<p>Thank you thank you for any advice for the two questions I have below (first I provide some information)
I am just starting the college process with my son (16) We live out of the country and he goes to a local public non English speaking school so we have no access to a high school advisor to ask advice. He is an American citizen. Because I went to Oberlin and then U of Chicago for grad school, I do understand some of the process, but not all.</p>
<p>Aid is our biggest concern because we have never saved for college because I never thought his English would be good enough to pass the SATS (but he passed last week with a score of 540V and 500M). We have identified Clark U. Rider (NJ), Richard Stockton (NJ), reaches Wheaton, MA. Franklin and Marshall, Connecticut College. </p>
<p>The forms (institutional vs. federal) tell us our EFC would be between 5 and 10 000 US dollars. This won't meet real costs at all. Especially including air fare etc.
My two questions are:</p>
<p>1.What is normal in terms of approaching the schools soon to see if it is even possible that he is attractive to them before he gets his hopes up? Can we go this February?
We have heard that as an American citizen (therefore no visa issues) who grew up immersed in another culture and language but was able to obtain an average score on the SATs is considered a good candidate, but we don't know whether to believe it or not. He of course takes Physics, 2 foreign languages, Calculus, Philosophy, Economics (all needed for the very competitive French Baccalaureate) and has a 3.4 GPA (equivalent). He is a strong basketball player playing in the second most competitve league for his age in the country and doing well. He was recruited at national level, but left that league because it was 20 hours a week all year long with regular weekend travel. He did basketball camps in the States when younger and took all the prizes.</p>
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<li>How can he make himself a stronger candidate for aid? Should he work on his SAT scores, work on his basketball game, go for a personal interview (he is very dynamic, personable, easygoing most Americans never guess he was raised outside of the country.) What should our strategy be?</li>
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<p>Many thanks</p>