<p>Thank you both for your helpful replies.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=b@r!um]
That’s bs. (Take it from a fellow German with non-college-educated parents.) You are at a “disadvantage” because parents without a college education are less likely to engage you in intellectual activities when you are little and because they are less likely to pay for private tutoring if you struggle in middle and high school. That’s nothing compared to “disadvantaged” on an American scale, i.e. having to work 30 hours a week besides school to help feed your family which is living below the poverty line. So why did non-college-educated parents prevent you from studying again?
[/quote]
I wrote that because there was a discussion about that lately and I thought it might help. Today they published a poll that young Gymnasium (=high school) absolvents are less likely to study because of the new tuition fees. And those are only 1000 EUR/year! That’s nothing compared to the US. I can afford around 1500-2000 EUR/year, that’s what my parents are willing to pay for me. I also want to work while studying as much as I can. At the moment I work in my vacations and earn money by playing the organ etc… But you see that I won’t be able to study without any financial aid or loans. I hope for some finaid-for-internationals colleges. I don’t know what merit-based finaid depends on.
Sorry for my ignorance about the circumstances in the US - but that’s also a reason why I want to study there: to get to know the country and such things. That’s nothing you learn much about in german English class. At least not at my school.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=b@r!um]
You ask us for suggestions for colleges but you give us nothing to go by: how much can you pay for college every year, including room and board (but not including health insurance, airfare, personal expenses)? Which colleges do you want to attend? Are there any which you don’t like (e.g. because of geographic location, size or the composition of their student body)? There are about 5000 colleges in the US and ignoring finances you would be a sure admit to 4900 of them. Should we list all of them? On the other hand, I suspect you are most interested in the top 100…?
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I have health insurance here in Germany, I don’t know, whether/how much they will pay for costs from the US. Of course I’m looking for colleges offering the best tuition.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=Andale]
I think it would be helpful to know a little more about the type of school you have in mind - large university? small LAC? Big city or more rural? Any particular geographic area?
[/quote]
I prefer a big city. Maybe East Coast, New Hampshire down to Virginia. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois aren’t bad, either.
Thank you for your help, Andale.</p>
<p>I have also already thought about the ACT but the test dates are quite rare. Next test date would be 12-13-2008. I think I’ll take it.</p>