Very Basic Questions (HUGE--answer the ones you can!)

Applying to College
1

<p>Hi everyone! It’s my first time posting in CC and I hope to learn lots here! ^^ These are probably things countless students have asked about but I wish to hear them from my perspective.
Before I start writing anything, however, I think I should share a little bit about myself:
(Basic things)
I’m in Grade 10/Sophomore. I’d like to get into Johns Hopkins one day and be an oncologist. I’m a Korean-born Canadian citizen and I’ve lived in Canada for 11 years. I attend a public school. My dad is a pilot (captain) but for some strange reason (probably because I have no idea how much he makes), he keeps telling me I need financial aid and he can’t possibly pay everything for me–especially because most of his income goes into my FREAKING BOTTOMLESS STOMACH. It’s a family trait, really. I think I eat maybe a little less than a footballer per day. No matter.</p>

<p>Now, here are the problems:
Using CAPPEX:
20,000 students applied for JHU this year. 1900 get accepted. 150 are international students. 16 are Canadian.
I am fighting against these unbelievable odds–but I’ll do whatever it takes to break this limited boundaries I face. Therefore, I need help. (lol)</p>

<p>1) I’m 15. I don’t really know much about the SAT’s except for the following:
-it is out of 2400 marks and is around 4 hours long.
-the price is $50-ish
-There is a writing/critical reading/math section
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW:
-How many times are the SAT’s and when do you take them? Gr.11? 12?
-What months
-How many times can you take it and do colleges see the most recent one or the highest scored one?
-Can schools look at how many times you’ve taken the test
-What should I take, SAT’s or ACT’s? I favor English and Socials. I am good at Math, however, I kind of dislike it because I find it boring (no matter how ignorant that sounds it’s the truth I’m sorry ;w;). I LOVE the sciences but I’m pretty bad at them. By bad I mean that I UNDERSTAND history–any kind, any where. Names and dates just come to me. But for science, I’ll have to read the same thing 10x over before I understand it fully.
-Is it too late for me to start studying for the SAT’s and get a good score on it?</p>

<p>2) Allowances
It’s a little too early to be thinking about this but how much of an allowance should my parents give me per month? My mom was thinking around $200 per month but my dad thinks it should be at least $400 because I eat like a hippo. (5’4 and 56kg… sob)</p>

<p>3) Extra circulars
So far the only thing I’ve done is play the contrabass in the provincial honour orchestra and once more in just regular honour strings.
I’ll also be testing for snowboard instructors Level 1 CASI thing
Other things I plan to do once I reach 16:
Work at the children’s hospital
Make it to at least team BC for kendo
I’m in the knitting clup and model UN for our school clubs (i like knitting jesus cripes)</p>

<p>4) Courses
this is my big question: My course does not offer four years of extra languages no matter how much I want it nor AP Bio.</p>

<p>At the highest level, this is what I will take:
AP Calculus/AP Chemistry/AP Physics/AP English Literature/AP English Language/Strings 12/Spanish 12/Social Studies 11/P.E 10/Textiles 11/Writing 12 (not required but I want to take it because writing is basically my romance)/Law 12/Psychology 11 (we don’t have 12 nor AP)/Bio 12. I’ve gotten credits for challenging a language: Korean 11/Korean 12</p>

<p>Is there anything else I should take? I really don’t want to take First Nations 12 because (no offence) I despise learning about Canadian history T^T I’d much rather learn about Europe or Asia or Africa. I have a lot more insight as to why I find Canadian History ‘boring’ (one of the main reason is that the country is still ‘fresh’ and new in my opinion and there’s really not too much going on that’s different from the rest of the world) but all in all, I’d rather take an extra english or science course.
Law 12 is a little random, but just in case if I want to switch to the Law’s I’ll be ready.
I hate our P.E curriculum in our school–it’s really not fair sometimes. My teacher has this theory that Asian student’s can’t play sports, which I find is really unfair. I’ve ran 100m in 16 seconds, yet I got a much lower mark (a 20% difference!) from a girl who ran it in 22%. I helped out for P.E by washing pinnies, making sure nets went into the bag, cleaning the storage, etc, but my teacher still says I don’t participate well enough and I have a bad attitude. Sure–I’ll do whatever it takes to win in a wrestling match or take the position of QB for a guys football match, but I’ve never been disrespectful to my opponents, my teacher, the equipments–if it’s my desire to win in a match that’s making me have a ‘bad attitude’ I don’t understand why our entire class isn’t failing (I’m in a class where we have 2 softball Team Canada reps, 2 QB’s, 1 wrestler, 8 dancers, and 3 students that are really well rounding in sports in general)
sorry for the long rant ;w; I get so angry when I see that all the Japanese/Korean/Chinese kids failing when I KNOW that they’re really great athletes, not just skills but as a sportsman in general.</p>

<p>5) Sports
If I win a couple of sports in kendo, is it enough? I’m guessing no, but what else can I do?</p>

<p>6) is it true that colleges don’t favor kids needing financial aid over the ones what are… uh… rich? I guess I can say? Because if it’s going to hurt my chances I won’t apply and I’ll just work or something I guess… sigh</p>

<p>7) What are some good SAT books to study from, and how to memorize vocab quickly?</p>

<p>I’ll probably have tons of more questions later but it’s 1am and I seriously can’t think… ugh… thank you so much to those who fully read over this! <3
Crys</p>

2

<p>How many times are the SAT’s and when do you take them? Gr.11? 12?
-What months</p>

<p>I believe jan/march/may/june/oct/nov/dev each year.</p>

<p>Might have to double check that. Most people take it in 2nd sem. 11th grade/1st sem. 12th</p>

<p>-How many times can you take it and do colleges see the most recent one or the highest scored one?</p>

<p>It depends on a colleges sat policy. some choose to only see the best superscore (all your highest individual scores added up) whilst some require you to submit all sittings. it all depends on their policy.</p>

<p>-Can schools look at how many times you’ve taken the test</p>

<p>if they require all sittings, then yes.</p>

<p>-What should I take, SAT’s or ACT’s? I favor English and Socials. I am good at Math, however, I kind of dislike it because I find it boring (no matter how ignorant that sounds it’s the truth I’m sorry ;w. I LOVE the sciences but I’m pretty bad at them. By bad I mean that I UNDERSTAND history–any kind, any where. Names and dates just come to me. But for science, I’ll have to read the same thing 10x over before I understand it fully.</p>

<p>From what you said it sounds like you might do better on SAT, but take each!</p>

<p>-Is it too late for me to start studying for the SAT’s and get a good score on it?</p>

<p>not at all.</p>

3

<ol>
<li>Please take some time to look at the various forums offered here on CC. There is a section dedicated to test prep where this question should be asked. But before doing so, use the Search function for ‘book’ on that forum, as this is a FAQ.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>I’ll reply to elvisthepup later when I don’t feel like I’m going to die but
@entomom: I know, I submitted one there already but just in case someone in this area had a good book to suggest…!</p>

5

<p>2) Allowances
It’s a little too early to be thinking about this but how much of an allowance should my parents give me per month? My mom was thinking around $200 per month but my dad thinks it should be at least $400 because I eat like a hippo. (5’4 and 56kg… sob)</p>

<p>it is a bit early, but it all depends on your families finances.</p>

<p>) Extra circulars
So far the only thing I’ve done is play the contrabass in the provincial honour orchestra and once more in just regular honour strings.
I’ll also be testing for snowboard instructors Level 1 CASI thing
Other things I plan to do once I reach 16:
Work at the children’s hospital
Make it to at least team BC for kendo
I’m in the knitting clup and model UN for our school clubs (i like knitting jesus cripes)</p>

<p>Do what you have a passion for and put effort into your ec’s and it’ll all play out.</p>

<p>4) Courses
this is my big question: My course does not offer four years of extra languages no matter how much I want it nor AP Bio.</p>

<p>it shouldn’t negatively effect you if you cant take it. you can learn outside of school (self-teach/online courses,ect) too.</p>

<p>5) Sports
If I win a couple of sports in kendo, is it enough? I’m guessing no, but what else can I do?</p>

<p>don’t force yourself to do a sport if you hate it, but try new things because you might find an interest. if you have friends doing a sport try joining as you might find a love for a sport and have fun.</p>

<p>6) is it true that colleges don’t favor kids needing financial aid over the ones what are… uh… rich? I guess I can say? Because if it’s going to hurt my chances I won’t apply and I’ll just work or something I guess… sigh</p>

<p>different colleges have different financial aid methods. some are need aware, some need blind, ect. i’m not sure on this one so someone else should answer. </p>

<p>7) What are some good SAT books to study from, and how to memorize vocab quickly?</p>

<p>I’ll probably have tons of more questions later but it’s 1am and I seriously can’t think… ugh… thank you so much to those who fully read over this! <3</p>

<p>I posted in your other thread about books I use. don’t worry about learning a tons of words really quickly, you have lots of time. there are some good vocab books out there to go through. learning roots helps a lot:D</p>

6

<p>

</p>

<p>Correct response: OK, will do in the future.</p>

7

<p>It sounds like Johns Hopkins is too expensive for your family. US universities are very high cost. Many people would not be able to afford JHU. They will give university funds to internationals on a limited basis. Even if you qualify for and get some aid, the amount left may be larger than your father will pay. However, JHU is not need blind for admissions for internationals. You are better off at a Canadian U for price and you will be able to meet your career goals that way.</p>

<p>For SAT questions do some reading in the SAT/ACT forum. Read the SAT tips in the SAT-Preparation subforum. They are pinned to the top of the forum. But for dates and such you should look that up yourself - giyf</p>

<p>2) too early.</p>

<p>NOTE: please listen to the moderator and post in the correct forum next time</p>

8

<p>About financial aid - you said your father was a captain for an airline. Unless he’s working for a commuter airline, odds are you will not qualify for need based financial aid. He might not tell you what he’s making, but if he’s a captain at any name brand airline flying large jets, his minimum salary likely exceeds $150K, which is the level need based financial aid starts rolling off very quickly unless there are multiple kids in college.</p>

<p>FWIW, if you know his airline and the type of aircraft he flies, it’s pretty easy to do a Google search and get a salary range. Since they’re by-and-large union contracts, all that salary information is published somewhere.</p>

9

<p>Some additionals:</p>

<p>Not sure where you got your JHU figures but it admitted over 3500 for entry class of 2013 and just over 1300 enrolled. See [Johns</a> Hopkins University Office of Undergraduate Admissions: Fast Facts, Financial Aid](<a href=“http://apply.jhu.edu/facts/]Johns”>Fast Facts | Johns Hopkins University Admissions) You need to distinguish between figures a college shows for its enrolled freshman class, your 150 internationals and 16 Canadians, and those actually admitted which is always much higher than those who enrolled. Moreover, those head-count figures you quote don’t show that the admission rate for internationals is really near the overall admission rate of about 17%; the head-count figures simply reflect that international applicants make up only a low percentage of the overall applicants.</p>

<p>From what you provide, one cannot tell whether you will qualify for any need based financial aid which JHU does offer to internationals, or even whether you might get some merit based scholarship money. As to your general question, majority of US colleges, including all public universities, in the US do not offer need-based financial aid to internationals. Moreover, many of those universities that do not offer financial aid to internationals require you to submit evidence that you (meaning your parents) can pay all the first years expenses (tuition, fees, room & board, books, other costs) as a condition to the college’s even considering you for admission while others decide admission and then require you to submit such proof. You have to be able to show that the first years costs can be paid (by your parents, or by your parents and a combination of any aid provided by a college that provides aid to internationals) to qualify for the visa necessary to come and stay in the US to attend college.</p>

<p>A college’s language requirement or recommendation refers to level completed not actual years you take in high school. Thus if you take the fourth high school level of a language (which you might have if you have “Korean 12” or “Spanish 12”) you will be deemed to meet any four year language requirement or recommendation.</p>

<p>The SAT is offered 7 times per school year in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, March, May and June. ACT six times in Sep, Oct, Dec, Feb, April and June. Many suggest you take both. My suggestion if you still have a lot of time is to take one , see how you do and then decide whether to take the other. You also need to consider taking SAT subject tests. Hopkins does not require them but recommends three.</p>

<p>Most colleges, including Hopkins do not consider grades in PE for admission.</p>

<p>You should not despise history, having a US history course could help, and Canada has been around as long as the US and its history is far from boring or insignificant.</p>