I am an international student and I have no idea where I should apply. The past few days I’ve been brainstorming myself considering whether I want to give the SAT again or not. I’ve decided I am not giving the test right now but in April I will give it a try again. That’s because my final exams are nearing and it is very difficult for me to manage studying for both.It would be great if you could help me out. My subject combination is PCB. I study in a CBSE curriculum school.
My cgpa grade 9 and 10 : 9.8
Percentage class 11: 91.2%
Predicted class 12 percentage: 91-92%
SAT score(new) : 1180
Math : 620
Reading and writing: 560
Essay :19
I haven’t mentioned my EC’s because they aren’t very strong., I am working on that.
Given the information above which universities would you suggest I apply to? (Location,size etc isn’t a factor for me while selecting a college)
I would suggest that you don’t simply take the SAT test again but that you invest a little bit of money and buy the SAT practice book and put a lot of effort to practice before taking it again. I’d suggest that you do take it again.
PCB is physic chemistry biology. I want to pursue education in US because the field I am interested in doesn’t have much scope in my country. There are not many reputed institutions for psychiatry and it is considered as a low ranking option.
@Ashi28 - I am sure there are several schools for your stats, but if you are looking for a high-ranked school, you should try and improve on your SAT scores as well as ECs.
Net Cost - what can your family afford? Internationals do not get much aid
Number of Undergraduates - do you want a big school with 25,000 students or a smaller one ?
Faculty Student Ratio
%of students that live on campus - is housing an issue for you
How big is the department for your major? If you are majoring in something that only has a couple of professors, that does not bode well.
Housing- do they offer all 4 years? freshman only?
Urban/rural/suburban - Do you like cities? Hate them>
Location - are you used to cold or warm climate?
Is this a commuter school? (do students go home on weekends)
Surrounding area - what is the nearby town/amenities like?
Transportation - how would you get home
AP Credits - can you get credit for AP tests you have taken
Male/Female ratio
Greek life - what % of students are in greek life
Parking
Diversity
Safety
Sports - are you looking for a classic american college experience?
Jobs - what happens to seniors after they graduate
Internships - depending on your major, is it easy to get internships?
International students: what is the % of international students?
…and whatever makes sense for you
You might not care about, say, greek life. but if 50% of the kids are in greek life and you don’t want to be, that is something to know. Or you may want a big time sports scene or you might not want one. Grade them from 1-5 as they make sense to you.
Then look at each of them and see which makes sense for you
Psychiatry is a specialty of medicine. It is extremely difficult for non-citizens to get admitted to medical school in the US. You generally need a bachelors degree in order to apply for med, although there are some BA/MD programs.
The reason why you should retake the SAT is because your SAT scores will mean more to a US college than your high school GPA because they may have no idea what high school grading is like in your country but they do know what the SAT is like.
Tons of US colleges have good biology/chem programs, so you should look at the average SAT scores (used the Supermatch tool, or a site like startclass dot com) to get an idea of which ones you have a chance of getting into. With your stats as they stand you should look at colleges with an acceptance rate greater than 40%
What’s your budget?
Are you interested in being a therapist or a counselor (clinical psychology) or a psychiatrist (doctor for mental health patients)?
I know I'm simplifying :) but high school juniors may not understand the difference in courses, paths, etc.
American med schools don’t admit international students. Public ones prioritize students from their own state. Some private med schools accept one or two internationals, but only if they have 200K upfront…
American med schools exist to educate future American doctors. Some will admit a tiny number of int’ls who have an exceptional situation AND who can demonstrate that they can pay $300k upfront. Obviously, very few can do that.