About Us
Welcome to CampusCompare, the starting point for finding your best-fit college. Discover more than 7000 2-year and 4-year colleges and dive into the real-time College Current from colleges across the country.
6 Ways to Search
Location
State
Major
Major
Career
Career
Ivy League
Ivy League
Sports
Sports
A to Z
A to Z
Find Your Perfect Fit
What Are My Chances?

Compare Schools

Financial Aid Calculator

Posts Tagged ‘Admissions’

College Information for International Students

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009


Dear Babs,

I am Indian, and I am interested in studying in the U.S. for university. What kind of visa do I need to study in the U.S.? Will being international affect my college admissions chances? Can I work while I am there?

-Foreign Freddy

—

Dear Freddy,

The No. 1 document you will need to study in the U.S. is your F1 visa. The F1 visa is for international students studying in the United States, but it will not allow you to immigrate (work and get your green-card). Under the F1, you are restricted as to where you can work. You are only allowed to work on campus for a maximum of 20 hours a week. You may be eligible to work off-campus if it is for an internship or career-training related to your studies, up to 40 months for the total of your student visa.

In order to apply for your F1, you must have already been accepted to a US university. Depending on where you search for college programs, you may find that your international status can either help you, or hurt you. If you are applying to popular state schools, like University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, or University of California-Berkeley, they will have a cap on the number of international applicants that they can admit. That means that you will be competing with other international students for a very limited spot. Popular state schools are funded by state-taxes, and so they give preference to in-state applicants. State-schools also typically charge much higher rates of tuition for international students, making them no more affordable than a private college. Although you may be an excellent candidate, there may just not be enough space for you at a big state university.

On the other hand, if you are interested in studying at a private college or university, your international status might actually help you. Liberal-arts colleges like Sarah Lawrence College or Vassar College often seek out extraordinary applicants who come from unique backgrounds. While the majority of these schools are made up of students from the northeast, they welcome adding diversity by accepting international applicants. As you compare colleges, either state schools or private liberal-arts colleges, make sure that they will value you for what you can bring to the campus: intelligence and worldliness.

One more point on student visas is that you will need to prove that you have the funds to pay for your university. Don’t assume that you will get financial aid or that your on-campus job will cover your expenses.  Apply to a variety of different universities, fill out all your paperwork, and stay proactive, and hopefully you’ll be on this side of the pond next fall!

Good Luck!

-Babs

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

POSTED BY Dear Babs IN Admissions, Dear Babs
03.11.09
RSS 2.0 | PERMALINK | TRACKBACK
NO COMMENTS

State Schools for High SATs

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

Dear Babs,

What should I do? My transcript looks like two extremes: I have a low GPA (2.9) but high SATs (2250). I want to study engineering or maybe bio-chem., and I want to go to a good school. I’m taking all-APs my senior year and I have participated in Band (Trumpet) and student government since freshman year. Is there any way for me to still get into a good school?

-Extreme Engineer

Dear EE,

My short answer: Of course!

It just depends on what your expectations of a good school are. Some students think that if they don’t get into an Ivy or an elite liberal-arts school like Swarthmore College they won’t get a good education, or worse, a good job upon graduation.

That just isn’t the case. There are many excellent sate schools that excel in exactly the programs you are interested in! University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Minnesota-Twin Cities both have top-notch engineering programs rated higher than some Ivy-League schools. Good life sciences programs can be found at University of Washington and University of Texas-Austin. It will be easier (and cheaper) to get into a school in your home state, but give these five-star schools a shot.

It sounds like with your record, and your interests, you might really benefit from a state school. Engineering and Biomedical sciences tend to be strong at state schools because state governments like to give funding to local institutions training such important professions. Also, whenever a state needs research done, they are often more likely to fund a lab in their own state than at some other college.

What this means for you is that you will receive top-quality training and lab opportunities, probably better than you would get at a small liberal arts college. Remember, medical and technological research require a lot of researchers, lab assistants, and student helpers; a school of 1200 probably just doesn’t have the resources to conduct first-class research.

The good news for you: State schools tend to weight SATs higher than liberal art and Ivy League schools. Because of their size, they simply don’t have time to devote hours to scrutinizing each student’s transcript, so they tend to prefer uniform “objective” measures like standardized test scores. Your GPA and class rank still count, but the difficulty of your courses and extracurricular activities should give you a leg up.

To see if you have a shot at the one of these colleges, or anywhere else you might like, use “What Are My Chances?” but don’t be afraid to apply to a couple reaches: you never know!

Good Luck!

Babs

POSTED BY Dear Babs IN Admissions, Dear Babs
11.11.08
RSS 2.0 | PERMALINK | TRACKBACK
NO COMMENTS