I'm in a weird situation now what are my chances?

International Students
1

<p>Hi I’m a Singaporean Student just graduated from Junior College(high school). I just completed the Singapore-Cambridge A levels which is different from the one directly administered by Cambridge. Currently I’m waiting for my results and already done my O Levels from the same exam board.
My current(confirmed) O level grades are:
English B3
Chinese B3
Elementary Mathematics A1
Geography A2
Combined Science(Physics/Chemistry) B3
Principle of Accounting B3
Combined Humanities(Social studies/English Literature) B3
But my A level grades i am not so certain since i screwed up a few papers, but assuming i did as well as my prelims they are:
H1 Project Work A
H1 Chinese B
H1 General Paper C
H1 Mathematics A
H2 Geography B
H2 Economics D
H2 Literature in English E
(H2 is the same as A while H1 is something like AS)</p>

<p>I planning to do my SAT in Jan 2015 but according to the online collegeboard testing tool my current SAT scores is 1680.
Reading 560
Writing 490
Math 630</p>

<p>My extracurricular activity is in a mixed too. I was in military/ marching band in secondary school and a Symphonic band in junior college. In 2010 my band won gold with honours in SYF(Singapore Youth Festival) and Best display band of the year. But in 2012 we only got a silver. I was also the instruments in-charge for 3 years(2010-2012) and Section leader and Drills in-charge for 2 years( 2011-2012). Also i was a section leader in symphonic band during my time in junior college, in 2013 we won a Certificate of Accomplishment. And I pay Tuba by the way.</p>

<p>So assuming I get such results for SAT and A levels what are my chances of getting into college in the US. I’m thinking of applying as an undecided student(Is that bad for an international student?), but know I’m interested in areas of math and sciences and geography since I know i lack a flare for humanities like English literature as shown in my constantly poor english grades. So will applying as an undecided student help me into getting in any fields related to natural sciences(physics, chem, geology), engineering and geography? Or am I really doomed to just study humanities for the rest of my academic career despite a lack of interest. I think I can understand math better than most humanities except geography though. </p>

<p>I’m currently looking at universities like:
Iowa State University
SUNY, University at Buffalo
and a few other college around and slightly below and above this tier.
(But I know i need improve my SAT for these schools)
I’m still looking at other schools but many of them seem to have a high cost of attendance. Are there any other schools that I can/should consider?</p>

<p>Thanks for the help everyone</p>

2

<p>The most important factor in getting in will be… money. Can you afford an American education? Can your parents pay $60,000+ per year? Please note that you will not even get a VISA without having enough cash in the bank to fully finance your first year. </p>

<p>If you do have the money, plenty of schools will be happy to have you. </p>

<p>If you will need a lot of financial aid, it will be very, very difficult since your SATs are simply quite low compared to all the other international students who will be your main competition. </p>

3

<p>Hi @katliamom, Thanks for the reply, I do understand that money will be the biggest issue now, that’s why I’m looking at schools with cost of attendance that are lower as I know I am not an A student neither am I a rich student. My Parents can only pay around $20-30k a year i think. And going to university is very important for me because in Singapore this education pathway has no vocational purpose at all. And what schools do you think that will accept me?</p>

<p>And to add on to my current situation, I can only apply to start studying in fall 2017 as I have National Service(NS) liability as a Singaporean Male. So I will be in army from 2015 to early to mid 2017</p>

4

<p>Well, since you won’t be applying for another year, use that time to raise your SATs. They simply MUST be higher for you to receive the $25,000-$30,000 per year in financial aid that you will need. There are many books and online tutorials to help you with the SATs. Also, consider taking the ACT: some people do much better on the ACTs. </p>

5

<p>Well I’ll try taking in Jan next year and shall update in the future. But is it possible to attend cheaper college though since I heard that it is possible for international student’s to pay below 30000 a year for cost of attendance before financial aid</p>

6

<p>There are a few schools (but not many) where the total cost of attendance for international students is around $30,000 per year . Many of these will be good schools, but without any “name recognition” – they’re not terribly well known or prestigious, per se. For example, University of Montana is a bit over $32,000/year. And you could probably get in with your current scores. When scores and money are an issue, it’s best to look at schools in the middle or in the south of the US where they’re actively looking for students, and where there’s less competition from other internationals. </p>

<p>Generally, in the more well-known schools in the more popular areas of the US (California, the Northeast) you have to have either fantastic scores/grades, or a lot of money, to get in as an international student. </p>