<p>^ Glad to learn more about Berea. I didn’t realize their aid also could go to international students.</p>
<p>Admissions are very competitive for international students: only 5% get admitted. But the pool is different from the typical HYPM pool.</p>
<p>Yes, we are all familiar with those challenging Italian schools where you have to work so hard all the time and have no time left over to write essays or prepare for your standardized tests. It must really put all Italian students at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that you 28 ACT and “terrible” SAT scores are not going to get you into any top US college as an international applicant.</p>
<p>Time for you to reassess your plans.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thank you ! I’ll definetely apply to safeties</p>
<p>@mnm111 oh it surely wouldn’t put you amazingly sarcastic mind at disadvantage!
I mean what are our ancient greek courses compared to those incredibly hard latin AP courses where you decline rosa rosae your senior year ?
Must be so challenging .</p>
<p>This thread is getting pretty pointless, but I would remind OP that thinking all American HS are like some random American HS they happened to attend and blew the doors off of is the height of arrogance. Try seeing how you do at Stuyvesant in New York or Thomas Jefferson in Virginia or Harvard in Los Angeles, schools that feed the Ivies and are as rigorous as anything in your country. They manage to do well, write their essays, do ECs, and score 34-36 on the ACT. </p>
<p>And for the record, the SAT/ACT is more a measure of innate talent, not learning, which is why it’s so difficult to move your score. Even with massive effort, you will probably not rise above 31-32, and that’s not likely to get you into the full need schools for internationals. Forget thinking you can get into the top American schools because Americans are undereducated compared to you. There is no such thing as an “average” American, there are only individual Americans and the top ones can run circles around all of us. That’s who you’re up against, as well as the world’s top students - you’re not up against an average anything.</p>
<p>Penny, I am merely pointing out that you need to check your excuses at the door and accept that you cannot simply coast on your high gpa and expect to get into a top tier US college. There are lots of applicants with high GPAs, great test scores, and wonderful essays who do not get in. You only have one out of three.</p>
<p>@MrMom62<br>
I am definitely not assuming all americans are ‘’ uneducated ‘’ , as I have a lot of amazing american friends who are extremely clever and talented.
That being said the only ‘’ height of arrogance ‘’ in this post are your words .
I , you or anyone else is not up against anyone here . This college admission process is not a game and is not a fight and there is no such thing as ‘’ measure of innate talent ‘’ . Talent , passion , cleverness , those things can’t be measured and surely cannot be measured by some standardized test made up by some greedy folks who are happy to get all them money they get from it .
I also know those schools and their programs - and while I know for sure it’s not even a little as rigorous as ours - I do believe they had excellent students but I also know there are students who are far more excellent than the one you think can ‘’ run circles ‘’ around us .
Also me raising my scores is not your business but thanks for the prediction I’ll make a treasure out of it .</p>
<p>@mnm11 I know that . I don’t know the reason of the assumption that I won’t even try to improve my application .-.</p>
<p>Penny95, I think you need to move on. You are very unlikely to get a different result if you apply to the same places a second time. </p>
<p>Are you admitted somewhere for the fall? Do you have gap year plans? </p>
<p>@Lizardly again Princeton was an example ! I’m not stuck on it or anything -.-</p>
<p>Well, where in the US did you apply and where were you accepted? I’m truly trying to gauge your level of expectation with reality.</p>
<p>Wow! Just wow!</p>
<p>Nothing to see here - moving on.</p>
<p>Penny: I understand your ordeal since coming from a classical education to standardized testing is a shock and truly excellent students in systems where there are no standardized tests don’t know how to handle them. The fact you got a 28 is testimony to your ability - students from these systems that emphasize 4-hour essays tend to score in the 18-22 range. However they get over it and improve their scores, so that should be your goal. Will you be retaking the ACT in September and Subject tests in October or November? Of course you can’t take the italian SAT2 but what about the Latin one?
So, in the next application cycle, you’ll have a new ACT score, a new SAT Subject set, and your Laureà results. What you’ll need to add, starting as soon as you’re done with exams, is get involved in something. Over the summer it may be difficult as most things close, but you can already make plans of what to do. You can also blog about your experiences, I’m sure other Italian students would be interested. American colleges won’t just want top grades, they’ll want national prizes and awards of some sort.
You need to choose 3 colleges among those you applied to this year, and then apply to other colleges, either offering financial aid and located in places judged less desirable by internationals even though their academic credentials are strong (Wooster, Allegheny, Eckerd, Gustavus Adolphus), lower-cost publics with scholarships (New College of Florida - which, by the way, still accepts applications if you’re looking for a very intense academic experience), and big merit scholarships (see the sticky threads at the top of the financial aid forum.)</p>
<p>Penny: I wouldn’t apply to the same schools. They compare international students to other similar students in your region. If you achieved a 28 ACT score and a compatriot received a 33, they will take the student with the higher score. The Adcoms are smart and may remember you. If nothing has changed, you will again be rejected.</p>
<p>What you have to understand is that the universities are a business and they are buying a product, so they want the best for their money. It is an investment of time and money. The universities are limited in monies, and they have tens of thousands of students who apply, so they will choose those students (maybe 10 from 80,000 applications) who make the university look good. Essays that state why it’s your dream to go to their American university will be rejected. All of these students say it’s my “dream” school; pick me, pick me! Your essay has to show how you will contribute to the school, not the other way around. </p>
<p>If your number one priority was to be accepted to an American University with financial aid, and you didn’t prioritize everything that had to do with the application, then it wasn’t a true priority for you. It doesn’t matter that your school was difficult and that your schedule was so “hard”. Those are weak excuses for a one-time, one-shot application. </p>
<p>Please understand that American students are exceptionally good at multi-tasking; they go to classes, then their day just begins after class: clubs, sports competitions, volunteering, music lessons, work schedules and nightly homework. The average sleep schedule for all of my 3 children was 4 hours a night; and that was on a good week! Hard at your school, does not necessarily mean that it’s not hard on US students as well. </p>
<p>@Penny95 this is a serious (not sarcastic) question: why are you so intent on attending an American University with US students that are presumably inferior to you? Are there not schools in Italy that you would deem to be more suitable and filled with brilliant Italian students?</p>
<p>@penny95: I’m not familiar with Princeton (or with Williams) to know if they publish something similar, but look at this from Harvard: <a href=“http://www.hio.harvard.edu/abouthio/statistics/pdf/StudentsSchoolCountryRank13-14.pdf”>http://www.hio.harvard.edu/abouthio/statistics/pdf/StudentsSchoolCountryRank13-14.pdf</a>.</p>
<p>Column 2 “College” represents the total number of international students enrolled from specific countries at the undergraduate level. Divide those numbers by 4 to determine approximately how many students from your country are accepted every year. </p>
<p>For example, Harvard currently has 7 students from Italy, which means they accept about 2 Italian students every year. I’m going to guess the numbers are about the same at Princeton and Williams. So, your chances coming form Italy even with a 4.0 GPA and 2400 SAT’s are slim to none. That’s how difficult and competitive it is for international students. </p>