<p>Hi everyone!
I'm from Kyrgyzstan and I'm going to graduate high school this year. I have a trouble with chosing an university. I didn't take SAT and TOEFL, but i will take soon ( SAT, SAT2 - math2 and physics, TOEFL). I have about 1600-1900 on my SAT practice tests.. 700-800 on subject practice tests..
-Regional physics olympiad 1st place 3 times
-National physics olympiad 1st place
-Participated IZhO (international Zhautykov olympiad), APHO (Asian physics olympiad), IPHO (international physics olympiad)
-Honorable mention (IPHO)
-Bronze Medal (IZhO)
-GPA 4/4
-Have awards in taekwondo
-Organized and participated some school activities
-Good essays and recomendations</p>
<p>One more important thing that my family can't pay for my education in USA, so it would be good if you suggest universities with scholarship for international students.. And if scholarship is not possible, please, anyway, recommend some universities for me.. Thanks in advance :-)</p>
<p>@daydreamer77 - with a 1600-1900 SAT, the odds of you being accepted to any of the colleges in the US that provide generous aid to internationals are close to zero. There are six colleges that have need-blind admissions for internationals, and also meet full need - Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, Dartmouth, and Amherst. All are extremely difficult for an unconnected international to get into, unless you are exceptional in some way.</p>
<p>There are a few more schools that are generous with aid to the internationals they accept, but these schools are also difficult to get into.</p>
<p>If you have an extraordinary ability in physics, your best bet would be to focus on this in your application. The odds will still be long though, so it’s best to go into this with the assumption that’s it is unlikely you will be successful, and put most of your efforts into applications to universities elsewhere.</p>
<p>One thing that is REALLY good about your stat is that you competed in international level competition, and international physics competition is something you MUST talk about. </p>
<p>As the above poster said, focus on physics, and work on SAT too.</p>
<p>If you don’t like SAT, ACT may be a better fit for you. There are many threads about improving those tests, so you should read them.</p>
<p>@BldrDad , I know that all ivies are reaches for everyone, but if he had decent SAT over 2200+, won’t he have good chances?
He competed in international level physics-math competition twice and won bronze medal, and I think it gives a great boost.</p>
<p>@paul2752 - I agree, a candidate with 2200 would have much better chances. Perhaps the OP would be better taking the ACT if s/he has the opportunity.</p>
<p>@daydreamer77 - if you get 800 on both the Math and Physics SAT II tests, schools will take notice. Do your best on the SAT and TOEFL, and consider taking the ACT as @paul2752 suggests. Being from Kyrgyzstan could help you - most of these schools will have no students from your country. Good luck!</p>
<p>Actually, for someone with that level of Physics work, a 1900 SAT will suffice - but a 1600 won’t cut it- for the 6 “need blind” colleges.
Add Lawrence University, a top Physics school in Wisconsin (don’t confuse with St Lawrence!)
Add Reed, HarveyMudd or Pomona, Carleton, Haverford, and, if your family makes less than >65k/year or if your score is below 1900, Berea. If you’re a girl, apply to the elite women’s colleges (7Sisters, Scripps) plus Agnes Scott (especially good for STEM plus partnership with Georgia Tech.)</p>
<p>@BldrDad Thank you for your advises… Unfortunately there is no place where i can take ACT test… So I’ll try to do my best on SAT 1 and 2… and you wrote “There are six colleges that have NEED-BLIND admissions for internationals” - can you explain that in more details, please?</p>
<p>there r some schools that meet full need but its very competitive. i m sure you havr good chances though. why wont u say much about physics in essay? i think you can combine your economic hardship and your passion in physics pretty well.
as myos1634 said, those four schools need full need.
List;
All ivies(except columbia and upenn all r need blind)
vaasar
davidson collgege
wesleyan
stanford
Mit
bryn mawr
vanderbilt
washington and lee
i m pretty sure there are a few more</p>
<p>Given your academic background, I would not recommend that you apply to small colleges. While you’d be getting a lot of attention at Bryn Mawr (personal attention from faculty, summer research grants, etc), you would probably feel like a fish out of water. There’d be few advanced classes and you could easily be the only student interested in physics beyond the regular college curriculum. </p>
<p>“need blind/meet full need” colleges = they decide on admission based on your profile only, and will give you the scholarship they believe you need.
“need aware/meet full need” colleges = the more money you need, the higher the bad
“need blind/doesn’t meet need” = they don’t know about your financial circumstances but they don’t provide nee-based scholarships, you have to be among the best to qualify for merit scholarships (which you may have to compete for, or which may be automatic).</p>
<p>What is the highest math class you’ve completed (Linear Algebra…?) If your SAT can go up by a lot, you could look into HarveyMudd (still a reach, but without high SAT scores and high math classes, you can’t apply)</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 Thank you for your detailed explanations… I studied calculus but finished only beginning… Without high SAT scores and without high math classes? Or did you mean that there are high math classes??</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 I think it is too hard to get there… It’s minimum TOEFL requirment is 100… 8-X<br>
mid range SAT scores: CR - 680-760, Math 720-800, Writing 670-760… :-S I don’t know will I manage to get that scores</p>
<p>If the pressure of scoring 100 points on the TOEFL scares you, how are you even considering studying in the US? College work will be MUCH harder than the TOEFL. Picture in-class exams that are timed to be challenging for native speakers who are not struggling with the language on top of the material. Picture seminars whose discussions you’ll have to follow with nothing written (no blackboard, slides or textbook) to refer back to. Or just picture everyday life. If you can’t easily make yourself understood, your classmates will not want to talk to you and you’ll be very lonely very quickly.</p>
<p>
Double-check that. I found an ACT test center in Bishkek. There are also test centers not too far from the Kyrgyz border in neighboring countries:
in Almaty in Kazakhztan
in Tashkent in Uzbekistan
in Dushanbein in Tajikistan</p>
<p>Of course you may not be interested in taking the ACT at all; but if you really wanted to, you could probably make it happen. </p>
<p>@b@r!um you saw through me almost no one takes ACT in my country… I think that I’m not ready for it… and don’t have much time… Because I already paid for registration of TOEFL, SAT and SAT2… So I can’t cancel them… And if i register for ACT, I can’t prepare for these tests at the same time… </p>
almost no one takes ACT in my country… I think that I’m not ready for it… and don’t have much time… Because I already paid for registration of TOEFL, SAT and SAT2… So I can’t cancel them… And if i register for ACT, I can’t prepare for these tests at the same time… </p>