@ucbalumnus Yea, it's very true that the standards are very different for a lot of places outside California, but as someone who wants to go OOS, it's something I've accepted, so I have adjusted my standards a bit.
You may want to look at @Lindagaf s threads, who coined the phrase „the average excellent student“. The colleges she looked at for her daughter might be right up your street.
So I’m left with schools that fit my general score range but seems very much out of my reach, and a safety school that, while I really like, I doubt my parents would want me to go to. I have no idea what my match is, which is obviously not ideal.
Tldr I have fairly good scores but am unremarkable otherwise, and I don’t know where to set my sights when apps roll around. Any advice?
You can look at historical acceptance rates for your stat range via Naviance or similar national websites. If you believe other non-stat sections are weaker than most, then you might emphasize schools that have a very high acceptance rate for your stat range. This is not the same as overall acceptance rate. For example, I'd expect you have a very high chance of being admitted to Vanderbilt, in spite of the ~10% overall acceptance; while I'd expect you have a much lower chance of being admitted to Cornell, in spite of the ~14% overall acceptance rate. However, the more important question is where you'd like to attend.
intparentRegistered UserPosts: 36,886Senior Member
Most of this advice would be fine for a US citizen or green card holder. But the OP apparently needs FA and is an international. Most schools are not need blind and/or don't meet need for internationals. He isn't really well positioned for the small handful of colleges that do both. So things like Naviance won't work for him -- his chances would be lower than others from his school almost everywhere.
There are schools that I think will give merit based on stats, like UAlabama, to internationals.
Thanks for the stats, @ucbalumnus. I was thinking in terms of small LACs, not large state Unis. CA beats just about anyone with diversity -- no question. But for a small LAC, Mac has students from upwards of 90 countries. That's pretty cool. Maybe global is a better word to use to describe it, versus "diverse." In any case, it's a welcoming community with many different faces.
happymomof1Registered UserPosts: 29,442Senior Member
"I am currently on a visa"
This changes everything.
Depending on the visa type, you might be considered in-state for the public Us in the state where you live, but that policy varies by state (and sometimes even by public institution within the state).
Depending on the visa type, you may be able to study without changing your visa, or you may be obligated to convert to an F-1 student visa. Those rules are made by the US government, so you need to do a bit of research to find out what your options are.
Whether need-based or merit-based aid is available for international applicants is up to the college/university itself. Be sure to look specifically at that.
Canadian universities often work out to be less expensive for international applicants. And of course, the institutions in your home country probably are affordable as well. Don't restrict your application list to the US!
The only safeties here for international applicants, are institutions that admit solely by stats, and guarantee that admission policy for international applicants as well as for US applicants. A general rule of thumb, is that for international applicants who don't need any aid, what would be considered an academic admission safety for a US citizen graduate with the same profile, can be considered no better than a match, and what that US citizen applicant would consider to be a match, will be a reach for the international applicant.
Replies to: Struggling to categorize reach/match/safety
There are schools that I think will give merit based on stats, like UAlabama, to internationals.
This changes everything.
Depending on the visa type, you might be considered in-state for the public Us in the state where you live, but that policy varies by state (and sometimes even by public institution within the state).
Depending on the visa type, you may be able to study without changing your visa, or you may be obligated to convert to an F-1 student visa. Those rules are made by the US government, so you need to do a bit of research to find out what your options are.
Whether need-based or merit-based aid is available for international applicants is up to the college/university itself. Be sure to look specifically at that.
Canadian universities often work out to be less expensive for international applicants. And of course, the institutions in your home country probably are affordable as well. Don't restrict your application list to the US!
The only safeties here for international applicants, are institutions that admit solely by stats, and guarantee that admission policy for international applicants as well as for US applicants. A general rule of thumb, is that for international applicants who don't need any aid, what would be considered an academic admission safety for a US citizen graduate with the same profile, can be considered no better than a match, and what that US citizen applicant would consider to be a match, will be a reach for the international applicant.