Suggest for an international hopeful?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Something of a hopeless/very weird situation, but what the heck. Give me your worst, CC:</p>

<p>Female, citizen and resident of El Salvador (Central America), need tons of financial aid. (parents making ~20k this year)</p>

<p>-junior GPA 3.38 (should be 3.5 by end of senior year)
-top 25%
-SAT 1890, awaiting retake scores, should be a few points higher, but not much.
-only a handful of APs (Economics, Calc, Physics)
-[edit] taking SATIIs in december: World History, Math2c, Spanish (guaranteed but inconsequential 800 for that last one)</p>

<p>ECs:
Student Government for two years, academic varsity teams, Model UN for three years (outstanding delegate in three simulations), yearbook editor 2 years, runner-up in national spanish literature and language competition, science fair gold medal for all four high school years, 3-dan in kendo, fluent in japanese (but no tests to prove it), some logo and branding design jobs in personal portfolio, one short story published in a collection and one illustration published in an anthology.
(I think I listed absolutely everything- such is my desperation.)</p>

<p>My school up until junior year was a tiny, incestuous place where many teachers were grossly underqualified. Yet it is amongst the only "Bilingual Schools" in the country. I quit this year to pursue homeschooling via Keystone Online High School, which for the first time in my life allows me to take AP classes.</p>

<p>I'm pretty confident in my ability to whip up a decent essay and present an overall cohesive application, but I know my GPA is relatively abysmal and the fact that i need 75%+ of expenses covered is an immediate turnoff to adcoms.</p>

<p>I'm currently looking into
-Amherst and maaaybe Swat or Duke as a super-super-super reaches
-Holyoke
-Rhodes
-Goucher?</p>

<p>-and there's this little place called Notre Dame College in Baltimore, MD which I'm tempted to make my safety school, but honestly I'm wondering if I can't do a little better.</p>

<p>Basically I think those schools are a bit too much of a gamble and would like a couple slightly more luck-proof options?</p>

<p>I'm thinking to major in physics, and hoping for decent research opportunities. I don't care if if I have to pry for them, so long as they're there.</p>

<p>Any and all help is a godsend! Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>Bump! Nothing?
How realistic are my chaces for Mount Holyoke, really?</p>

<p>And I meant Reed as a super-super reach. Not Duke. My bad.</p>

3

<p>If you’re looking for research opportunities, I would also look at larger schools. I really don’t think you can get into Amherst, Reed or Mount Holyoke.</p>

<p>I currently go to Clemson University and we have great sciences programs. It’s a school to look into :)</p>

4

<p>Take a look at Grinnell College in Iowa. They have a lot of financial aid (12% of the student body is international), they are actively seeking hispanic students (international and domestic) to increase the level of diversity on campus, and they have a solid physics dept. Because it’s a Liberal Arts College, not a university, there is a trade-off: fewer research opportunities (but no competition with grad students for those opportunities), more individual mentoring by the faculty but fewer faculty to choose among. In Grinnell’s case, there is also a lot of money to support student research and study abroad. Other possible LACs-Macalester and Oberlin, but I can’t speak to the quality of the phyics dept. Based on your discription of your education to date, you are not in danger of maxing out the resources of any physics dept. at a well-respected liberal arts college.</p>

5

<p>@pierre, thanks a bunch but I looked into Clemson’s website and they’re not offering ait to foreign nationals so sadly it’s a no-go.</p>

<p>@M’s Mom, thanks! I think Grinnell’s a waaay better fit than Amhesrt, and I’m looking into Oberlin and Mac too. But I’ll definitely apply to Grinnell.</p>

<p>Hmm, anyone heard of Simmons in Boston?</p>