worried, confused, running out of time. help!

International Students
1

<p>After reading through a bunch of these int'l students threads, i'm beginning to wonder if I even stand a chance. I'm a Singaporean int'l student and it's basically been my goal since the 8th grade to go to the States for college. It turns out I am vastly unprepared and ignorant. I'm posting here because I get the impression that you guys are both a helpful and realistic bunch. I'd really, really appreciate any input and advice.</p>

<p>These are my 'stats,' if you will, for reference. I attended a really small christian int'l school in Bangkok, Thailand from 4th grade to 1st semester 9th, then another even smaller christian int'l sch in Singapore til i graduated in '05.</p>

<p>Unweighted GPA: 4.0</p>

<p>SAT I (taken whilst in National Service): CR 690 / M 650 / W 680 = 2020.
Old SAT I: V 700 / M 690 = 1390.</p>

<p>Only 1 AP: AP English (4). My school pretty much didn't offer any other APs.</p>

<p>Extra-Curriculars and Community Service:
- Choir 9-12th (Soloist 9th grade in combined-sch choir festival, soloist for sch choir almost every year)
- Basketball 9-12th (JV 9th, Varsity 10-12th)
- Volleyball 9th
- Worship Band 10-12th
- Various church-related CS, including AV tech, guitarist, helping at large functions: amounting to 70-80 hours of CS a semester
- Missions trip in 10th to Chaing Rai, Thailand
- Cultural/humanitarian trip in 11th to Kunming and Lijiang, China
- Summer jobs in 11th and 12th on school campus</p>

<p>Currently a 3rd Sergeant (Non-commissioned officer) in National Service.</p>

<p>I had planned on applying to various LAC's and one public sch as undecided, in hopes of switching to either a 3/2 engineering program or computer science: UT Dallas, Ithaca, Clark U, Grinnell, LeTourneau U, Abilene Christian U, Occidental, Union College, and Berea College. After reading through this forum, though, I feel like I'm completely underqualified, since a ton of the Singaporeans applying completely smash my SAT scores, EC's, community service - basically, I think I'm outclassed. What's more, I need financial aid or merit scholarships fairly badly; my parents can only cover $7000-8000 USD a year.</p>

<p>Do I stand a chance in any of these places? I know it's a pretty dumb time to be asking that now, when the usual admissions deadlines are halfway gone, but I only recently stumbled on CC and had my hopes dashed. I really don't know what to do. Anyway, sorry for the wordy post.</p>

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<p>I don't think you should be concerned about other people's stats, remember that the people you see on CC are probably overqualified in comparison to the overall pool of applicants. Your GPA is very good, your SATs are decent enough, and your ECs look pretty good too.</p>

<p>So what should you do? I would say focus on making your application as impressive as possible. Try to write very good essays. Also pick out one or two of the ECs in which you were most heavily involved and focus on them in the application. You might write an essay on them; you could also ask the teachers who are writing your recommendations to particularly mention those ECs. If you do the best you can with your application, then there is no need to worry about other people's stats- it's your application adcoms will be looking at when they decide if you're in, not theirs.</p>

<p>Keep one or two safeties in hand, though, just in case.</p>

3

<p>Thanks so much for your quick reply, NBZ. I really appreciate the vote of confidence...I was halfway prepared to give up. If anyone else has other advice to pitch in or criticism to give, please do. Incidentally, if anyone would comment on the whole 3/2 engineering program thing, and which schools you find halfway decent, that'd be great. I'm still really uncertain about practically everything. Also, will needing that much financial aid / merit scholarships make it near impossible to get accepted? Considering my stats are apparently decent, but not stellar.</p>

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<p>Hi,andell,well,it seems that u r in the same situation as many hav already suffrd(like me!!..;)..) n r still suffrin.........
What I can comment is that,dont giv up(like me....),keep trying n workin on evry options.....n yes the competition is very high for full aid ones.......
N dont get overwhelmd by the CCers,...or anyother stats........just u need to b urself thats it!!!
N no school is considerd decent or bad......the school which is good is the one which giv u happiness,which makes ur life a very happiest thing ever....so,dont worry bout college's reputation too much coz when u go to find jobs....u will see that college reputation has vey little or nothing to do with ur job selection....(but dont b too easy bout college choice!!....lol....).....</p>

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<p>You are playing varsity basketball; have you considered getting recruited?</p>

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<p>I suppose the varsity ball thing I included can be slightly misleading; my school plays in a league solely for international schools, and even then, we do not compete at the same level as Singapore American School. I doubt i could play even Div-III-level ball, though I would love too. Thanks for the suggestion though. Anyway, <em>bump</em>...please, any opinions on those colleges and on 3/2 engineering programs? I forgot to mention Seattle University. Thanks guys.</p>