Parents suddenly moved us to home country for my upcoming senior year, and while we are going to be in American system school, I have no idea how applying from outside US works (also want to retake SAT this summer). Any help would be appreciated.
Desired Major: MechE/AutoE
Stats:
GPA (As of end of Jr year, upward trend): 3.24 UW, ~5.2 W
SAT: 1500 (770 Reading, 730 Math)
Number of APs/dual enrollments taken: 12 AP, 16 Honors, 4 GT Classes
Any impressive extracurriculars:
Varsity Football(Captain, Top Cornerback in County)
Varsity Tennis(Team is regional Champs)
400+ regular followers for music, several songs with 1k+ streams, 1 with 23k+,
another with 15k+.
FBLA State Qualifier(2X 3rd In Region for UX, wasn’t able to go to state because of
organization difficulties.)
Led Church service Recording(Camera Operation, Streaming for 5+ Years)
Won regional Pinewood Derby against 100+ competitors(Won Twice)
Developed and led UI Design team for open source Operating System.
Competed in Electric Gran-Prix with school, won best design.
Won the best Mechanical and Plumbing System for A.C.E Building Mentorship
Program (Headed Sustainability Team, was able to make a building plan that was
LEED Platinum Certified)
Vice President of Indoor Drumline Club
Research into historical trauma, nostalgia, etc.
And much more.
Any hooks (first generation, residency, awards, etc):
Don’t know if these are hooks but, MATLAB Onramp Certified, Autodesk
Inventor Certified, Black Male, Maryland Scholastic Athlete Award, etc.
Reach out to your favorite teacher(s) this year, explain your situation, and politely ask whether they may be able to write you a letter of recommendation next year since your new teachers may not be used to US-style recommendations. Join a “brag sheet” to your request, where you recount your favorite moments in their class, the favorite topic/lesson/book you studied, what you want to study and why, any honors you won in their subject and adjacent, etc.
Will the SAT be offered at your school or in your parents’ country?
Being uprooted due to political turmoil is a possible essay topic.
If your parents were green card holders they may lose their green card and may thus no longer be residents of a state which means you’d be OOS anywhere. Or will they travel back and keep a house/US driver’s license?
Your FAFSA will be based on your parents’ 2024 income but if they’re considered a dislocated worker it may impact financial aid (also, the current administration is planning to reduce the amount in Pell Grants from $7,395 - already insufficient to pay for college- to $5,700.)
Do you know your SAI?
The application process will be the same regardless where you are physically located. I second asking two core junior year teachers for LoRs.
Do you have a list of schools yet? If not, what type of schools appeal to you? What math class will you have senior year? Will you have at least 4 years of classes in each of the 5 core areas (Eng, Sci, Math, Soc studies, foreign lang)
Do you have financial constraints? If so, what is your budget?
Misread “county” for “country”. (Have to LOL as I am on my second cup of coffee.)
I do not recall any football players making such a claim (typically football players who are selected to the All County team express it as “First Team All County”). To the best of my knowledge, best in football refers to ESPN Top 300 or to other national rankings which rank by position.
There were a lot of suggestions made on your other thread that you didn’t respond to one way or the other. Could you perhaps go back through that thread and provide some feedback as to which suggestions appeal to you and which do not? That could help guide what additional suggestions are made.
SR Year should be taking AP Calc BC, but probably AB again because most schools in the country don’t have it. I will have 4 years in all except foreign lang(most engr schools don’t require anyway)