<p>Hello Everyone ,
I am an Egyptian Student
I'll apply to USA colleges in the coming September as an International Student ..
and I have two questions , I hope you will help me with .
I do not have money for colleges in USA anyway .. so I will need a financial aid .
So , Is it better for me to apply to need blind admission colleges only ?
I will apply to 4 colleges the number that TOEFL And SAT tests could be sent to ..
So , do you think my chances are higher if these colleges are need blind admission system ?
Another question please ..
In Egypt we don't take mid year Tests in the Senior year , it's only one Test at the end of the year which is taken in June
Will this be a problem for me .. ?
Do you have any suggestions ?
I'm going to study physics ..
Thanks </p>
<p>Your test scores will be sent to your counselor (or to a person who has that role) and s/he can include it on your transcript. (You may have to get it all certified from Amideast); Some colleges accept that, others want the scores directly from the testing agency. Send your four “free” results to colleges that don’t accept the scores from your transcript.
Applying only to 4 colleges for an international student is quasi guaranteed to result in disapointment.
re: senior grades: Your counselor will need to give an idea, or “predicted grades” for the classes you’re taking.
For physics, I recommend applying to Lawrence, Wisconsin.
If your family makes less than 45K a year, apply to Berea college.
Add at least 1 university where you qualify for merit aid based on your SAT results.
The “need blind/meet need” colleges (there are only 6 of them) are super super competitive. They may only admit one student from your country (or zero) so only add them after you’ve found a few colleges where you’re in the top 10% applicants.</p>
<p>Because a lot of international students know of the needblind/meetfullneed colleges for internationals, and because they are among the most selective schools in the country anyways, the chances of getting into them are very tiny, and you have to get accepted for ANY chance of getting need met Bear in mind, that the need they meet, as with any college is not going to be your family’s definition of need but by formula. They don’t care what you need. It’s what the formula says you need. </p>
<p>If you have very high numbers, test scores in particular, there are going to be colleges that will want to “buy” that. They may give terrible aid, terrible merit over all, but give great packages for the few that they really want So you need to look for the niche that benefits YOU , not the averages. Just make sure that the schools you have on your list even give money to internationals, that there are more than just a handful of awards (yes, Duke has great merit money, but you can count the number of kids getting it on one hand), and that they have big awards. Schools that hardly give out any awards over say $5K won’t help you if you have high need. I’ve seen international kids hoping for aid from schools that outright say they DO NOT give financial aid to international students. Talk about fishing in a dry hole. It’s crazy to look for merit money in amounts enough to meet your need when the school outright has on their web site that their top scholarship is for $25K and they give out 3 of them, and it’s a competitive school in terms of stats to boot. So you have to use your brains to sort through what’s out there and where you stand a chance. Schools often have quotas, outright ones, as well as holistic ones for how many kids from certain countries so if you do what everyone does from your school, your country, you have all that direct competition.</p>
<p>For many international students, their best bet in getting money is to look at the schools that don’t have the known names because the competition for those dollars and for international spots is not as great. </p>
<p>Need blind doesn’t mean much if the school doesnt give much aid to intls. Most schools are need blind to intls…but that just means that they’ll accept you, but maybe not give much aid.</p>
<p>Need blind does NOT mean that they will admit you and give lots of aid. NO.</p>
<p>You can apply to a variety…</p>
<p>full need schools your family may have to pay depending on need</p>
<p>need aware full need (same)</p>
<p>huge merit schools (however, your family would have to pay somee)</p>