Hi all,
I was wondering if anyone could think of any colleges that would offer a scholarship for the stats listed above (preferably automatic). Also, can anyone link me to any automatic scholarships available to international students? I have not yet taken the SAT or ACT.
P.S I’m not really a junior anymore, I’m in my senior year starting this month until the end of November (the school year here runs from January to November/December).
Another thing I should say, my grades are given on a 1-7 scale, so I was simply using a converter to convert what I think I might get. I do six subjects and I’m aiming for the following grades: 6, 6, 6 and 7, 7 , 7, which I calculated to be a 6.5 GPA on a 7 point scale and then used this converter to convert that to a 4.0 scale http://em.tsu.edu/registrar/gpacc.php
There is VERY few MERIT scholarships that depend on GPA only. No SAT/ACT score=no money.
Period.
For need based, 3.7 is far from competitive enough in top colleges that give need based aid unless you are international/national level genius or gifted student
6,6,6, and 7,7,7 is like 39 for the IB, so, excellent.
But scholarships, for internationals, depend on your SAT or ACT score. So, study hard to prepare for that test!
For the automatic scholarship links, go to the financial aid forum on this website, and click on the pinned threads on top.
Good luck!
By the way, DON"T CONVERT YOUR SCHOOL GRADE TO GPA, EVER.
Colleges will barely ask you to do that
Your grades won’t keep you out of any U.S. college. Your scores and extracurricular activities – including talents and diversity factors – will also be important.
The easiest way to get financial aid is be in the income tier that qualifies for need-based aid and to get yourself admitted to a college that guarantees to meet full need. There’s no automatic income cut-off for need-based aid, but if your family is middle class or below you may qualify. Your family’s assets, investment, number of children will all influence the amount of aid you may be entitled to.
Below is a list of schools that guarantee to meet full need for internationals. You might write to a few financial aid offices and ask them to give you any idea of what your estimated family contribution would be.
Need blind and will meet full need: Amherst, Dartmouth, MIT, Harvard, Princeton, Yale.
Not need blind but will meet full need: Brown, Colby, Davidson, Emory, Hamilton, Macalester, Middlebury, Pomona,
Stanford, Swarthmore, U of Chicago, U of Pennsylvania, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams. There are others in this category; check the individual college websites.
If your family doesn’t qualify for enough need-based aid, you’ll have to research schools that offer merit aid to internationals. Merit aid awards are extremely competitive and often do not cover full tuition.
Here are a few colleges that offer merit-aid to internationals.
Carlton, Davidson, Dickinson, Emory, Kenyon, Mt. Holyoke, Rhodes, Smith. Again, there are others; you have to research specifically for merit-aid.
Adding some to @momrath list:
Need aware and 100% met: Bowdoin, U of Richmond, Washington and Lee, Occidental(VERY Competitive, only 2~5 students per year), Colorado College(very difficult). There are more but can’t remember
Need blind but doesn’t guarantee full: Cornell
Merit scholarship: UNC Chapel hill Robertson, Clark University LEEP scholarship, U of Alabama(main campus, Huntsville and Birmingham, main is the best in academics) merit scholarships based on GPA and SAT, Howard University(full ride merit scholarship), LSU merit scholarship, Fordham University merit scholarship(tuition+room).
Lots, if not all, of schools’ merit scholarships are open to international students as well but it’s unfortunate that many foreigners don’t know about it due to lack of people/resources for good advice.
Are you a senior now?
Thanks, @paul2752. I’m trying to keep a comprehensive list. Merit aid is difficult to pin down as it can vary from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands.
If OP is attending the school on next August/September, automatic/score based merit scholarships won’t be available for him. However, if he going to go to school on NEXT year, s/he will have chance.
You are welcome, @momrath
I believe Australian IB scores come out in early January. Perhaps that could work at some schools? Definitely too late for early action/decision or some merit scholarships with earlier deadlines.
Colgate - need aware, very competitive, but will give full need
Hi all, thank you for your answers! I am a senior now @momrath , and I’m also a girl 
Here’s the thing: my extracurriculars are terrible. In Australia, university admissions are based purely on grades and they’re super easy to get into (in my view, at least) unless it’s medicine or law (yes, we do those at undergraduate level here). Also- saying a 3.7 is wrong when I think about it because it’s cumulative GPA that matters and my grades in earlier years weren’t that great: another thing, only years 11 and 12 count for anything here 
so I slacked off majorly before then. So my GPA is probably closer to 3.25, but keep in mind for the last year I’ve been taking 6 IB subjects (since I’m doing the diploma), and before that I took Pre-IB classes, so I’m not sure if they would weight it or what. Would they even convert it into a GPA? Would they focus more on my final IB grade (that would be amazing! I’m hoping for a 39 or 40)?
I’ll explain my ECs and you guys can give me an idea of how bad they are?
-School choir: years 8 and 9 (year 8 is high school here, but I doubt colleges would count that)
-Optiminds (it’s like a creative group problem solving thing), made it to state level in year 7 but didn’t cut it in 8th grade. I don’t think I did it in 9th grade so it’s pretty much useless.
-School media team: years 10, 11 and 12. This team basically is like the school paper: we write articles on things that happen related to to the school for the school’s marketing on the Facebook and website.
Now, in IB you have to do CAS, which stands for Creativity, Action and Service. Basically, you have to do volunteering or other such activities (it can be like music lessons and stuff you pay for, as long as YOU don’t get paid for it, so not a job). You need to do 50 hours of creative stuff, 50 hours of action stuff (gym, jogging etc.) and 50 hours of service stuff. So basically I will have at least 50 hours volunteering but most of this will be in junior and senior year, with most of it in senior year. And you need to do one leadership project of 30 hours that needs to be at least TWO of creativity, action and service.
This is what I’ve done for CAS so far/am going to do this year:
-I’ve counted the school media team for creativity (15 hours, you can only count each activity for 15 hours).
-Volunteering at a local festival of theatre, music etc. It’s known as the ‘training ground’ for festival workers. I enjoyed doing this a lot since I’m an artsy person.
-Helping out with a group at school that raises money and awareness for Guide Dogs.
-French study tour (we were allowed to count a trip we did to France for language immersion)
-Art group: basically they meet every week and do visual art (I suck at art but it’s basically just to try something new and stuff). I will be starting it this year as previously it was on a day I was busy, so I couldn’t do it last year.
-Gym (that counts for CAS but won’t count for anything as an EC I imagine :’) )
Now, my leadership project:
-At my school we have a garden, and last year we had some girls that looked after it, but they’ve obviously graduated now. So a girl from my homeroom and I are taking over the project. Basically, we will meet regularly to talk about how we can make the garden a more pleasant space, we will physically garden and we will likely try and raise money and awareness in the school with a bake sale or something of the like. I will probably be doing most of the work.
Last year I was also planning on starting a tutoring group, which I might still do for ECs and CAS (I need a bit more CAS). Basically, I wouldn’t do a lot of the actual tutoring (though I likely will for a subject I’ve finished and done quite well in), but I would organise a way for older students or students that are simply strong in a particular subject to meet once a week or something with younger students, and the older students can gain CAS for helping out 
I was really excited about this idea (it was going to be my leadership project) but I never implemented it 
I’m sorry for writing so much! But please give me an idea of a) schools you think I would get into, b) schools where I might get merit aid.
Oh also! In terms of when I’d apply. Here’s the thing. I graduate in November 2015 and get my IB results in early January 2016. What I’m thinking of doing is applying for Australian universities, basically inevitably getting in, accepting the one I want and then deferring a year. But the problem is- I would have to apply for colleges early action (so like, November 2016), so that I can find out if I got in early enough. Because, university in Australia starts in mid February, so if I only found out in March- that wouldn’t be good!
Basically, I’m thinking of taking a gap year and applying for colleges, and then when I’ve found out where I’ve gotten in and what aid I’ve gotten I will either enrol in a US college for Fall 2017 or go to an Australian university in February 2017.
However, it would be best if I could avoid the gap year (I’m not saying I’m not pro a gap year, I just haven’t decided yet if I want to take one). So, would I be able to apply to colleges November 2015 with the predicted IB results I receive mid-late this year?
Thank you!
Another thing- I’m an aspiring writer (specifically, poetry. But I enjoy writing narrative fiction as well, it’s just not really my strongsuit). If I were to get one or two poems published in some minor literary journals would that look good for an application? It’s a dream of mine to get some stuff published soon anyway
I apologise, when saying I was a senior I meant to tag @paul2752 not @momrath
The crux of the matter here is that merit scholarships will depend on your SAT or ACT score.
Until you have one, we can’t tell you anything.
In addition, what’s your parents’ budget? We could suggest schools from UMass to UNC-Wilmington to Gustavus Adolphus to Hendrix, but that wouldn’t really help without scores and a budget…
To answer your other questions: yes your predicted IB score will factor heavily in the evaluation of your credentials, but all schooling from Year 9 to IB will matter too, and if you have a national diploma for these years those will be factored in, too.
Thank you @MYOS1634 Yes, I understand that SAT/ACT scores are important in calculating merit awards. But my main issue is this: even if I scored a magnificently good score on the SAT, would my mediocre GPA bring down my chances at aid or even admission at some colleges? Do they place more emphasis on scores or GPA?
In your case, your GPA is your IB predicted scores + whatever you did before that. But there are lots of students with high GPAs. Fewer have high SAT/ACT scores. Less common = more desirable = better odds of scholarship.
@AustralianJunior Just posted a response on your other thread.
How much financial aid do you need? Are you sure that you won’t qualify for need based aid? This is a lot easier to come by than merit aid. You need to have a heart to heart talk with your parents to find out how much they are willing/able to spend on sending you to an American college.
If you can work out the finances, the next step is to control what you can control. Every applicant has weak points and strong points. It’s up to you to emphasize your strengths. Your past grades are history, so don’t continue to fret over them. Keep up the good work for your senior year.
Prepare for the SAT and/or the ACT. You may need to take it more than once. Some colleges also require SATIIs.
You have a year – or maybe two if you take a gap year – to distill and enhance your extracurriculars. Pick one or two activities that you enjoy and care about and plunge in. I think you have the beginning of several good ECs: the school media team, the garden project, tutoring, whatever it is that makes you “artsy.” If you take a gap year, make sure it’s productive.
You can reinforce your interests in your essays and recommendations. It matters less what it is you do and more that you commit yourself to do something that’s both engaging and challenging. American schools are looking for three dimensional students and ECs and talents help explain what makes you tick.
Remember, US schools seek diversity of all kinds – racial, religious, economic, geographic, cultural. Think about what you as an Australian could contribute to the campus community and make sure you communicate that in your essays.
My suggestion would be to look at Smith and Mt. Holyoke.