Hi guys !
I am an international student and I am thinking of applying to St.Lawrence university.
My sat:1180 ( I know it’s bad and it’s a concern :^()
I took A levels in my senior year with alright grades ( school does not calculate GPA)
CLASS rank :2/105
Eca: scientific research at A hospital, volunteered with children with autism for 300+hours, founded my own initiative to donate for women’s menstrual issues, art and manga ( will submit a portfolio ), internship at a pharmaceutical company this summer.
Good recoms
Working on essay
Can pay max 19KUSD per year
Am I being dumb for even considering getting in?
Well, it is free for international applicants to apply and they do have a fairly high acceptance rate, so why not give it a try? I think affordability could be your problem. Your SAT isn’t high enough for merit aid, and so you will be depending on a need-based aid package, which may or may not work out for you.
It’s test optional - just submit your GCSEs+ Alevels+ ECs.
Does the NPC indicate it’d be affordable?
If you’re a girl, also apply to test- optional women’s colleges.
You’ll need to do a good job on those essays - send them to me if you wish to edit them.
It’s going to be tough. I suggest googling US schools that cost $10k and check out some of those possibilities. You would not need financial aid for those schools. Some campuses of Texas A&M, schools in South Dakota, are on that list it can give you a toehold into the US at an affordable price.
From a previous post: “I applied to Wooster , Rhodes and Earlham.
Earlham is willing to accept me if I pay more, so I’m keeping that as a safety.
Wooster and Rhodes are yet to lemme know their decisions.
I prefer to pay around 15kUSD per year but my fam go to like 23kUSD per year.”
You also posted that you were rejected from Bucknell, your top choice. Have you negotiated with Earlham to see if they will accept you with an increased parental contribution?
Have you applied to any universities in your (southeast Asian) country?
Earlham have said that they will accept me at 25kUSD , didn’t say it explicitly but implicated so. However I don’t want to pay this amount for two reasons :
If my COA is greater than 20kUSD per year, I may face some visa issues here
I have a friend at Earlham who got in at 19KUSD per year , and his application compared to mine was…meh
There are many universities here that I can easily get into. But my parents really want me to start University in the states.
Yes, but you didn’t respond to the question, “Why St. Lawrence?” It wasn’t a random/curiosity question.
The reason I asked was so that posters can think about other schools with with similar characteristics to those you like about St. Lawrence… schools that might be more generous with financial aid at your stats level. There is a wealth of collective wisdom on this forum, and posters asking for assistance here can benefit the most by answering very specifically.
What about Truman State?
Earlham may have financial issues that make it impossible for them to make a similar offer as your friend got when he applied before.
I recommend contacting schools about financial aid after you have been accepted. If they truly want you (especially if your a top ranked student like your class rank shows), then they will indeed offer more money. I would also apply to a ton of outside scholarships and of course, try to work some. If you apply for citizenship, you may be eligible for government aid or at least student loans (US student loans can be deferred for eons, that’s why most 30-40 yr old Americans still have college debt)
you can’t “apply for citizenship” . In fact any inkling you’re even thinking of this means automatic denying of your student visa.
colleges don’t offer “more money” to internationals “they really want” (and rarely to us residents either, it requires requesting a review etc). They have so many internationals they can admit, literally the entire world to choose from, so there’s no incentive.
If you can only pay 19K per year you need to consider state schools. The SUNY system can be quite generous to international students. Check out SUNY Albany. I think you’d be happy there.
I liked how st.lawrence is a tight knit community. I prefer schools with smaller class sizes , internship opportunities and caring professors. I know many other schools have those qualities and I’m currently looking for more like this. So if you have any suggestions that’d be great
@Mimi31, Look into McDaniel College in Maryland if you think you could stretch the budget a tiny bit. The website said that international students must be ready to pay at least $20,000-$40,000 per year, with internationals typically paying $25,000-$40,000. I think your stats may make you competitive there for merit (and it’s test-optional, but I think your SAT is probably OK for McDaniel). It has the qualities you mentioned above. I have personally visited and know people who have gone there. It has a very pretty campus with friendly students and a caring environment. It’s located in a small town only about an hour’s drive from Washington DC. It has an active study-abroad program, which means it may also welcome international students as a means to provide a diverse atmosphere on campus.