<p>Im a international student from Ireland. Im in the process of making a list of colleges that might 'fit' me.</p>
<p>At the moment I'm looking at </p>
<p>Swarthmore ( number one at the moment with yale )
Yale ( see above )
Brown
Princeton
Amherst
Williams</p>
<p>But i'd really like suggestions for more:)</p>
<p>important factors=
- liberal campus
- preferably east coast
- preferably near some kind of urban/ suburban area
- strong humanities departments ( I'm not a science/maths person. More languages, english lit, sociology, philosophy etc. )
- graduates go to good law schools<br>
- lots of student organisations and ECs to join
- Summer abroad opportunities
- Financial aid, preferably need based</p>
<p>I know my list is rather short, its just a preliminary one.
And as an international I researched the colleges I had heard of, which leads to the three big names on there:)</p>
<p>No one can offer suggestions without knowing your stats. What’s your gpa (weighted/unweighted)? Have you taken the SAT…if so, what are your scores? What kind of extra curricular activities are you involved in? Any awards?</p>
<p>This is a problem. Most (if not all) United States colleges are not need-blind when it comes to international applicants, which means that they will factor in your ability to pay for college when they decide whether to admit you. I don’t know what kinds of advice to offer, and I’m sure that others will be able to offer you better advice as an international applicant, but I thought I would go ahead and break the news to you.</p>
<p>In the mean time, go ahead and 1) post your scores and GPA and 2) find an Estimated Family Contribution calculator online and give us an idea of the level of your financial need.</p>
<p>The irish system doesn’t do continual assesment, its focused on a final exam in 7 subjects.
However im on line to get 600points in my leaving cert ( which is in the top 5-10% of the country as far as i know ).
Im also number one in my year out of about 100 students.</p>
<p>I haven’t taken the sats officially yet, will do this november. My practise tests tend to come out around 2150-2350.
My parents would be willing to give up to 10k a year. But no more, and I wouldn’t take on more than 5k of loans per year.</p>
<p>In Ireland our ec system isn’t as advanced as the u.s. one, the focus is on your end of school exams, there is no incentive to start ecs. My school only provides gaelic football and camogie. </p>
<p>My ecs include acting and putting on plays (5years), additionally I had a pivotal role in a play in Irish that won two national awards in two different competitions, I have also been involved with irish debating, wining regional competition finals several times.
I’ve been involved with a national competition called young social innovators, i was head of our team and we made it to the final.
I was the team head of a mock trial competition that went as far as the national finals. I’ve won several public speaking/ debating competitions. I’ve been a prefect for years. Im heavily involved in ‘greening’ up’ our school.
I’ve been involved with the school musical for two years. I’m an avid beekeeper. I also sail, row currachs and and build boats. </p>
<p>When it comes to volunteering by the time I apply it’ll have been just over two years weekly at a local shop which raises money for a charity that supports people with disabilities. I’m volunteering with the special olympics this summer. I’ve also volunteered at a summer school for children with disabilities for two summers. I’ve also run a marathon which raised over 1000 euro for a local charity which helps children with disabilities.</p>
<p>fiddlesticks,
didn’t realise it’d end up that long :O</p>
<p>All my ecs are less ‘structured’ than american student’s ecs are. There aren’t clubs to join so the setup is more what i do with my time rather than : this group meets twice a week. Will american colleges take this into account?</p>
<p>Don’t just look at the “elite” schools, you obviously are going to need a lot of aid. You should open up more. Plus, it’s especially hard as an international student to get into the colleges you are looking at since they have such a calculated rigor necessary for acceptance, and there is no real way to measure your success compared to American students. </p>
<p>Try looking at other schools, the ives are really overated and losing lots of credibility compared to other schools.</p>
<p>The elite schools you list do offer their own financial assistance to qualified international students but competition for admission is intense and even with near perfect stats, no one can assume they will be admitted.</p>
<p>And your descriptions would fit those of a lot of American state schools, which would give you aid. So, look into good state schools like Rutgers U in New Jersey, Penn State, any SUNY, etc.</p>
<p>I know, and normally Im wary of the whole ‘brand name is better’ thing. However coming from a country where people my age have heard of only a couple of uni’s & colleges it made sense to me to check out what I know about first.</p>
<p>for the record, my number one is pretty much swarthmore at this stage, which, for the record may as well be the worst LAC in the U.S. for all that my friends/relatives/teachers etc. know about it</p>
<p>If you are a girl why do you consider the “elite” liberal arts women’s colleges:
Wellesley, Smith, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt.Holyoke? They have a good fin aid for internationals I’ve heard.
And if you let us know your stats it would be really helpful!</p>
<p>tufts sounds like a great fit for you…idk anything about their law graduates though. but tufts seems very big with international students and humanitarian stuff. its also right in the suburbs of boston</p>