I’m from india. Gender- male
I do not have mind blowing stats
SAT math- 800
ACT-33
GPA - 3.4
ECS
Knows spanish
Top 10 percent scorer in the international breakthrough junior challenge
National Inspire award winner
Can I get into any US colleges? Please suggest some colleges for me!
Major-physics
I cant afford more than 10 k per annum.
Please help me. I need your advice guys!
Others may be able to offer specific suggestions, but if I were you, I would start by compiling a list of schools that offer financial aid (either need-based or merit-based) to international students and then looking within that group for schools where your stats would be attractive. A lot of schools do not offer aid to international students, so you don’t want to waste time falling in love with any of those. I just searched on “colleges that offer financial aid to international students” and had some helpful hits. Also, almost every US college has at least one admissions officers with specific responsibility for international students. If you find a school that seems like it might be a fit, you could reach out to the relevant admissions officer and ask for additional information. Good luck to you.
Thank you so much. Does Reed college fit into my stats??
I searched some and Colby, Swathmore, Haverforth, Grinnel and Colgate seem to be Pretty good. Do they fit my stats? Am i a good enough candidate for any of these colleges?
The more aid you need, the more you have to be an outstanding HS student
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/
First, just a comment about your second “please help me” post less than an hour after the first post… those were sent after midnight for most of the US. Maybe look at time zones when wondering why no one is answering next time.
Then: Does your $10k a year budget include everything including flights from India, accommodation, food, books etc? If you want a lot of aid, you are going to need to generally be in the top quartile or top decile of applicants to get merit. Your stats vs those of the colleges you mentioned probably don’t line up - check each college website for freshman profile or admitted student profiles to see how you stack up. Being “good enough” for a college is not the same as “good enough to get a big merit scholarship” at the same college. International need blind colleges only number a handful of extremely competitive schools, so you need to chase merit. You will certainly need a local plan B.
Yes. It includes everything. So no colleges for me in the US given my aid needs?
Where are you studying now? Are you in the US or India or somewhere else?
Does your high school grade on a 4 point scale, or did you calculate that 3.4 based on a formula?
Be sure to explore college options in India as well.
That wasn’t what I said, let me rephrase for you: you not only need to find colleges that give merit aid to internationals, but you need to “lower your sights” because you need your gpa and stats to be significantly higher than average at any particular college to get decent merit aid. I do think the chances of finding a school at that level that will essentially give you a full ride is probably quite low though, so make sure you have good options at home, or other countries that do not cost as much as the US.
I understand. Thanks for clarification. One more question: Can you please lead me into “lowering my sights” by suggesting just a few colleges where I m more likey to fit? I would appreciate your help.
There are 3000 or so colleges, I’m sorry but I don’t personally have time to research which ones would both have you in the 75th or higher percentile and offer merit aid to internationals, especially with no idea about your preferences as to location, size etc. you need to get on the Internet and start researching using appropriate search terms!
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
This list is several years old, but it is a place for you to start looking for automatic merit. Check each of the universities listed to see if the scholarships still exist and if they are available for international students.
Read through the International sub forum too. Lots of good information there. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/
Is that 3.4 weighted (with added points for more difficult classes?) How was it calculated?
Are you CBSE or IGCSE/ALevels?
You can apply to different colleges
- automatic merit scholarships for stats
- competitive merit scholarships for stats
- meet need colleges
1)= check the “Yola” link provided above then the actual website for each university (as conditions often have changed).
2)= competitive scholarships you may have a shot at: Wilson at Appalachian State, Aiken at College of Charleston, Charger at UAlabama Huntsville, FAMU, UNT, Boise State, UCentral Arkansas, Miami Ohio, UI-S …(if their scholarships are open to non citizens)
You’ll do better if your weighted GPA is 3.5+ though so it all depends on whether that GPA is real or “translated” and if real if it’s weighted or unweighted.
3)= Reed likes 3.75+ but generally speaking you have better odds at LACs in the Midwest (upper Midwest and plains included) and South. For top LACs the most likely to have enough money for you, you’d need a much higher GPA.