<p>Hi!
Could anyone suggest some good colleges? I’m an international student from the Netherlands, although I’m actually Kurdish.
But anway, I’d like to attend a college with good political science and history departments which gives financial aid to int’ls. Preferably not a very large one or one with a dominant Greek scene. Location is not important.
Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Anyone? (10 characters)</p>
<p>bump…</p>
<p>Georgetown: if u have the credentials, Should be ur number one choice.
Boston University or Boston College: Both love international students. BU is easier to get into than BC though.</p>
<p>Forgot to mention American University. Huge international student population. Political science is good at this school. Also from what I have heard there are a lot of middle easterners at American which may appeal to u. It could be a backup to Georgetown. If u dont like A grassy campus such as Gtown or American u can also consider George Washington University or New York University (NYU).</p>
<p>columbia university, if u can get in.</p>
<p>Also look at smaller Liberal Arts Colleges where you will, more often, be taught in smaller classes by professors not graduate students. You might enjoy standing out in the crowd more than being in a big sea of students.</p>
<p>Since you did not say what your scores are, it’s extremely hard to know which colleges or universities to suggest! What is “good” to you might mean the average freshman range of SAT’s is 600-700, or you might mean in your own mind that “good” is average range 700-780!</p>
<p>I think you should look over the following range of liberal arts colleges, although I don’t know where they stand on FinAid to internationals, but at least see the range of American schools:
universities: others above posted well; I’d also add U of Michigan, U of Chicago, Brandeis U (if you are intrigued/tolerant at a campus demographic that’s 50% Jewish - mostly secular Jews, not all religiously practicing-- they’d be interested in your Kurdish background b/c many students there attend to MidEast news and politics for its historical framework). If you have great SAT’s consider: Princeton, Harvard, Yale… why not?</p>
<p>Liberal Arts Colleges (and note that some of these do not allow Greek institutions, instead only EC’s, cooperative housing and other alternatives to create friendships):
All high in prestige, each place has a unique feel to it: Oberlin, Middlebury (very remote, mountainous region), Amherst (large international population, high in prestige), Williams (ditto on prestige). Note: Amherst has just 1800 students but is in a 5-college consortium with shuttle busses, so the community has 25,000 students in the immediate 3 towns.
Not quite as difficult re: SAT ranges, but still very interesting smaller colleges: Bates, Bowdoin, Gettysburg…</p>
<p>Really, I’m doing you an injustice. You need to look over colleges according to their statistics, your financial aid needs, and get a list of around 40 from the stats.
Then read each website, and you’ll quicly be able to narrow down to 15-20 b/c you’ll see somehting you really DISLIKE on the website.
Pursue your 15-20 with careful research. Read about them on CC, write to the schools to inquire, etc. Then, narrow down to some 8-10 to apply to.
Be sure on the list of 8-10 you have 2-3 “safeties”, 3-4 "matches, 3 “reaches” if you can handle all those application fees.
(Application fees can sometimes be waived, at least from here in the states, only due to poverty but the Guidacne counselor has to get that waiver for you. Still, it’s worth the inquiry from abroad if that hinders you from having 8-10 applications.) Some apply to as few as 5 but they sometimes get 5 disappointments. Be sure to have 2 SAFETIES (sure-admits, that you think are too “easy” for your statistics).
It’s not only a numbers game of SAT’s and grades, however, so your essays, extacurriculars and letters of reference will factor in. The essay that would interest me the most would be how you think your Kurdish background, in the Netherlands, has taught you lessons that will be meaningfully applied to your interactions with other students on an American campus. Your point-of-view, not political…but what kind of human values do you bring, from your life’s experience so far, that would add flavor and spice to the campus community. As well as any special talents (music, history, leadership in clubs) that you’ve done so far that you might also bring to campus to build community. That’s the way the Liberal Arts Colleges talk, anyway.
The big universities have a different culture, that you’ll pick up by reading their sites here on CC; emphasizing their fabulous resources, etc.</p>
<p>I just remembered: there’s a large Arab population around Detroit, Michigan, and if that is a factor for you, consider it when you look into UMich.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for all the suggestions! :)</p>
<p>I’d love to go to UMIch, but I can’t afford it. I believe UMich-Ann Arbor doesn’t give any financial aid to intl’s, am I right? I can only pay around 15k a year.
Payin3tuition, thank you for you comprehensive post, it was very helpful:)
If anyone’s inerested, here a little sometinhg about my stats:</p>
<p>GPA: 9/10 (very high for Dutch standards)
SAT’s: I don’t know yet, but I’ve been scoring around 2200 on practice tests.
Class rank: 1-3/116
Classes: I’ve been doing Gymnasium for the last fiv years, which is as rigorous and prestigious as its gets. I’m taking the maximum amount of classes and my school is one of the best in the Netherlands.
Ec’s: They’re ok, but could be better: pre-university college at Leiden university (very selective program for ‘gifted students’), MUN (student officer and advocate for the ICJ), class president, reference group for the school board (selective), school newspaper and 100+ hours of volunteers work and community service.</p>
<p>Why don’t you consider some European universities? If you are an EU citizen (which I think you are), the tuition is a maximum of 3,000p/year (around 4400E I believe), and some European universities have very good history/PS departments. Plus, they’re more compatible with other European HS diplomas. I bet there are some great universities for that in the Netherlands (although I haven’t looked it up, I don’t speak Dutch), and in the UK, well Edinburgh, LSE, St. Andrews (if you’re more into IR), Aberystwyth are very good. Probably could get into Oxford with those stats I think. In Scotland, EU and Scottish citizens don’t even have to pay tuition.
Just something to think about.</p>
<p>Thanks, but the thing is that if I won’t be able to go to the US, I’ll have to go to the Netherlands, which is fine. I dont want to look at universities in any other countries however, because I’m afraid I’ll lose track of all the different systems, tests, requirements and what not.
But yeah I guess I am lucky to have some very good options in Europe, too :)</p>
<p>Bump…:)</p>
<p>take a look at colorado college. small LAC in colorado – so off the beaten path of east coast and california – which means they aren’t as overloaded with applications. Always looking for diversity and they do offer financial aid to international students. It is a great school and graduates go to harvard, yale, etc for graduate programs. not very greek oriented at all, great history and poli sci departments and small. </p>
<p><a href=“http://www.coloradocollege.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.coloradocollege.edu</a></p>
<p>You might also take a look at Macalester. Lots of international students and located in a city, unlike most LACs, with a strong political science department. I believe that they give aid to international students, although it might not be available for all applicants.</p>