International student needs help finding a safe college

College Search & Lists
1

<p>First, my stats:</p>

<p>GPA 8.9/10 (~3.7 converted)
SAT 1 2290 CR 730 M 800 W 760 (with an 8 essay. bummer)
SAT 2 (expected) Maths 2 800 Spanish 750
Founded a youth organization during high school which is still operating nowadays.
Published 2 books</p>

<p>There is no AP in my country but I did go to a very selective high school. I dropped out of the National team for Maths Olympics because I thought it was silly </p>

<p>I know I’ve got decent scores, grades and extracurriculars but I’m a bit worried about age. I’m 23 this year and will be 24 when I start college next year. Would this 5 year gap in schooling be a big problem when colleges look at my application? I also need financial aid which will jeopardize my applications to a lot of colleges. </p>

<p>I’m thinking of applying to some schools like Yale, U. Chicago, Vassar and Franklin & Marshall, Skidmore, but those schools are all too risky. I need to find a couple of safe schools to apply to. I have been searching extensively in the last few weeks but I haven’t been able to find any yet :frowning: It would be great if any of you could give me some ideas. Thank you very much.</p>

2

<p>Do you just need some places that are safe for admissions, or do you also need places that are safe for cost? There are plenty of places in the US that will admit you with that GPA and SAT score provided you can pay the full cost. Just about any of the public universities here would be likely. So would a lot of lower-ranked privates. Check the places on this list to find out if their policies apply to international students.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1562918-updated-list-schools-auto-admit-guaranteed-admission-criteria.html?highlight=automatic+admission[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1562918-updated-list-schools-auto-admit-guaranteed-admission-criteria.html?highlight=automatic+admission&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If money is an issue, read through the websites of the institutions in these two threads, and see which of the scholarships are also open to international students. In some cases, you would need to apply NOW as the cut-off date is December 1.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I would really suggest checking out Macalester College! They place HUGE importance on their international scene there, and will probably give more money than most schools. It’s a liberal arts college too.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.macalester.edu%5B/url%5D”>http://www.macalester.edu</a></p>

4

<p>Thank you very much HappyMom and Megmill. I think I’m applying to Clark University, trying to get their full ride scholarship and Macalaster as well.</p>

5

<p>I Would assume that you would not be happy at a small liberal arts college where the oldest 4th year students are 22. You are unlikely to find peers there. Maybe check out the university of alabama; they will give you a full tuition scholarship if you apply for next year.</p>

6

<p>^ Watch the deadlines. I think Alabama’s, for merit scholarship consideration, is December 15.</p>