My name is Mathieu and im an international student. Im from France, im sorry in advance for my english mistakes. I had a difficult life, i mean espacially in my high school experience. Since the first day of high school, ive been harassed from classmates and teachers, and this during 3 years. Teacher were bringing me down on daily basis. Even when i was doing my best. I lost 14 persons of my family due to cancer during my 3 years of high school. You can’t imagine how hard were my high school experience, crying,wanted to die.But i never gave up, even if my gpa were 2.5 with awful school reports from my teachers, i had my high school graduation with a 3.5gpa. I want to realize my american university dream, thats why im writing to know if there are any good university for economics, finance or business in the usa? Corresponding to my profile? I hope i will find a ‘’ human ‘’ university, taking care of external factors… thanks in advance for your answers
I think that this thread is probably asking the correct question. In another thread you asked about a few very top schools that are not going to happen. However, with a 3.5 GPA plus a budget of $47,000 per year, there are definitely many universities in the US that you can consider.
You talked in another thread about having a GPA of 3.0. Here you talk about a GPA of 3.5. Did you pull this up in your last years of high school? An uptrend in grades can be helpful when you apply to schools.
With a 3.5 GPA, the most famous universities are unlikely (Cornell, Harvard, MIT, and so on). However, these famous universities are also very academically challenging, and can be very stressful for many students. As such, they are probably not the best fit for you.
There are thousands of universities and colleges in the US. As such, it is hard to know even where to start to suggest schools. As such, we probably should ask you some questions regarding what you want in a university.
Do you have a preference regarding where in the US you would prefer to study? Would you prefer a cold climate (Maine, Vermont, Minnesota, etc…), or would you like somewhere with milder winters? Would you prefer a big city or a small town? Would you prefer a large university or a smaller school? Would you prefer somewhere in the northeast that would be a bit closer to France, or is the opposite side of the country fine also?
Seeing how you are from France, I am wondering whether you would want to consider universities that are outside of the US, in a French or bilingual part of Canada? There are some universities there, including a small number of bilingual universities, that might also be possible and would be relatively reasonably priced (you could find some that are way less than $47,000 per year).
You need A LOT OF MONEY to study in America ($50,000+ per year.) Or you need to be an EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT (fantastic grades, test scores, accomplishments) and exceptionally lucky to be admitted to a university with adequate financial aid. If you don’t come from a wealthy family, start studying the threads on this subforum. You will need to carefully put together a list of universities to apply to – universities likely to admit you with financial aid. Most will reject you or accept you without giving you enough money. But all it takes is one… and some international students succeed. Good luck. Have a back up plan in Europe or Canada.
I have a back up plan in France dont worry, it’s jsut that im tired of France, and it’s due to many personal problems, i hate french mentality and way of thinking. We can handle the school price that’s not a big problem for us. And yeah @DadTwoGirls my grade is 3.5 now im so happy you cant imagine ! I put way to much effort, i had bad grades because of many things, to be honest i think that i can bring something to the usa universities in many ways. TOP students doesnt mean anything, they can be good but not that good mentally. I will apply apply to 10 universities, including 2 top universities, yeah i will apply to top universities just to tell to my self ‘’ you can try ‘’. I ordered books for SAT, i got the max score in maths, all subject tests i have top scores except english
Are you a high school graduate? What have you been doing since you left high school?
Currently in france there is a thing ‘’ année de césure ‘’ which is a year of no school. And during this time im working, to get money! Is there any age deadlines? i will pass tests this October to apply for next summer is it good?
Have you looked at universities in Quebec? There is a tuition concession for French citizens. See for example https://www.mcgill.ca/legaldocuments/exemption/france
Large universities don’t really care about the human side of your application, they can’t because they have 50,000, or more applications to go through, so, they look at GPA and test scores, then to a lesser extent your ECs (extracurricular activities) and essay/personal statement.
That would be universities like Penn State and Virginia Tech that you’ve already mentioned, but also UIowa, UVermont, Miami Ohio, USC Columbia, FSU, Mizzou, UMN Twin Cities, Georgia State, etc.
Smaller universities, called National Liberal Arts colleges, exist because they focus on undergraduates. They’re a bit like prépas (the top 100 are similar to prépas, with the top 25 similar to H4,LLG, etc, un competition and intensity, whereas numbers 50-100 are more like prépa de proximité) or IUT (those national LACs ranked 100-200, plus regional universities ranked 1-20). Instead of very large lecture courses you get smaller classes seminars, professors who know you, etc.
You can look at the rankings (national Liberal Arts colleges) on the us news and world report website. With your grades you’d probably have to start at LACs ranked 40 -75) as well as the regional universities.
I have a problem guys, i dont understand why my tuitions fees meal housing costs 74 000 dollars per year at penn state. I miss clicked?
( i took summer spring and fall courses)
Residency International
Pursued Degree Master ( im not sure about what i answered )
Campus of Primary Enrollment University Park
Housing On campus
College International Affairs
Major MIA
Semester FALL SPRING
Anticipated Fall Credits 15
Anticipated Spring Credits 15
@SJ2727 Me and my parents dont want quebec canada etc
@ilvermornyisolt
“I have a problem guys, i dont understand why my tuitions fees meal housing costs 74 000 dollars per year at penn state. I miss clicked?”
The NPC is not accurate for internationals applicants.
A master’s degree is different than a bachelor’s. In the US, students earn the bachelor’s degree first. I don’t think you can get accepted into a master’s program if you don’t have a bachelor’s degree unless it’s a combined 5 year program.
You have to take traveling and health insurance costs into account. Those costs will be a few thousand per year, so if your parents’ limit is $47k/year only ~$42k or so will be available for tuition and room and board. Penn State’s cost of attendance is closer to $50k, so that may be too expensive.
I think Canadian universities will be just as good at helping you get a job in your own country after you graduate. If those are what your family can afford then you should consider them.
“Me and my parents dont want quebec canada etc”
Um, ok, but I do I wonder how much thought you’ve put into this. You might find you can end up at a better college for less vs what you will get in the US. Lots of US students opt to attend Canadian colleges, with those in Montreal being quite popular. Anyway… whatever your ultimate US strategy is, please ensure you have a solid backup. From posts like this, started after this thread, I fear that despite what everyone here has been telling you, you will be facing disappointment http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/2131175-harvard-stanford-berkeley.html#latest
I lost my grand father in Canada, such an important person. This is the reason why we dont want to go back to Canada, it might look like a stupid reason but it’s psychological. We feel bad when we think about canada.
Why will i face a disappointment? And which canadian university can accept me?
“Why will i face a disappointment? ”
Because despite the previous thread, you’re still focusing on absolute top colleges - in the thread I linked (that you started after this one and the previous one) you are still asking about Harvard, Stanford and Berkeley. These are really, really hard to get accepted even for students with stellar grades. I’m not even sure why you still are asking about Berkeley when you were told you before that you would not get any financial aid there even if accepted. We understand you had a hard time in school and many problems but - so have many other applicants, and a number of them have better grades, and those that don’t might still have the advantage of in-state programs that give educational opportunities to local students from disadvantaged/low income backgrounds. It is really, really hard to stand out, especially as an international.
Just to give you some numbers that might help you really understand how competitive it is. Last year, just over 42000 students applied to Harvard; they accepted around 2000. Of those, just 260 were international.
How involved are your parents in this process? Are they doing their own research on US colleges too, or are they leaving it up to you?
IM SORRY! I have some difficulties to understand perfectly some of your answers. I thought that when you said ‘’ you will face disappointment ‘’ you were talking about the academic quality. I asked about harvard, because the thing that you guys might dont understand is that everyone has a dream. my dream were to get in this school and i know that is hard, impossible. i just wrote this to be sure that it’s impossible, because you have to try, and to be refused to say to your mind ‘’ it’s impossible ‘’. Then, my parents are trying to get the money because it’s not that easy. they only have 120k now. And the interesting thing in your answer ‘’ We understand you had a hard time in school and many problems but - so have many other applicants, and a number of them have better grades, ‘’ We cant justify someone’s situation through out other’s one. Thanks for your answer, it’s my bad i thought you were talking about the academic quality when you said ‘’ disappointment’’. As i said canada will be impossible, due to reasons that i quoted above. And yes i opened many posts in this forum, my apologizes it’s just that im someone who is stressed everyday, even for little things, thats why im asking many times things that i already asked before. But i didnt realized it. Ih ave so many questions that are fighting in my brain
Let’s say in the USA then. canada will be impossible. Anyway beside this, im pretty sure that i can score a 1550 ( it’s not pretentipus guys, professors told me that i just need to train my english) and i will take all tests like : SAT ACT, Subjects tests etc… Again guys, thank you for your answers im not angry when im typing,writing to you, im sorry if it looks like this, you cant imagine how thankful am i !