Realistic expectations for college.

MYOS1634
Fri, 01 Aug 2014 10:39:11 +0000

Is 81-87% exceptional in Brazil or is it pretty average? (In some countries where you can get 0% or 20%, 70% means you’re at the top of your class… in others, it means you’re almost flunking out! We’d need an estimation as to what % in your year get these grades and how frequent that is in your country, ie. is it top 50% nationally or top 5%…)
In the US, those results would be pretty average - students who can aim at universities ranked 75+, perhaps 50+ as reaches.
For universities and LACs ranked in the top 25, you’d need to be exceptional both academically and outside of class, which means being recognized nationally (or even internationally for schools ranked in the top 10). You’re competing with the best students in the entire world; being the best in your school isn’t enough…
You need to prepare for the SAT or the ACT, as well as the TOEFL.
And the KEY question as an international applicant is: how much can your parents afford? $5,000? $10,000? 30,000? 65,000?