal141 (like10th grade in Taiwan)</h2>

<p>Thank you for you patience and your generosity
I would definitely reprocate and reply back to others in need!!^^
萬分謝謝(Thank you in Mandarin)</p>

<p>Addison Lin</p>

2

<p>Many of the schools you named as matches would probably be more like reaches. ND, BC, and Georgetown aren’t as selective as MIT or Duke but they’re still hard to get into. Also, of the colleges that you named, I’m pretty sure MIT, BC, Georgetown, and ND have EA while all of the others have ED.</p>

<p>I know that financial aid at many of these schools is very good but I don’t know if it is the same for international students.</p>

3

<p>You need to find schools that offer financial aids for international students.</p>

<p>According to a brochure from a join info session, Duke, Harvard, UPenn, Stanford meet 100% demonstrated need for international students. Georgetown U meets 100% need to some, but not all, international students.</p>

<p>Refer to this page
[Financial</a> Aid for International Student - Ask The Dean](<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000297.htm]Financial”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/archives/000297.htm)</p>

<p>The “College Search” in [::</a> College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5D::”>http://www.collegeboard.com) should help you narrow down the schools.
Then, go to each school web site, find “Financial aid” section to confirm and get more details.</p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>

4

<p>search “international student aid” on CC, you’ll find quite a few other threads on this topic.
Here is one
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/151609-international-student-aid.html?highlight=match+financial+aid[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/151609-international-student-aid.html?highlight=match+financial+aid&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

5

<p>Yeah…
I know
Because if I really need scholarship ,
I shouldn’t aim so high</p>

<p>what would the rank of my match be?</p>

<p>around 30-40?(with scholarship)</p>

<p>but thank you all for giving me this suggestions
and useful links</p>

<p>Thank you^^</p>

6

<p>I could be wrong but I heard international students are very competitive and harder to get aids due to very limited slots.</p>

<p>Don’t mean to discourage you. In addition to private funds, US students are eligible of federal funds and state funds. After all, we parents are paying big taxes. On the other hand, schools must pay for international students from their own school funds, thus the resource is quite limited.</p>

<p>If you research more on CC, you’ll find that most US students will apply to several schools, typically 2 safety, 2 match, and 2 to 3 reach. Some students may apply more.</p>

<p>In US, college admission is a very complex process. Every school is somehow different. Search for “common data set” or “facts” to get more details on each school. You can start from here.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/76444-links-common-data-sets-posted-colleges.html&lt;/a&gt;
Pay more attention to the admission section. For example, some schools may require # of SAT2 subjects and # years of science courses. It also shows which categories may be the most important factors to the school. For example, “showing interest” is very important to Brown but is only “considered” to MIT. Top schools tend to focus more on essays since the majority of the applicants are highly qualified students with high GPA and test scores.</p>

<p>Keep in mind, showing a “rigorous” transcript is far more important than getting a 4.0 GPA. I heard from many admission officers, when asked which is better, getting A on easy courses or getting B on difficult courses (AP or college level), they all said “getting A on difficult courses”. That shows that you can challenge yourself and can still handle well. Some people on CC would agree that getting B+ on a AP course is better than getting A on a easy course.</p>

<p>Just so you know, many top US students do finish Calc in high school. In Virgina, many advanced students take pre-calculus in 10th grade. My son took pre-calc in 10th and AP Calc BC in 11th. He is taking multi-variables Calc and AP Statistics in 12th grade.</p>

<p>Remember to aim low (safety) and aim high (reach), so you get a better chance of finding your next school. Since you are competing with other “international students”, so the admission statistics may be different.</p>

<p>Good luck!!</p>