<p>I've been reading a lot of the posts on CC and I notice that a lot of them are 1) from people who live in international countries but go to American schools or 2) international students currently living in the U.S. I happen to belong to neither category. Anyway, I just finished the application haul, and I thought that I might share some advice for those who are in the same boat that I am. This isn't definitive, obviously, and other people may have different ideas, but this is a checklist of what I went through and some of the dumber mistakes I made. This might help other first-gen students who want to go the U.S. to study.</p>
<ol>
<li>Choosing colleges</li>
</ol>
<p>For prestige value, the U.S. News & World Report (College</a> Rankings | Best Colleges | US News) can give you all you need in this respect. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of colleges out there: Liberal Arts Colleges and public universities. Roughly speaking, LACs are smaller and provide more individual attention (and they're more expensive!) while public u's are larger and cheaper. If you can get a green card anytime soon, you can also take advantage of the in-state tuition that public u's get. But, eh, if you can't, then you get to pay out of state prices.</p>
<p>From a financial point of view, though, it's a bit of a different story. If you need a boatload of financial aid to go to college but really, really want to study in the U.S., then you have several options:</p>
<p>a) if you're a top scorer, there are several need-blind universities for international students: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth, and Amherst. There are also plenty of good schools out there that, while they're not need-blind to internationals, do promise to meet need should you be admitted. </p>
<p>a part 2) there are also several schools that promise free tuition for everyone admitted, yay! Admission is COMPETITIVE, though, since they're free. Some I know: Franklin Olin College of Engineering, Cooper Union, Webb Institute, Berea College, College of the Ozarks, Deep Springs (male only), Curtis Institute of Music. Some of these offer a full ride (tuition + room + board), while others only offer free tuition.</p>
<p>b) if you want a more reasonable school: there are schools out there that really want to boost their international numbers, and they're willing to shell out money for good applicants. Mind you, you still have to have a strong academic record, but international-friendly schools are more willing to bend the rules. Some nice LACs that I think want international students are Mt. Holyoke or Wesleyan College (female-only), Grinnell College, College of Wooster. There are probably a whole lot more that I don't know about, though. </p>
<p>c) Go public. One big caveat, though: while public universities are RELATIVELY cheaper, they're still pretty freaking expensive. Penn State, for example, is 30k+ a year for OOS students, and the downside is that most public u's don't offer financial aid to internationals, since the point of public u's is for them to educate the state's students. There's one way to get around this, though: honors colleges. Honors colleges are the scholarship exception, and getting in them generally nets you a certain amount of money. The exact amount varies, but it IS possible to get a full ride from a public hc.</p>
<ol>
<li>Testing</li>
</ol>
<p>It varies from school to school, but generally you'll need:</p>
<p>a) SAT: there are three parts to this test, Critical Reading, Writing, and Math. Pretty straightforward. </p>
<p>b) TOEFL: Some schools waive the TOEFL requirement if you get a certain score on your CR part of the SAT, but some don't. I'd say take it anyway.</p>
<p>c) SAT Subjects: Some schools waive these for international students, some don't. I do know that if you want to get into a decent engineering school, you're going to need at least chemistry or physics. Also, taking one in your native language is a bit pointless, but if the school just has a requirement to "take two SAT subjects" and you're at a loss for ideas, knock yourself out. Another easy one is the SAT Subject Math Level I.</p>
<p>d) AP: My school offered exactly zero AP courses, which is on par for the course when it comes to international schools. Don't worry about it. If you're reaaaallly determined to do one, though, you can still register for them at your local American school. I think the registration deadline is March 15, but call them ASAP after Feb. 1st to register.</p>
<ol>
<li>The application </li>
</ol>
<p>The most commonly used application is the commonapp (<a href="http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D">www.commonapp.org</a>), but there's generally a supplement for each individual college that they want you to fill out. I think most colleges waive the application fee if you do it online. </p>
<p>a) The supplements are pretty straightforward: essays on Why You Want to Attend/Study Major Blah Blah Blah. Some of them might ask you to get creative on a certain topic. The most important essay would probably be your common app essay, though. It can be on any topic that you like. I don't know if it's just me, but I really do advise starting it in the summer before senior year. I got about half of mine done in the summer and had to struggle to balance the other half + ecs + school. Ugh.</p>
<p>b) EC's: extracurriculars. There's already a boatload of info on how to do this stuff, so not going to hash on it here.</p>
<p>c) recommendations, which gave me the biggest trouble out of anything else on the application. There are two kinds, counselor and teacher.</p>
<p>Teacher recommendation: Most teachers will do one if you ask them nicely. On the common app, you can fill in the emails of the teachers (AFTER you've asked them) and the site will send them a recommendation form via email for them to fill out. In case your teacher doesn't speak English, though, it's perfectly fine to have them write one in your native language and then translate it for them. You have to enclose copies of the original language document and the translation together, though. Some teachers will ask you to write a 'reference' for them as well: basically, what qualities you want them to illustrate, examples of what you did in class. Specific is good in this case.</p>
<p>Counselor recommendations: If you're like me, you probably don't have one. The counselor rec generally says something along the lines of "headmaster, principal or counselor" but, uh, if you go to a big school I really doubt your principal will know you personally. (Sad to say, I'm not even sure what mine looks like.) In my case, I asked my homeroom teacher to do one, but I'm sure that any other teacher who knows you well can fulfill this role as well. At least, none of the colleges I applied to had a beef with this issue. </p>
<p>d) Transcripts: if you don't have a professional counselor, your school is not going to automatically send them out. Which is unfortunate, because you kind of need one (it's the most important bit!) What I did: I got them from the office myself, gave them to my homeroom teacher, had her seal them in the envelope and sign the flap, and then I sent them out. Cake!</p>
<p>e) Midterm-report. Just when you think it's all over...IT'S NOT. I think every school via the common app requires a midterm report, but schools with their own individual applications may vary. Check with them via email first. Again, you'll need a transcript + the mid-year report from the common app.</p>
<p>f) Sending it out. I don't know how it works in the U.S., but this is how I did it: I sent out the common app via the Internet. Then, I collected all the recommendations, stuck them in an envelope, and then mailed it to each school.</p>
<ol>
<li>Financial aid forms</li>
</ol>
<p>This drove me nuts, so hopefully this will prevent others from going similarly bat****. As an international student, you'll need the International Student Financial Aid Application and the International Student Certification of Finances. Google them to get the most recent version. The ISFAA asks you to fill out information from your country's tax forms. Some schools say that you need a 'professional' translation of the tax forms, but I don't think that's actually necessary. What I did was to get a copy of the tax forms and then write the translations in the margins myself. Crude, but it worked. The ISCF is a bit different: basically, it asks you how much you can pay per year. The number you give is probably THE most important number of your whole application. When it comes to getting your I-20, this is how it works:</p>
<p>Total cost of college (room + tuition + board) - financial/merit aid = ISCF number.</p>
<p>If they don't match, you don't get an I-20.</p>
<p>(And it may sound obvious, but...don't put a higher number on the ISCF than you can actually pay. Because you, or your family, is going to have to actually pay that number should you decide to go to college X.)</p>
<p>Some schools also want you to fill out the CSS Profile (<a href="https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/index.jsp%5B/url%5D">https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/prf/index.jsp</a>). Check with individual colleges.</p>
<p>You do not need to fill out a FAFSA. FAFSA is for U.S. citizens/residents only. I mean, you can if you want, but it's not going to do much. Except maybe kill time.</p>
<p>Again, this is from my perspective, and I might have missed a bunch of things. Other thoughts/suggestions are welcomed.</p>