Be aware that high standardized test scores will help, but they won’t replace the challenges you will face because of your GPA. You still need to target schools where your GPA will be competitive.
On to the practical matters of being ready to apply:
- have you written TOEFL or IELTS? (If so what is your score? It’s optional for some but not all colleges)
- When are you planning to write SAT/ACT? Have you scheduled those so that you have time to re-take them if the results are disappointing?
- Are you planning to do any SAT subject tests? Which ones?
- Which teachers will you ask for recommendations? What about the guidance counselor or equivalent from your high school?
And finally: Will your parents be happy to spend their $120k on a college that maybe has a good reputation in the US but that quite possibly has no name recognition in Europe?
You’re free to apply to Harvard/Yale/Stanford but you stand no chance whatsoever. You don’t measure the competition so: they admit kids who got their bac with 18+ scores AND achieved something internationally amazing, like win the Math Olympiad or the fencing Olympics. (At these colleges, they know French pattern kids are lousy with American style tests so as long as they can score within range, it’s not a decisive factor).
Please understand that saying “it’s my dream to get into Harvard” is similar to “it’s my dream to be Mbappe”.
Most adults will react differently depending on whether you’re 8 or 18.
UC Berkeley will only look at your 10th and 11th grade results. By your own admission, those were your worst years.
French people only know graduate programs. They’ve never heard of LACs or Honors Colleges.
Are you going to a university to impress random French people or for your own education?
Have you bought the book Princeton Review’s Best colleges?
OP needs to delete Berkeley from consideration; it’s unaffordable at 60K/year with no financial aid (and to be clear, there is no financial aid for international students to a California public university.
Regarding the “dream” to go to Harvard, OP needs to keep in perspective that there are only 6 undergraduates from France at Harvard presently:
http://www.hio.harvard.edu/statistics
So they are only admitting 1-2 per year. As @MYOS1634 says, one should assume that these 1-2 had much stronger applications that what is being presented here.
There are valid options, both in the US and elsewhere, but the OP needs to be realistic that that top 20 (or 50) in the US is likely not going to be an option.
TOEFL in September with all the SAT ACT Subject tests. I know that it wont remplace my GPA dont worry but thanks for the info! And, lets answer your questions,i always wanted to realize my american dream, and schools in France are bad except 10 but they are like ‘’ french harvard ‘’ very difficult to integrate it. Beside of this, in France universities arent looking the haul package, it’s like a machine choosing students… Which sometimes can be unfair! last year, a student with 4.0 gpa during all his life with 4.0/4.0 at all tests,excellent student were refused in many good schools in france because of a stupid machine! And @SJ2727 to be honest i agree with you, it’s hard to accept that we have to spend that much for school! But as i said in france the academic quality is very very low compared ot the usa.Tired of being in this country, tired … tired…! And schools that we were talking about, like ‘’ vtech ‘’ ‘’ penn state ‘’ ‘’ MSU ‘’ etc are good schools no?
I googled the princeton book but when i clicked on ‘’ buy ‘’ there is no payement options, which means i cant buy it? Is it possible to buy and to have the book online like an ebook? Cant find
I have two letters from my teachers, they were very kind with me, only ones. IN France the bachelor is considered as a ‘’ Licence ‘’ it’s a 3 year based degree !It’s a very good degree to be honest, it’s created by America and France just copied it for their education system. Only good business schools are using this degree!
And as i asked, VTECH,msu,Wisconsin,Penn are good universities nah? im just scared that after my 5 years in the usa i will not find a job… Im scared but in the other side im sure that i can find one. Because this type of thing shows that the student has a good mental, ( because its not that easy to leave everything), good english skills and i would like to add that i speak fluently ( azerbeijan,turkish,french,spanish) and it’s a very good diploma, even if it looks stupid for you, america is like the first power in the world, being graduated from here is very good
If you are doing all your tests in September you are effectively doing a one-shot. There won’t be time to retake them before application season. Hopefully you will be spending a lot of time on practicing and timed practice tests leading up to the real thing and not just relying on someone who told you you could get a 1550. (I don’t know whether or not you can; I do know that that is 99th percentile and a lot of people aiming for that kind of level get disappointed in their results, especially the first time they take the test.)
As for your story…if you read the threads here you will also many people with perfect scores rejected from a number of top schools. This is going to happen anywhere applicants exceed places available.
And again, you must remember that you will most likely have to return to France at the end of your studies. Also, what is your backup plan in the event that none of the colleges that admit you are affordable?
My backup plans are :
Psychology university ( it’s very bad here)
Economics ( only good universities are worth it but very hard to integrate which means i will go to a bad one)
And yeah i have to come back to France after my bachelor, but i have the authorisation to stay one more year to work in the USa because for me a diploma doesnt mean everything, a work experience is very important too! If i canfind a job in the usa it will provide me very big big big advantages, work experience! And yeah it’s a one shot, but im trying to convince my parent to let me do a test in august or july!Let’s see! Average total cost : 180k… Expensive but im pretty sure it’s worth it, education quality is higher… im still hesitating! ( i bough the book)
Amazon has the Princeton Review’s best colleges book.
There’s no sat exam date in September. Look at the dates. The SAT is only offered 4 times a year internationally.
You don’t need subject tests for VTech or Penn State. They wont even consider the results.
Colleges that consider subject tests, such as Colgate or Trinity college, aren’t on your list (nor in your budget). So why would you take subject tests?
If you wait till the last minute to take the SAT and DON’T get the score you hope for, what will you do?
Reality is, you could get into UNC Wilmington, College of Charleston, UNC Asheville, JMU, Ohio University, UCincinnati… And those would be much better than a random French university.
It doesn’t have to be “all or nothing” - ONLY a university that’ll impress random peers who realistically know very little about universities in the us, OR no US college. It could be “an excellent university with strong placement results” that your peers haven’t heard of, it could be honors college at a university, etc.
“i dont understand why my tuitions fees meal housing costs 74 000 dollars per year”
Quite a few of the universities in the US cost between $70,000 and $75,000 dollars per year. This does not include the cost of transportation. This does not include the cost of flying home for Christmas, or having family visit you from time to time. There are some universities which are less expensive, but it is not unusual at all to find schools in the $70,000+ price range, regardless of whether you are a US citizen or not. Cost have been generally increasing from year to year. By the time that you graduate university, there will almost certainly be schools in the US that cost more than $80,000 per year.
One issue being an international student is that there are only a small handful of schools in the US which meet full need for international students, and all of them are very competitive and all of them are likely to be out of reach for an international student with a 3.5 GPA. Another issue with being an international student is that you would be out of state for all public US universities. In-state schools are normally quite a bit less expensive for US citizens and permanent residents.
There are tons of very good universities in the US, and many that would accept a student with a 3.5 GPA and an uptrend in GPA. However, you will need to find an affordable one.
“VTECH,msu,Wisconsin,Penn are good universities nah?”
Yes, these are very good schools (although I am not sure which MSU you are referring to). As one example, I once worked on a software project with a group from U.Wisconsin and was very impressed by the people there. There are hundreds of very good universities in the US.
“im just scared that after my 5 years in the usa i will not find a job”
There are at least two big issues here. One is having a marketable major. The other is that you are not likely to get a visa to work in the US after you get a degree here. The assumption is that international students will return to their home country after they graduate from university in the US. I think that there may be some temporary visas to allow a person to work for one year, but I do not know much about them.
“my parents are trying to get the money because it’s not that easy. they only have 120k now.”
For most people, saving money is not easy and is a slow process.
There are probably three reasons why a few people have suggested schools in Canada. One is that they will only care about your last two years of high school, and it appears that you have a strong uptrend which implies that your last two years are probably your best years. Also, 120k will pay the full cost for four years at many very good schools in Canada, and you will have some money left over for some of them. If for some reason you need five years, $120k will still be enough for many schools in Canada. Also, getting a visa to stay after graduation is much easier than in the US.
“which canadian university can accept me?”
What was your GPA for your last two years of school? Do you have test scores yet?
Your threads are confusing. In some you have a 3.5 GPA and in later ones you say it’s a 3.0. You said your parents can pay $47k/year but they only have $120k now ($30k/year).
If your GPA is a 3.0 you’re going to have a difficult time getting into “top” US universities. If the $30k/year your parents have has to cover everything (including travel, health insurance) then you only have $22-25k/year to spend on direct costs (tuition, room, and board).
It sounds like you need to take a realistic look at where you can get in and rule out any colleges that would be too expensive. If Canadian colleges are a possibility I’d investigate them.
@MYOS1634 If there is no SAT in September i will take it late august or beginning of october! I still have the time! And i will maybe take it twice like you said, one in late august and the second one october! And thanks for the subject tests info
@austinmshauri ‘’ my parents only have 120k ‘’ i said for now. As i mentionned i will start classes in one year so we have time to have 50k more. These are my schools reports :
FIRST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL FIRST SEMESTER
French writing : GPA 3.0 ‘’ a correct set thanks to the inclass works
History : Work to accentuate GPA : 2.0
English : GPA : 4.0 > An excellent student with good english level
Spanish GPA : 4.0 : An excellent student
Maths : GPA less than 2 ( harassment ) : Results are insufficient because of in home work absence.
Chimics : A serious student with good results GPA 4.0
Biology : A nice participation in class! gpa : 2.5
FIRST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL SECOND SEMESTER ( HELL )
French writing : Good results thanks to regular homework ! Serious student GPA 3.5
History : Efforts but still insufficient GPA 2.3
English GPA 4.0 > An excellent student
Spanish 2.0 > Results are shuting down because of personal problems. He is still a good student
Maths 1.5 GPA > No focused student, he is chatting, even with difficulties i dont believe his efforts at home ( he were in courthouse today :D)
Chimics: GPA 2.0 > Results are going down but he is doing his best to succeed even with personal problems
Biology 1.8 : Serious altitude inclass but you need to put more efforts
Economics : Nice results ! Keep going GPA 3.2
FIRST YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL LAST SEMESTER
French writing GPA 3.0 > Good results with good skills and abilities im pretty sure that he can be a very good writer, very nice thesis and writing.
History : Excellent sky rocketing notes, GPA 3.0! You are serious keep going.
English : Excellent student 4.0 GPA. Even wiht personal problems you prooved that you arent going to let you smashed by life
Maths : A no serious student with 0 efforts, GPA 2.0 ( hello from courthouse :D)
Chimics : A serious student even if he werent able to be evaluated this semester
Biology : A very good semester, even with personal problems ! GPA 4.0
SECOND YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL FIRST SEMESTER ( let the hell begin )
French : A bad altitude in class you have to calm down and change. GPA 2.0
English : A very good semester keep going ! GPA 3.0
Spanish : same
History : Bad altitude in class, you can be better GPA 1.9
Maths : Way too much chating in class, you have to change now. GPA 1.8
Sciences : Even with efforts,you are still in need of more efforts… GPA 2.0
SPORTS : Very good student
SECOND YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL SECOND SEMESTER
FRENCH : GPA 2.9 > A good semester ! KEEP GOING !
English : Excellent 3.9 GPA
Spanish : SAME
History : Efforts are paying. GPA 2.3
Economics: GPA 4.0
Maths : We underline your efforts but you still need more efforts to succeed. GPA 1.6
Sciences ( hello from courthouse, two stupid professors who harassed me) : very bad student with bad altitude 1.5 gpa.
SECOND YEAR OF HIGH SCHOOL THIRD SEMESTER
FRENCH : A very nice semester but not perfect because of absences… GPA 3.0
English / Spanish : Excellent student GPA 3.0
History : You were more serious this semester but you still have difficulties gpa 2.0
Economics : A single note this semester, but you are good GPA 2.6
Maths : Efforts are underlined, but due to absences and late homework you still have difficulties gpa 2.3
sciences : A very bad altitude in class, with bad results. GPA 1.6 ( guess what, in sciences i had full score at tests 
)
@DadTwoGirls It’s so cool that you confirmed that these are good universities! Im happy
I hope this is isn’t against TOS but OP seems to fixate on colleges that are known in France without looking further. There are 3,700 universities in the US and lots of them are excellent.
@ilvermornyisolt
Cross reference this with Princeton Review’s Best Colleges for fit, but you have a shot at these (the lower numbers would be reaches, the higher numbers would be matches or safeties)
1-10 in each region
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities/innovative
1-15
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-midwest
1-12
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-south
1-25
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/regional-universities-north
20-45 are reaches/matches (your odds are 30 to 45%); 46-60 are solid matches (50-60% odds of admission); 61-100 (safeties)
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public
51+
https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
Virginia Tech, Penn State, Michigan State… are all excellent universities and you’ll have very good Economics concentrations, often several of them (with more math or with more foreign language, typically).
As indicated several times previously, teachers’ comments aren’t used. American teachers don’t believe in the power of “negative teaching” the way French teachers do and pretty much NO university would admit you with these comments. Referring to “court” for teachers who wrote bad comments is also unlikely to endear you to anyone - the rule is, whatever happened, do not blame the teacher. Why would a university want you as a student if you have such an attitude?
Please read comments on this thread SLOWLY, take notes, ask questions if something is not clear.
Show, through your comments, that you have read and understood what you’ve read.
I’m a little worried that the math GPAs posted above, coupled with second language English as evidenced by this thread, imply that an expectation of a SAT of 1550 is far too high. @ilvermornyisolt , have you been able to do any practise tests yet?
I would assume that foreign students still need teacher recommendations as well. OP might have problems with getting recommendations.
Also American universities have a lot of written tests. My understanding is that many Europeans read/write/speak English very well and know at least one other language besides their native language.
The OPs posts indicate that he needs to improve his written English skills. And his potential majors require writing midterms and there will be issues if he can’t articulate his thoughts into a coherent written test.
@MYOS1634 This is not about me, i can understand that my ‘’ altitude ‘’ isnt good but the situation werent that good neither. Im not a student who created bad things with my mind instantly, they harassed me and if they were in courthouse it’s because there are reasons, justified reasons, voice records. Do not think that i had bad altitude