What safety schools I can apply to?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hi! I'm a junior in High-school, and I'm starting to freak out about college admissions. I have colleges I want to go to, but I have no safety schools to apply to, since I really have no idea whether or not I could get into them. Can you guys please offer some good schools I can apply to that would offer good financial aid for international students?
Here we go:
So, before I start with my stats, I was bullied really bad in highschool, but overcame it, so, please don't assume from my grades that I was lazy, or a late bloomer.
Classes
English(4 years)
Math(")
Physics(')
Chemistry
Biology
P.E
ICT
Civics
Geography(9 and 10)
Amharic(national language, 9 and 10)
History(")
Technical drawing(11 and 12)</p>

<p>GPA:
9:2.67
10:2.8
11:3.5(4.0 in the last term)</p>

<p>Nationality: Ethiopian
Gender: Boy
TOEFL: 111 out of 120, 25 on speaking out of 30, 28 on Reading, 29 on Listening, 29 on Writing.
SAT: 2200
(I also plan on taking the Math 2 and Physics subject tests)</p>

<p>ECs: Have many, but here are a few(* represents presidential position)
Leadership club*
Robotics club<em>(and founder)
Writing and publications club
MUN
Environmental club
Chess Club(vice president and founder)
Tennis team</em>(and founder)
90 hours of service as an assistant coach at summer sports program(youngest employee and first volunteer employee)</p>

<p>Essay: I don't think I will have any trouble writing a compelling essay.
Recommendations: I have absolutely no troubles there! The only reason for my low grades is that I freak out during the exams, which hold huge chunks of our grades(mid and final hold 50-60% of our grade, and usually, each queastion is about 2-3% of our grade; 4 questions wrong, and your A just disappears-poof!) but in class, I am one of the top students. I completely understand, I just don't test well. I know my counselor very well, and she actually nominated me for a summer program at Harvard University.</p>

<p>Major: Mechanical Engineering, possibly a double with Aeronautical as well</p>

2

<p>There are very few safety schools for international students who need financial aid. Those would be “automatic scholarships for stats”.
Look in the “financial aid” forum for the “automatic” and “competitive” scholarship threads.
Are you sure you translated your grades right? You’ll need to provide a school profile describing what percentage students in the class get each grade and how that correlates nationally (ie, “12% get a score of 80%or more and that correlates with a score of 85% on national exams because the school grades harshly” or whatever applies).
A college you could apply to that would be a match would likely be Berea College but only 5% international applicants are admitted, but thanks to generous donors and alumni, all admitted students get a full tuition scholarship. Unfortunately I don’t think they have engineering.</p>

3

<p>Olin’s and Coopers Union are the two I am thinking, but they are NOT safety by a long shot. So if you are a top students try all the Ivies and those two. But don’t get disappointed if you can’t get in. </p>

4

<p>Try University of Illinois. They have some financial aid and scholarship opportunities available through the university itself, even though you can’t apply for financial aid from the state. You would do well there it seems to me!</p>

5

<p>What can your family afford? From what I’ve seen on these boards, some internationals get significant merit packages although these tend to be from schools far “lower” than UIUC. Think Montana State University or Oregon State University, not Illinois. </p>

6

<p>The max my family could probably afford would be $10,000.</p>

7

<p>With your outstanding test scores and compelling personal narrative, you should probably cast a broad net. Maybe look at some smaller colleges with generous merit aid: they often seek diversity, along with high test scores. Try some Quaker colleges, like Earlham and Guilford. They tend to be very nurturing places, also. What about Rhodes, in Memphis?</p>