<p>None of the universities on your list are “good”, except perhaps South Dakota State which is a bit above the others. The difference between them is whether they’re basically open-enrollment, just a step above community college, or whether they have little standards like what in your country could be “academic track with C average” (vs. non academic track). Remember that in the UC, C is the minimum average to graduate. It’s like a 3 in Germany, a 6 in French-patterned systems, an E in British-patterned systems. </p>
<p>Have you clicked on the links above?</p>
<p>Since you have large work experience, apply to Berea. They only admit 5% applicants but if they admit you, it’s tuition-free and in exchange for 20 hours of work per week, generous donors and alumni ensure you have room&board covered as well as basics. Most students there are lower-middle class or poor in American terms (below 60,000 a year I think) and hard-working students.
As a work- college, they’ll be interested in a student with considerable work experience so you have a shot even if your SAT is average, and especially since your TOEFL is great.</p>
<p>Having held a job, progressed in it, held on to it for more than a year with many hours a week, is considered a great “activity” in the US. So, you could apply to some universities on the basis of this work. They’d have a much more expensive “sticker” price, but would likely have a lower net cost.</p>
<p>Some universities you should try and apply to - assuming you can pay 14,000 for room&board, and would have $3-4,000 for incidentals such as books, travel, health insurance…
Millsaps, Austin College, Westminster (UT), Lindenwood, Wisconsin-Superior, West Chester, East Carolina, CUNY-CSI, would be possibilities.
Look into the PASSHE schools:<a href=“Our Universities | PA State System of Higher Education”>http://www.passhe.edu/Pages/map.aspx</a></p>
<p>Do you HAVE to get away from your current country?
(We’re trying to figure out why a person might want to leave their country to go to Minot State or Georgia Gwinett, if they have a choice. Everybody’s scratching their head on this thread - we want to help you, but understand that either the universities are in a very, very cold climate, which is why they’re cheaper, or they’re very isolated, and/or on top of it, they may not be very good.)</p>
<p>As for your current list: I’d removed 1,2,3,4,5,10.</p>
<p>GA Gwinett is a new college, near Atlanta, so nice location and decent programs, but the State made lots of budget cuts, to the point they forced professors into “furlough” line assembly-line workers who don’t have enough to build… that doesn’t fill me with confidence in their budget… on the other hand, their facilities are certainly nicer than those in other countries, the professors are good, and there’s an honors program where your TOEFL would qualify you. So, you can keep it on the list, but… really… the students there aren’t good at all. Outside the honors college, it’s really not a good college.</p>
<p>Do you qualify for fee waivers (does your family make less than $40,000 a year? If so, you qualify).
Can you take the ACT in December, to see if you’d do better on that test?
Another solution would be to wait till you have your January SAT results. Then we’d be able to direct you better. In the meanwhile, study very very very hard to get a better score.</p>