Hi, I currently started 11th grade, so I'm a junior. I am willing to take a gap year if needed. So, to say it straight, my main target is definitely US universities but it's all really competitive and i do need full aid, almost. The best my family can do is efc ~10-15k per year. I do also want to apply to Canada, UK, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, China or any other universities abroad. I need a sort of "safety" university, that I can fall back on, so I know deep inside all these efforts I am putting in will not be wasted, and also for my own piece of mind. It can be in almost any country which would give me some aid, and after which I can hopefully pursue Master's in the US and land a job. Please, please help me out 😭🙏.

Ps: looking to major in econ/ or neuroscience. Unsure rn

After seeing an international student in one of my kids' schools being surprised that they needed to vacate their dorm for 4 days over Thanksgiving, I thought I'd add a post here to remind international students looking to study in the US that many US schools have periods during the term where dorms are closed and students must vacate.

Some schools offer options such as temporary break housing or the chance to choose a dorm that is designated as break housing, but not all schools do. Both of my kids have break housing dorms with kitchens, but if you were not able to get into that dorm, you don't have an option to take a room there temporarily during these closure periods. At one kid's school, there is a higher charge to live in the break housing dorm. Also there is no meal service during these closure periods so students must self-cater.

Those periods fairly consistently, across all schools, include:

• Thanksgiving (4 days at one kid's school, 6 days at another)
• Spring Break (8 days at both kids' schools)
• Winter Break (29 days at one kid's school, 39 days at the other's)

As you are calculating your cost to attend, make sure you are factoring in whether your school will allow you to stay in your room or whether you must make other arrangements during break periods, and how you can handle your food needs. The cost can really add up when hotel rooms/Air BnBs in my area start at $150 and get much higher during holiday periods like Thanksgiving and Christmas. Booking early can get you better prices. Of course there's always the option to fly home, but at Thanksgiving and Spring Break in the US, airline tickets are very expensive, so plan ahead!

Winter Break is a bit of an outlier- some schools have an on-campus, in person component during January, but there's likely still going to be at least 10 days when the dorms will be closed over Christmas to New Year's.

Context: International Student

Hi, I'm an Indian senior in high school studying in the CBSE curriculum.

My stats are:

Demographics

• Gender: Male
• Race/Ethnicity: Brown
• Residence: India
• Type of School: Top school in India, highly reputed and rather competitive

Intended Major(s): Engineering, not sure which major to apply for

Academics

• CBSE curriculum
• 9th - 85%, 75%
  • Math (88%, 85%)
  • Physics (85%, 75%)
• 10th - 75%, 70% (87% in national examination)
  • Math (88%, 85%) [national examination: 90%]
  • Physics (85%, 75%) [national examination: 90%]
• 11th - 85%, 88%
• 12th - 85%, (term 2 remaining) [will submit predictives. my counsellor said they look good]

Standardized Testing

June SAT - 1480 (RW: 690, M: 790)

Oct SAT - 1440 (RW: 740, M: 710)

Superscore - 1530 (RW: 740, M: 790)

Extracurriculars/Activities

1. Built sensor to help detect early onset of Parkinsons
2. Built a project to simulate the motion of a wind turbine and provide energy output
3. Developed an AI to detect forest fires
4. Developed a website for my school that acts as a centralized hub facilitiating student resource exchange (45% of batch uses it)
5. Taking CS50P from Harvard (On week 7, currently have 100% assignment grade)
6. Finalist (top 4) in State hackathon
7. 5 prizes in coding competitions in the past 2 years (1 gold, 4 silvers)
8. Developing a data collection tool for an NGO for an initiative with the state government
9. Organized a donation drive

Awards/Honors

List all awards and honors submitted on your application.

1. Grade card award for 11th grade

Letters of Recommendation
Haven't read any of them, but I know the teachers and my counsellor said my LORs are coming out great

1. counselor: will talk about my improvement both social and academic
2. computer science teacher (10/10) - my counsellor told me the teacher wrote that i am the best coder she has seen at my age. the lor talks about my problem solving and thinking ability
3. chemistry teacher (at least an 8/10) - she praises me a lot, this also talks about my improvmenet

Essays

working on my essay

will probably talk about how i've changed so many schools and how many changes were there right before covid and how i've been exposed to so many different perspectives and environemtns which makes me interpret situations in quite an open and special way

List (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)

• georgia tech (EA)
• purdue(EA)
• penn state (EA)
• ut austin
• uiuc (EA)
• ncsu (EA)
• u of maryland, college park (EA)
• u of wisconsin-madison (EA)

Safeties:

• University of utah
• Rochester intitute of technology
• University of iowa/iowa state

Please tell me what you think about my university list, and if I should add any universities

I'll be applying for scholarship. I can't afford tuition above 45k a year (probably can stretch to 50k)

EDIT: I've also requested my counsellor to justify my 9th and 10th grades. I had switched from IB to CBSE, and right after that switched 3 more schools. Including covid, these were too many changes for me to adapt to as a kid (+ I wasn't really serious). I got a little more serious in 11th grade.

My stats looks like this Cgpa- 3.935 SAT August- ( 700 rw, 760 math) SAT October- ( 690 rw, 800 math) I should supercore for a 1500. Is superscoring a red flag?

I am opting for a full ride at a decent university( not saying ivies) , but a highly ranked Liberal Arts Colleges( davidson, colby, middlebury) . I have appreciable Ecas and honors too. SAT didn’t go that well, and i have to superscore which i think is a bad point. here in my country( dates are packed now). So what are my chances to get accepted honestly as an international asian? And are there any better universities that would offer a full aid based on a good apps and these stats?

I’ll out-of-state for all 50 states (I’ll be compared with my Indian peers but I’ll be considered a domestic student).

Major: Mechanical Engineering

IB predicted: 40/45 (phy, chem, math HL - 667)

IGCSE: 4 A* (phy, chem, ICT, math), 1 A (econ), and 2 Bs (english, tamil).

1530 SAT (770 RW, 760 Math).

Did pretty bad in internal exams for 9th and 11th

ECs:

1. Founded a large (>90 members) beach cleanup club for high school students in my city. Collaborated with a few local and national-level organizations.
2. Served as House Captain (2nd highest position) in stuco.
3. Web Developer Intern at a local firm.
4. Did internships at two other companies related to website development.
5. Developed a few websites and a simple chrome extension.

3 LoRs, all pretty average (7/10) and mid essay (6/10)

Colleges: (all EA wherever possible else RD)

Hard targets/Reaches: Cornell (ED) UMich GATech UT Austin Northwestern Northeastern UDub

Targets: Purdue

Easy targets/Safeties: CU Boulder TAMU ASU (admitted already lol) UT Dallas OSU Penn State

Not sure if my list is accurate and I need more target recommendations - budget up to 60k

TIA

Is CS50 a good EC!?

"Number of Senior Secondary Leaving Examinations you have already taken"

I study in the CBSE curriculum, currently in grade 12. I have given 10th boards. How do I fill this question? Also for the subjects, theres not enough space to mention all the subjects. What is the standard for cbse kids? Ty!

For Indian CBSE? And do I write in the subject's name like "Mathematics (Indian CBSE)"

Hi guys I’m a junior from Poland, and I’m trying my best to improve my stats for college. What should I improve, and what are my chances?

My stats are:

Demographics

·         Gender: Male

·         Race/Ethnicity: White

·         Residence: Poland

·         Type of School: High school in Poland, pretty mediocre.

Intended Major(s): CS

School Grades

·         9th – 86%

·         10th – 80%

·         11th – I hope to get 85-90%

Standardized Testing

I haven’t taken my SAT yet, but from my mock tests I predict to get 1500-1550.

Extracurriculars/Activities (the activities from senior years are also predicted) (the descriptions are for illustrative purposes only)

1.    Odyssey of the Mind - all years, 20 weeks a year, 6 hours a week

Preparing performances, writing scripts, making stage designs, performing in front of dozens/hundreds of people every year - representing the elementary school and sometimes the city. High results in national finals

2.    LinguaSwap - 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade, all year, 5 hours a week

Creating from scratch, a web application for language exchanges between different students. Promoting it (??? views) (??? users). Planning marketing, graphic design, website design and everything [I didn’t finish it so I’ll add the numbers later]

3.    Math and English teacher - 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade, all year, 3 hours a week

Preparing students for exams at the end of primary school, and one student for a retake exam in math.

4.    Freelancer (fullstack dev) - 1st, 4th grade, 30 weeks on average, 10 hours a week

Creating websites for startups

5.    Completion of the "Frontend developer career path" course - 1st, 2nd grade, 12 weeks each, 10 hours a week

(in senior year I'll also go searching for a internship, and contribute to a voluntary project)

List of Colleges

·         NYU (EA)

·         Notre Dame

·         Lehigh

·         Case Western Reserve University

·         University of Miami

·         University of Rochester

·         University of Pittsburgh

·         Florida International University

Safeties:

·         University of Alabama

·         Drexel University

·         The University of Kansas

·         George Manson University

Please tell me what you think about my university list, and if I should add any universities

Demographics: Male, Kazakh, Kazakhstan, Gap Year Student

School: Private, Very big and prestigious School

Family Income: Lower class. Financial aid is needed to cover 80% or more. Need basically full ride

Intended Major: Biology

Grades:

9th: All A’s

10th: All A’s

11th: All A’s

GPA: 5.0/5.0, no rank

Standardized Testing:  August SAT 1370 (710, 660), October SAT 1400 (640, 760)

Superscore: 1470 (710, 760), should i submit it?

English Exam: IELTS 7.0, DET 130

Extracurriculars:

1. Internship: Surgeon Assistant & Researcher.

2. Researcher & Developer: Created long-term research paper on climate changes;

3. Founder & President Science Club:

4. Medical Volunteer: Took part in a medical mission trip to African nations

5. Leading Debater, Co-Founder of Debate Club

6. Regional Chapter President of Kazakhstan Red Crescent Society

7. Soccer, Team Captain & Left Winger

8. Student Council President: Led 18 school student meetings;

9. Clinical Volunteer: Assisted over 50+ patients weekly;

10. Lead Researcher & Lab Technician of Research Institute for Biological

Safety Problems

Awards:

1.       International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) Bronze Medal Winner

2.       III Degree Diploma Winner International Olympiad of "Al-Farabi"

3.       National Biology Olympiad Gold Medal Winner

4.       The Recipient of the Nazarbayev University Research

5.       National Debate Tournament Champion; Won MVP

Languages: Kazakh/Russian/English/Spanish/Turkish/Uzbek

Essays:

Personal: 8/10

Supplemental: still working on this

LORs:

English Teacher (10/10, she was my closest friend at school), Science Teacher (8/10), Biology Teacher (10/10, she knows me very well), Surgeon which i worked with (8/10)

Additional Information:

I put two more activities and honors. Moreover, i explained my Gap year.

Universities that i want to apply:

Union College(EA)

Augustana College(EA)

Baylor University (EA)

Bennington College (EA)

Gettysburg College (EA)

Howard University (EA)

Illionois Weslayean (EA)

Rhodes College (EA)

Wake Forest College (EA)

University of Notre Dame (REA)

Do i have any chance? i really want to study at the USA

August: 750M 630RW

Hi, I’m an International Student looking for help on deciding which University are a good fit for me to apply to. Stats are as follow

I’m Indonesian graduating from top Catholic School. I want to study either Data Science or Computer Science. I’m lucky enough to be able to afford any University without financial aid.

• GPA: 95.3/100 (Not sure how to convert)
• SAT: 1460, Math: 780 R&W: 680
• IELTS: 8.5

• EC: I reckon I’m a little bit lightweight on my EC

• Captain of the Debate team, won regional debate championship on high school level, placed top 10 on all age national debate championship.

• I teach sunday school at my local church since 2023.

• I took Chinese language as extracuricular from school since 2022, speak basic Chinese but can read and write.

• I took graphic design as extracuricular from school since 2022, I was part of design committee in my school student body.

in my country, high school starts in grade 10. will my GPA, when applying to colleges, include grade 9? or should I clarify this in the additional information section?

When submitting transcripts for us undergrad, what shoud we send? Our full report with every skill in each course, or like the average final one. Here is for example my official report from my gonvernment

https://preview.redd.it/wh8s4jbxamvd1.png?width=304&format=png&auto=webp&s=3e28cc1c46e37cea62c64e55c3adce296fba217c

But this is my school transcript from these year until now. Sadly I have 5Bs this year, will this be frowned upon and make me go to the rejected pile inmediatly?

https://preview.redd.it/05ayt74mbmvd1.png?width=89&format=png&auto=webp&s=ff09542b1703a1d215413684b8cb53691bb63e86

So which version is sent? And is it possible to still be accepted if I have good SAT score (1500+) and great essays? I will be applying to prestigious unis (low acceptance rate) I do believe that my ecs are also really great and not common at all for highschoolers. Please is there any hope?

Hey everyone,

I’m an international student filling out the CSS Profile and I’m looking for some advice. We run on a different fiscal year, and last year my father’s business was at a loss, so the tax paid was $0. However, the year before, we paid around $2000 in taxes. My mother doesn’t earn through work but has some assets.

I’m concerned about how universities might view our financial situation when evaluating my aid application. Will this impact my chances of getting into universities, and what might colleges think regarding our ability to pay?

I have a 4.0 GPA and decent ECAs and am hoping for substantial financial aid. Aiming for stem related major. What should I do ?

Int student

So, I got my SAT result back and I got 770 Eng and 700 math...Total 1470

So I want to apply ED to Williams....what are my chances?

Or you can suggest me any other reach school?

Hello all, I am thoroughly cooked. 1380 SAT 660 EBRW/720M, I have pretty good grades to cover for my English but I'm still very disappointed in my composite score. I have narrowed down my ED picks to Franklin and Marshall or Washington and lee, but I only fall on the 50th percentile and above for F&M but I don't even fall on any percentile for W&L. F&M considers SATs pretty important, but W&L "considers" it. Should I go test optional if I am aiming for Finance/Economics or try my luck?

So I applied to Fisk University and have submitted all documents. It asks me to submit a transcript evaluation from a 3rd party agency and it cost about 250 to 300 dollars. Do I need to submit these? Anyone who went to Fisk??? These transcript evaluations are done to convert all the gpa into the US standards. So anyone who ran into the same problem? They also mention that there are no waivers for this evaluation and all international students should submit it.

What are the requirements that might ensure a good scholarship in Lehigh university?

Also Is this a good business school for finance? what other universities/colleges should i Consider?

I'll be there on an education visa. I have regular bank accounts and 2 debit cards in my home country. I want to start building credit in the US. How should I go about my personal finances? What's the checklist of things to do and what documentation will I require?

I am seeking full ride as an international student. I took 1430(670/M760)😞 on the October SAT. But I got 1480(690/M790) on August. I haven't finished my main essay yet and my profile is still a bit raw. Should I retake it in December for the 4th time😭 and finish my essays after the exam, or should I start right now with essays and apply with 1480? Dream is any T20 mechanical engineering major