[jean23]

thanks every one
please delete ........................................

[jadeooo]

UCLA, Stanford, USC are all really hard to get in regardless if your an international student or not.
I suggest going to a community college first Pasadena Community College is a REALLY nice community college.
You should consider going to a Community college for 2 years then transferring to a UC, CSU etc.
International students pay REALLY high tuitions regardless where you go so brace yourselves.
If you don't have much funds, why not just stay at Australia? No international fees No loans!
My friend goes to a college in Hawaii & she said there are no fee difference for international students!!!!!! You might want to check that out!!!!!!
I've taken classes at 4 community colleges before and I liked PCC the best.
Right now, I'm attending UCIRVINE as a freshie & its GREAT, I LOVE IT SO FAR!!! You should def. check UCI out!!!!

[joogrlpekaun]

The schools you listed are all difficult to get into whether you're an international student or not, not easy, as jadeooo said. If you want easy to get into, you'll have to reaaallly revise your list. Also, there is no set SAT score that will get you in, not unless the school has totally different policies for international applicants. Non-Americans seem to think that the SAT is the biggest factor in where you get accepted, but it's actually relatively minor. Your GPA (most top schools look at ALL years of high school even though some count more than others, with 11th grade generally being the most important), the difficulty of the classes you took, and extracurricular activities that you participated in are all more important than your SAT score. American colleges generally take into account students' GPAs, difficulty of their courses (did you do IB/take AP classes/whatever Australian equivalent that's harder than average), extracurricular activities (what did you do, how dedicated are you, do you have any special talent or have you done anything unusual or amazing), SAT and/or ACT scores, essays that they write specifically for college admissions, and teacher recommendations. There is no SAT score that can get you automatically accepted to a top American school, as I said before. You probably want to aim for 2300+ to strengthen your application, since SAT scores can tip the scales if you're on the edge of being either admitted or wait listed or rejected, but you would probably be fine in the mid-to-high 2200s if your application is otherwise very strong. When I was at the point you're at now a few years ago, admissions officers said that SAT scores rarely make or break an application unless they're very low. People with perfect 1400 scores get rejected from top schools all the time in favor of students with lower scores but better applications overall. This is why people in the US stress out so much and go all-out for college applications starting really early in high school--or even before!--if they're serious about getting into the top schools.

Admissions to top schools in the US are pretty hard to predict because people with GPAs of or even above 4.0 out of 4.0 (due to weighted classes like AP or IB that count for more than regular ones) also get rejected from the top schools because there are just so many of them and it's so competitive. Sometimes the person with a 3.9 GPA will get in and the person with a 4.1 won't due to other factors. It's frustrating for students here because you can pretty much do everything right and still have the nail-biting suspense about whether you'll get in or not. For a better idea of where you in particular would stand, check out each school you're considering individually, because each school has its own admissions requirements. Sometimes their websites will also give you the average GPA and SAT score of the admitted applicants from previous years so you can see what range you should shoot for to maximize your chances.

In my opinion, it doesn't make a lot of sense to go to community college as an international student. Community colleges generally make sense for local students who get very very cheap school and an easier time getting into their state's public universities or another university of their choice after finishing their CC stint and racking up some general ed transfer credits. If she were going to do that, she might as well do the year or two at home in Australia at a two-year college there and then apply to four-year American schools. But if she'd be a strong candidate for admission to top American schools now then there's no reason for her to do either one, really. She could always apply to the American schools next year, go to a college or a year or so of university in Australia, then apply to transfer to a US school if she does well. There's also the option of doing at least some undergrad in Australia and then transferring directly into a Pharmacy program in the U.S. since Pharmacy students in the U.S. generally can't go straight into pharmacy school from high school anyway.

Oh, and you might want to know that the public universities in California (the UC schools like UCLA and the CSU schools) are pretty stressed and strapped for cash right now. Also speaking of financial matters, $35,000 is actually significantly less than some schools cost. The range for full-price tuition to a private school or a prestigious public university in a state you're not from is more like $30,000-$50,000 depending on the school. Again, check each school individually before you even apply to see if you could afford to go if you were accepted.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! And start your applications EARLY once you've decided where you want to apply because it takes a lot of time to complete all those applications. If you really want to study in the U.S. badly even if you don't get into the exact school you wanted most, then apply to a bunch of schools you think you'd like to go to. Many American students apply to schools with a mixture of selectivity called "reach" schools (not too likely you'll get into but dream schools for you), mid-range schools at the level you're probably about right for, and "safety" schools that you're very very likely to get into.

Sorry this post was so long but it really seemed like you needed a crash course in the American college/university system.

[felinius]

You probably want to aim for 1300+ to strengthen your application, since SAT scores can tip the scales if you're on the edge of being either admitted or wait listed or rejected, but you would probably be fine in the mid-to-high 1200s if your application is otherwise very strong. When I was at the point you're at now a few years ago, admissions officers said that SAT scores rarely make or break an application unless they're very low. People with perfect 1400 scores get rejected from top schools all the time in favor of students with lower scores but better applications overall. This is why people in the US stress out so much and go all-out for college applications starting really early in high school--or even before!--if they're serious about getting into the top schools.

I feel a need to point out that the SAT has been revised and is on a system of 2400 points not 1400 like it used to be. Get a 1400 and it's kind of a "mediocre" and won't get you instant admission into the CSU system (however you also need to have the appropriate classes to get in? and CSU doesn't take essays)


If you want to get into the CSU system, you generally pay around 8,000$/semester (including books) and pay as much as out of state students. The only problem is that the fees increase a lot because you end up having to live close to your college if you don't get an American license. Our system is much cheaper than the UC system but you have to be careful on which one you go to. So it's an alternative to UCs if you can't spend too much.

[jean23]

woah thanks guys
that help alot
hehehe
keep the answers comming in xD
thanks

[joogrlpekaun]

I feel a need to point out that the SAT has been revised and is on a system of 2400 points not 1400 like it used to be. Get a 1400 and it's kind of a "mediocre" and won't get you instant admission into the CSU system (however you also need to have the appropriate classes to get in? and CSU doesn't take essays)


If you want to get into the CSU system, you generally pay around 8,000$/semester (including books) and pay as much as out of state students. The only problem is that the fees increase a lot because you end up having to live close to your college if you don't get an American license. Our system is much cheaper than the UC system but you have to be careful on which one you go to. So it's an alternative to UCs if you can't spend too much.

Sorry! I did actually mean for it to be out of 2400, it was just a mistake. The SAT was revised before I took it, so I actually only ever took the 2400 one with the essay and no analogies myself. Fixed my original post. 1400 is mediocre, I meant 2300 and the mid- to high-2200s, not actually 1300 and 1200s. Thanks for catching that, since it is a big difference!

On the topic of essays (I didn't know that CSU schools don't require them, but most upper-tier and mid-tier schools do), you--speaking to the OP and any other non-Americans looking to come over here and applying to schools you need essays for-- need to keep in mind that the essays are not just a formality to make sure that you can write in English at above a middle school level. I've had people in Canada ask me if the essays really count and yes, they do. They can be a deciding factor in your admission because they can give you the opportunity to tell more about yourself than is in the rest of your application and to showcase how interesting you are. Put a lot of time and effort into them, have other people look over them, make sure the grammar and spelling are impeccable, revise them before you submit them, and try to make them interesting so they will stand out. Also make sure your essay actually sticks to the topic it's supposed to be on. It's not as big a deal for schools that aren't as hard to get into, but for schools with very competitive admissions processes, you can bet that everyone else serious about getting admitting will have put a lot of effort into their essays.