<p>Thanks to everyone who is dedicating some time to read this and even more to those who will answer...As an international student I am not very familiar with applications to U.S colleges, and not quite sure of my opportunities ahead</p>
<p>I graduated from high school back in my country last December and wasnt able to take the SAT before due to my enrollment in army and my volunteered community service in the rural areas of my nation . I didnt perform as I expected, poorly 1480. I have been preparing to take the next SAT, and hopefully achieve a better score to compete for a place in the top engineering schools like Michigan, Purdue, VAtech, Urbana Champaign among others. However I would like to know how much this gap in my education will affect my chances of being admitted to such schools. Do I still have a chance to be admitted as a freshman? I havent enrolled to any university in my home country, dedicating my time fully to score higher on this test, so I dont know if I can still apply and enroll as a freshman in the following semester, maybe spring semester? Or will I have to wait for a whole year to apply? And in that case, how much worse can that affect my chances of getting in? and how much do I need to score in order to be accepted there? I can pay fully for college, my toelf is score is 90, my gpa in my country is around 6/7 which is transformed into 3.O back in high school I took up to 17 different subjects a year. I am not a native English speaker nor did study at an international school, but I really want to make it in the US. Thanks again</p>
<p>Yes, you are considered a freshman applicant. I’m not sure how much the gap years will affect your chances of admission, as an international applicant. I’m a US citizen who actually took TWO gap years before applying to college; in spite of the gap years, I was accepted into all of the schools I applied to. So I don’t think it will have too much of a negative impact on your chances.</p>
<p>Yes, if you have never attended college, you would apply as a first-time college student. Age alone does not make you a transfer student. :)</p>
<p>Time away from school won’t hurt your chances. An unproductive break will. Just make sure to do something besides studying for your SATs. You can work a job, volunteer, do an internship, submit a project for an engineering competition, etc. </p>
<p>Also double-check your college list to see if your TOEFL score is sufficient. Some selective universities require a minimum TOEFL score of 100. Whether or not you opt to retake the TOEFL, it might be in your best interest to work on your English before you head off to college.</p>
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Some universities admit new students in the spring, some do not. You’ll have to check with them.</p>
<p>^in addition to all above, do not forget the financial aid policies. As an international student, the more you ask for financial aid, the lesser your chances get. So.</p>
<p>Adcoms are familiar with military and service requirements, December graduations, etc, in some countries. Agree you have to check TOEFL minimums needed. If you really are 6/7 gpa, looks more like 3.4 to me. (It’s how US adcoms perceive it, not your hs- it can matter what the top gpa’s usually are from your hs.) But that B/B+ may be less competitive for some colleges. You want to see that all the classes most important to engineering are at the highest level possible and that you got top grades in those. Ie, math, physics, etc.</p>