College Advice - Page 2

Originally Posted by cugaz93

I would take the SAT again, because that score is way too low to compete with other international students. I would try to apply to some of the private liberal arts colleges, but since they're all not need blind (except Amherst) what your parents make is really important. I attend a private liberal arts college in NJ, and I was able to get in with a full scholarship because of my connections. I was rejected from all the private liberal arts colleges with a 1880 SAT score and really good ECs.

Originally Posted by buckminsterfullerene

I did the same mistake, I always called it my attempt to sabotage my way into college because at the time I did not believe it was possible to get into college and I was attending the sort of school where people would turn their heads if I told them that I was not going to college (my high school boasted of a 100% college placement rate, I was terrified at the time thinking I would be the one that ruin that record). I got a very low 1100 out of 1600.... lower than the PSAT I took my freshman year of high school (far far lower).

With that low score, and it was probably one of the biggest mistakes it probably shut me from some scholarships, but I still had a very strong history and class record and involvement record and out of a dozen schools that I applied to, I only got denied from two schools with one going as far as offering me a sizeable scholarship. This was in a time where going to college was mostly unheard of for undocumented students and the media, at least in florida, highlighted the stories of impressive college students with impressive records that could not go to college due to their status (something that probably convinced me that college was not possible for me, and I have since become involved with organizations to not only refute that, but do something about it)

1600 out of 2400 seems low, but it should still be possible. Do try to find out if there are any counselors that are sympathetic to undocumented students within the schools you are applying and maybe have better knowledge of how things work at your school. If there are local organizations that focus on undocumented youth it might be worth contacting them, hopefully they have worked with the university, given a lecture there or something and know a staff member that would be willing to help navigate their process and advocate for you.

Unfortunately, there are many schools that will determine whether they accept you or even if they give you any assistance based on your score, and one of the saddest observations I am making is that many schools are moving money away from need based aid to merit based aid, which means more people that are need based will be competing for far fewer funds as they try to bring people that have higher scores and try to retain them with agreements that they must meet a certain grade point average to maintain their scholarships.

It is not impossible to get into college, but it will make it that much harder, I do not know you, but if you are as active as you make it seem and you are involved then your best bet to get into college is to highlight those other attributes as much as possible.

There are plenty of people that are horrible test takers, myself included the challenge is to not only show that, but demonstrate that we are actually very strong candidates that could be very valuable students to the institution.

Ultimately, an institutions of higher learning giving us any kind of money is them saying that we are worth the significant funds that they are putting on us to go to their schools and make their school competitive.