<p>Hi.
I am an international student form Japan who came to the U.S 2& half years ago.I am thinking about applying to colleges(not this year since I am gonna be a junior next year) in this country but I am the first person in my family to go to a college in the U.S. so I need a help!
Here is my information
My GPA is around 3.7-3.8 unweighted(not really know since my school district uses a weird system)
I haven't taken any standarized test yet but I just took one of the ACT official study guide's practice tests and got 30( E27,M35,R24,S34) and pretty sure I can get better score by preparing for it
My schedule next year as a junior student is:AP Lang,AP Chem,AP PhysicsB, AP Stat,APUSHist, ,honor pre cal,and swimming
My extracurricular is swim team, national honor society, Japanese national honor society, amnesty international, amnesty international USA,amnesty international Japan, and gonna be a member of science club and Chinese club next year.
Which college is good for me?<br>
Thanks</p>
<p>What part of the US are you interested in? Do you want a large school or a small school? do you need financial aid? What is your major?</p>
<p>To Calla1
I don’t actually care about location and size but I need some financial aid since I have a younger sister who is a year younger than I am. And I’m planning to major in economics</p>
<p>Oh yea
I forgot to add this
I did the UChicago Summer Session and took two undergrad courses
And got an A and B(unfortunately)</p>
<p>By “international student” do you mean your parents have an H1B visa? Or do you have permanent residency?
To maximize financial aid you would need to apply to private schools 500+ miles away from home. Universities in the Midwest and South tend to be more generous with “merit” aid than those in big cities or California, and based on your first stats there should be quite a few schools where you’d qualify. If you also qualify for need based aid then you should be fine :)) BUT have a discussion with your parents to see how much they expect college to cost, if they have savings for you and your sister (probably not as this is not done in other cultures), run the “net price calculator” on a few colleges to show them what they’d be expected to pay.
Of course, include some of the top LACs and national universities, and don’t forget to apply to your flagship’s honors college (= that’s the best public university in your state, with its honors college that tends to offer special scholarships and privileges for its students).
Check to see if first-gen status is factored in for admissions.
Since you’re first gen and international, you’re among those few for whom college “brand” has an importance, ie attending a top 50 LAC or top 25 university will make a difference for you. (Despite the “hype”, where most people attend college doesn’t matter too much, as long as they’re not first gen/minority/lower SES.)</p>
<p>MYOS1634 thank you for a reply
I’ll research top LACs and national
I have a E2 visa and don’t have a permenat residency.
And for a state college admission, because I live in Texas and within top 7%( not certain about the exact number but somewhere between 2% and 5%)of my school, I can automatically get into all state colleges in Texas( by law they have to admit me)
As you wrote, the “brand” has a significance for me(& more for my parents).
Also, thanks for teaching me how I should deal with college expenses. The information helped me a lot.</p>