This is for a friend. He is an international student.
His GPA is probably under a 3 and he has not been able to do the SAT. I presume his essays and other credentials will be great though.
What colleges do you guys recommend?
We have test optional schools in NY, like Bard, but they require strong academic records (GPA, rigorous course load, etc.) in lieu of test scores. Competition is already tough for internationals. Is there a school in your country that your friend could attend for undergrad? Maybe one of our grad schools would be possible with a strong college record.
Why those 3 states?
There really isn’t any other credential than gpa and test score, is there?
Check this list of Test Optional colleges you can sort by State. Then use collegedata.com and check for average gpa.
http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/state
Please note that the California State campus are listed here and don’t really qualify for his purposes. The gpa must be much higher to waive testing and I’m not sure it can be waived at all. See here for more details.
https://secure.csumentor.edu/Testing/
Please note that some of the schools listed are “for profit” and should be treated with caution. Non-profit privates should be fine. There are a lot more colleges in CA that would be suitable if he had even average test scores.
CSUs in California are only test optional, or test score does not matter, for frosh applicants with a 3.0 GPA (in-state) or 3.61 GPA (out-of-state) applying to non-impacted majors at non-impacted campuses (most campuses are impacted, and some popular majors like nursing are impacted at all campuses that offer them).
Of course, he can attend an open-admission community college for two years and then transfer somewhere as a junior. Transferring as a junior will cause most universities to disregard or only minimally consider his marginal high school record. For example, CSUs and UCs in California do not require any high school stuff at all for junior level transfers (although some specific items may be used to fulfill base-level requirements).
Is your friend full-pay? If yes, he probably has some options here at less selective 4-year schools. If no, then I agree with the above posters. He can either choose to go to a CC and try to transfer after getting good grades there, or go to school in his home country.
The problem with test-optional schools is that they usually look for a better GPA to assuage any fears that the student may not be successful. Your friend doesn’t have that, so it makes everything much more difficult.
This is a list of all the test-optional schools: http://www.fairtest.org/university
Use ctrl+f to locate schools in MA, CA and NY and see if your search turns up any good fits.
Good luck!
Stonehill or Merrimack, in Massachusetts. Consult Fairtest.org for other possibilities.
@butterfreesnd Yea he’s full pay, what kind of good options were you thinkin of?
Cazenovia, Dowling in NY would probably be solid options. Maybe Hofstra and Clark as reaches. Pine Manor would probably be a safety.
The schools others listed would also be worth looking into.
Many colleges will admit international students without SAT score provided they have a decent TOEFL or IETLS score. So, what’s your friend’s score?