Non-traditional international applicant

International Students
1

So, I’m an international non-traditional student (22 yo), graduated high school in 2010 & decided to work to support my family thereafter. But now, I want to follow my dream and get into biological research. I’m a little nervous because I don’t know if my chances are lower because I’m international, graduated high school a few years back, and sub-standard SAT score. I still haven’t heard from any of the colleges/universities I have applied too, so this worries me even more. Anyway here are my stats, please let me know if you think I’ll be able to get accepted & get a great financial aid package. I would really appreciate your honesty.

• SAT I: Took them back in 2010, no test prep material or courses in my area, 630 Math 470 CR 620 Writing
• ACT: didn’t take them
• SAT II: didn’t take them
• Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): 4.0
• Rank: #1 out of 120, only one other student shared this position (maintained this position for basically all of high school). I know it may seem shady that I didn’t go to college right away (former classmates are usually shocked), but it’s not – my family was just having a financial crisis & needed all available members to support it financially.
• AP : none
• IB: Took the IB equivalent, the GCE (British Curriculum) – it’s equivalent to 1 year of undergraduate study so I’m hoping to get advanced standing credit.
• Senior Year Course Load: GCE Chemistry, GCE Biology, GCE Physics, GCE Mathematics
• Major Awards: Debate (national), Student of the week, Golden Award (Academic), COE Biology.
• ibTOEFL: 20 reading, 30 listening, 30 speaking, 25 writing (105)

• Extracurriculars in high school: School weekly magazine Staff (Photographer), Debate club (Lead team member), Summer Internship, Intramurals – Badminton & Table tennis, Study Group coordinator, Peer Tutor, Science Fair (Display – Design committee), and a few others that I didn’t mention in my applications.
• Job/Work Experience after high school: Personal Assistant to manager at a farm (not firm), Leadership Training facilitator (non-profits and corporates), Cancer education and awareness coordinator at cancer institute.
• Volunteer/Community service: My job ties in with a lot of community service projects, and also just started my own non-profit this year. In high school I did a lot of community service through the Charity Club events I organized.
• Summer Activities: Internship (in high school), Tutoring (high school), Full-time work (after high school).
• Essays: I honestly think my essays were pretty sub-standard, they weren’t creative or anything, but they were honest & reflect who I am.
• Teacher Recommendation: Solid, reflected my involvement in school. (although people in my country are a bit cold when giving recommendations, so I can only hope this wasn’t the case)
• Counselor Rec: Solid, reflected my involvement and performance.
• Additional Rec: Solid, my boss wrote this one.

• Applied for Financial Aid?: Yes (I basically need full aid)
• Intended Major: Biology
• Country: Tanzania
• School Type: Independent (but that just means that it’s not owned by the government, no college advisors, just teachers pumping information into your head).
• Ethnicity: Black (African)
• Gender: Female
• Income Bracket: Middle Class (but probably Lower in US standard)

• Strengths: Grades & probably community service
• Weaknesses: My school emphasized academics and not extra curriculars - only varsity teams were men’s soccer & rugby (no female varsity, but didn’t mention this in applications, didn’t want to give any excuses for lack of varsity involvement).
• Schools I applied to: University of Richmond, Washington & Lee, Earlham, Oberlin, Grinnell, Gettysburg, Manchester University, St. Lawrence University.

Do I stand a chance of getting in on a full-ride (fingers-crossed)?

2

@ast2014 I feel you. I have the same situation. Did you apply to schools as an undergraduate student? Or through as an adult student? Some colleges have specific application if you are older than 22. Also if you will go to internationalstudents.com , there are some scholarships for adult students. Sholarships are not something enough for full tuition, but it still will give some help.

3

You need to look into private universities. These are more likely to offer some financial aid to international students. Furthermore, if you look at some of the less well-known [url="<a href=“http://theaitu.org%22%5DAITU%5B/url”>http://theaitu.org"]AITU[/url] schools, they usually are interested in increasing diversity and most of them have quite good biology programs. I would say that a full ride is very unlikely.

4

Look into private university. For need based AND merit based.

You need to take tests first to even apply for the colleges that will give aid to international students

5

Since you need full aid and due to your age, you should apply to women’s colleges - most have a specific process for women who aren’t “traditional age”. In addition, you might want to try and retake the SAT, see if you can get better once you’ve found preparation materials to help you with what’s on the test how it’s structured, etc.
Another issue is that you probably didn’t think of “fit” and this may be reflected in your essays: Washington&Lee and Oberlin on the same list, that must be a first!
Your odds are very low and probably best at W&Lee (did you apply for the Johnson?).
There’s still time for you to apply to Dickinson College and Spelman.
Mount HOlyoke may grant you an extension if you request it today!!
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/admission/apply/app_deadlines
http://www.spelman.edu/admissions/getting-into-spelman/admission-timeline
http://www.dickinson.edu/