SAT: 1140 - Low key took it for a joke wasn’t even planning to apply to the states, but then brexit happened
Full IB diploma student
Intended major - Economics/Finance
ECs:
Co Instructor at my school’s robotics club
Assistant Coach to my school’s MS basketball team
Led a research project/competition done by my school’s science club for Cern, came third overall
CAS reporter for my school’s newspaper
Student Ambassador for the CAS program - received an award by the president of the country as well for the CAS program
I run my own record label
Work Experience:
Intern at a European Bulge Bracket investment bank
Other Notes:
My dad went to prison for a crime he didn’t commit when i was in 9th grade and was recently cleared of charges, would this help or hurt me?
Rec letter from a University professor i have previously worked.
I just want to go to a good university in the states and have a good time, I’m not going to let this process consume my life because there is so much more to life other than college.
As a full pay international student there are many universities and colleges that will welcome you (and your $50,000+ per year tuition) with open arms. But there are literally hundreds good universities in this big country, and we would need a bit more information to help you narrow down some choices. Which part of the country would you prefer? What size? What kind of setting (urban/suburban/rural) Would a liberal arts college be good? Do you care about fraternities/sororities? Big-time sports? I will add, raising that SAT score will qualify you for colleges/universities with a better international reputation. Which may be important if you plan on working in Europe.
Ideally I would like to be in a large US city, New York, Miami, LA, SF etc. I know raising the SAT score would get me into much better universities but I don’t have time to do so as I can’t take a gap year and applications are now due.
Well, of course you picked the most popular areas with international students, which also means you will be competing against larger numbers of international students with better SATs. With your score, you could aim for public schools which will like your tuition money, schools such as Long Beach State University, San Diego State University, San Francisco State University etc. Same in Florida/New York. (By the way, going to school in much of California and Florida will also likely require buying a car.)Among the privates, check out University of San Francisco, Loyola Marymount in LA, Azusa Pacific. Note, your SAT is much lower than the median for Forham, which someone suggested above. That doesn’t necessarily mean you wouldn’t get in, but it does put you at a disadvantage. If you don’t have a lot of time to devote to your applications, you may want to apply only to schools where your SAT is somewhat close to the median. You find this information by googling freshman class profile for each college/university.
Oh ok thanks, I was actually already thinking of applying to LMU. Any other good suggestions outside the areas i mentioned. The real question I’m asking here is what’s the best College I can get to with those stats. Can be anywhere and can holistic admissions help cover for my SAT.
No one here can tell you “the best college” you can get into. Besides not knowing what you mean by “best,” we don’t know where you’ll be applying and what your competition will be. Some years it’s tougher than others because more high-stats students from your country happen to apply to the same school.
None of the California public schools such as the Cal States mentioned in post# 8 are viable options since the application deadlines have closed. I think you are a little late in the college search process and should have been research on viable options months ago. Also I agree you need to define “best” . Best fit would be a personal decision. Best academics and best chance for an acceptance, you need to check any target school’s website (Common Dataset) to see how you compare. Target stats at 75th percentile or higher.
Colleges in California: Whittier College, University of La Verne, University of Redlands, St. Mary’s of Moraga, University of the Pacific are some schools to look at up note that application deadlines are coming up fast.
U of Denver might be a good reach school for you. It’s a private U with great business/finance programs, in a major US city that’s great for students. Your stats are just below median, but they accept almost 60% of applicants and are not need-blind, so being full-pay might give you enough of a boost. Plus they have a school of music with an undergraduate program in recording and production, so perhaps a good fit for your interests.
Another slightly less competitive school with similar strengths is U of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA (greater Seattle area). Their stat profile is similar to DU but with a higher acceptance rate (84%).
There are any number of less-competitive urban public U’s that could work for you if you don’t mind a primarily commuter campus. Portland State, UMass Boston, U of Colorado Denver (not to be confused with U of Denver previously mentioned).
For schools with a more cohesive student community, there are some great options in smaller cities - College of Charleston in SC, for example, might be exactly the kind of fun place you are looking for, and has a great finance major in the business school as well as a Music Industry concentration in the Arts Management program. They also have a great Honors College, and if you can’t get into that initially, you can apply after your first year. Charleston is a charming, historic city on the SC coast - you can even take surfing for credit at CofC: http://today.cofc.edu/2015/12/12/surfing-for-college-credit/