Help me, pls???

<p>Hello. My name’s Kate Lutsenko, I’m a russian girl of 16. I live in a not well-known country, in the town of Zarafshan. And I have a big dream. I wanna study in the USA. For the first moment my parents heard about it they laughed and said to me it’s funny. But that wasn’t funny, that was attractive. I kept the wish in spite of their jokes and began learn english by myself, for there was no teacher who could teach me american english and prepare for TOEFL here. I don’t know the language well enough yet, but i’m still learning. I guess i’ll be able to pass TOEFL when it’s my time to pass. I wouldn’t mind if anyone wanted to teach me somehow, probably to share some useful links with me, or just talk to me here to improve my skills.</p>

<p>I’m going to enroll in 2012, but my family has not much money. And education in the states costs too much for an international student, I think. This is the main reason I have not chosen a college yet. I cannot find the most affordable college for me by myself. There’re too many colleges in the USA and only a few are cheap enough for me… And not any college offers financial aid to international students. This is also make me thinking of where i can get money.</p>

<p>What about me:
I have been learning english for 9 years at school, but to be frank, I’ve got not much knowledge from there, because our teachers often changed and english was not the major subject. But I’ve spent almost 2 years to improve my english by myself. I’m an active and bright person. I know russian fluently, know english well, and a little speak uzbek. Also I learn Spanish now, but my knowing this language is little yet. I like acting and skating. I’m doing well in Maths, Russian, English, Literature, Geometry, Computer Sciences, and Physics. I like drawing and writing, I’ve written some stories and poems in russian, and now I try to write in english. I also go to “The English Speaking Club” in our town. Our club is a place, where some people gather together, including me, and we all talk about different things in our world, like family, friendship, socializing and social problems, money, education, entertainment, ect. </p>

<p>I’m interested in psychology and wanna work with teenagers. Why this? Because I’m a teenager myself and I met some problems of young generation and it was very difficult to solve them without help. I needed someone to help me in that time, not my mommy, but school psychologists in my town didn’t have any interest in teenagers’ problems, as they do now. I wanna be a person, who can help a teenager to understand him/herself and realize how to solve all the problems. </p>

<p>But I’m not sure if i can be such person… And, if you have any ideas about what I better should choose to learn with my current knowledges, I’ll be grateful to look at them. Write to me, please. I need your advices.</p>

<p>Anyone?..</p>

<p>Your English has already been very impressive for a girl of 16. :slight_smile: Why don’t you, say, start with [url=<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools]Official</a> College Planning Tools | Research Colleges and Universities Online<a href=“Collegeboard%20site”>/url</a>? You will find a lot of information about what you should do in order to study in USA. For example, You have to take TOEFL test, SAT Reasoning Test, SAT subject tests, and if possible, AP tests before you apply to colleges. And the site is also rich in information about scholarships, Financial Aid etc. </p>

<p>Although most schools are not need-blind to international students, some schools are.
Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, and Amherst College meet 100% financial needs of their admitted students. You can get a try at these colleges, see if you can get in. It never harms to give it a try! :smiley: :smiley: </p>

<p>About tests: test scores are not very important in the application process. But decent TOEFL (say, 90+)and SAT scores(2200+) obviously will make you look better. Application essay is the key. When you apply to schools, never ever forget 1)to demonstrate your interest in the school 2) to show your passion for psychological studies 3) and make your essay highly readable. </p>

<p>Also, you may try to show your Extra curriculum experience to the admission officers. Tell them what great things you have done outside school! :stuck_out_tongue: say, Volunteer experience? Captain of a volleyball team? or send them one of your research paper in Psychology? (assuming you have done research in the field) </p>

<p>Just bear in mind: show yourself to the admission officers as a unique person, with passions for study, diverse interests in daily life, and strong academic backgrounds. I guess that’s all you should do. Never worry about financial aid problems; (of course you must choose a few safety schools) US universities and colleges are always generous to gifted foreign students. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>btw, studying in USA is not a “big dream”. It’s just a means by which you may realize your dream. Not that hard to get into a US school, trust me.</p>

<p>Why USA? What makes it such a ‘dream’ for you?
Are there any specific plans you have for studying in the USA?</p>

<p>I find it inspiring and all that you are going out of your way to learn English and want to accomplish your dreams, but unless any of this has a meaningful purpose for your future careers and as a person, I see no real motivation whatsoever.</p>

<p>I will provide you the official TOEFL sample questions: [Sample</a> Questions](<a href=“http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=00c534d0459c9110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=ab16197a484f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD]Sample”>http://www.ets.org/portal/site/ets/menuitem.1488512ecfd5b8849a77b13bc3921509/?vgnextoid=00c534d0459c9110VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD&vgnextchannel=ab16197a484f4010VgnVCM10000022f95190RCRD)</p>

<p>They actually helped giving me an idea of how it would be so it should help you too.</p>