Friday, March 14, 2014
Foreign student applying for college?
Foreign student applying for college?
I was born/lived in Brazil for 9 years. Moved to the U.S when I was 9 years old. I've been living here for 7 years and now I'm going back to Brazil for 2 years. I'm 16 now but I haven't finished high school. I'll be going to school there but I know the school system is totally different than it is here. When I turn 18 I plan on coming back here for college and applying for my citizenship. (I'm legal, I have my 10 year residency.) Would colleges accept me even if i didn't finish high school in the U.S? Would they look at my grades from Brazil? Do colleges prefer foreign students? HELP!
Higher Education (University +) - 3 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Yes, you'll be accepted, but you'll be seen as an international student, which will be quite expensive for you. Yes, they'll look at your grades. They don't prefer them over anyone else.
2 :
I'm gonna' give you a little tip that could change your very life. Given your intentions, and your situation up to this point, you'd be far, far better off with a US regionally-accredited high school diploma... ...which you can get, even from Brazil, if you want it bad enough... using this very simple trick: There are a number of programs whereby any person may obtain a bona fide, fully-accredted US high school diploma via DISTANCE LEARNING... ...and most such programs don't really even cost that much, surprisingly. A lot of them are made for people who drop out, but who don't want to get a GED... people who want a REAL diploma and transcript from a regionally-accredited high-school. But there are many other good reasons -- like yours, for example -- why someone would want to partake of such a program. When it's done via distance learning (which, depending on the school, might be via online classes, or videotaped/CD/DVD lectures, or old-fasioned correspondence), it can be done from ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET... including Brazil. And the nice thing about t is that you can, via one of these distance learning programs, pick-up right where you left off in your US high school education, and continue right from there. These programs even have "college bound" and "non-college bound" tracks (the former of which, of course, you will want). Because you've got about half (or more) of your high school completed at a US regionally accredited high school, you really NEED to finish-up from a US regionally accredited high school... even if it's not the same high school that you've been attending up to this point. In fact, were it not for how far along you are in a US school, I might, instead, be talking here about how you can a Brazilian high school education respected by US colleges. But you've already got half or more of it done in the US, so you really need to stick with that. Thanks to FULLY ACCREDITED distance learning high school programs -- some of which are amazingly cheap -- you can. This Google search should help: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft%3Aen-us&num=100&newwindow=1&q=%2B%22high+school+diploma%22+%2B%22regionally+accredited%22+%2B%22distance+learning%22+OR+%22distance+education%22&aq=f&oq=&aqi= If you become interested in any of those programs, BE SURE TO LOOK THEM UP in one or both of the following databases and make sure that they're really and truly "regionally" accredited by an agency approved (to accredit) by the US Department of Education (USDE) and/or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA): http://www.chea.org/search http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation The program may LIE about its accreditation (which, in my opinion, is reason enough to stay away from it, even if it turns out that it really is, but just not exactly as claimed), so ALWAYS look-up the program in which you're interested. You may also be told, by some, that because you're out of the US, you're not eligible. You need to make sure to present it as that you've been going to a US high school, but that you suddenly find yourself in Brazil and just want to finish up. Don't tell it exactly as you did in your question, here. It may confuse the school and start making it think about whether or not you qualify because of citizenship status. Just hammer home that you're all but done at a US regionally accredited high school, and that you just want a regionally-accredited high school diploma while you're in Brazil so you can come back and head straight into college. Present it that way. Here are some examples: Ashworth High School (formerly James Madison High) http://www.ashworthcollege.edu/programs/highschool/ While Ashworth College is only "nationally" accredited, its high school is "regionally" accredited (which is what you want). It's reasonably priced (though by no means the cheapest), and it has a "college bound" (although I don't know if that's what Ashworth calls it, but it should be obvious) track. I recommend it. Ashworth's direct competitor in life, Penn Foster College also has a regionally-accredited distance learning high school program: http://www.pennfoster.edu/diploma/index.html Probably the best darned regionallly-accredited distance learning high school program in the country is the one at University of Nebraska... but it's a little pricey. http://highschool.unl.edu/ And you're not gonna' believe this last one: Fully regionally accredited, an entire high school program via its "E.A.G.L.E." online program... ...for under four hundred bucks! Yep, you read it right: $400(US) http://www.continentalacademy.com/eagle-online-program.html Hope that helps!
3 :
You're getting a lot of wrong information here. To start with, so long as you have a green card or other permanent residency status, you are not considered an international student. You MAY have to pay out-state tuition for public universities, depending on the state's rules. Second, your Brazilian High School diploma would be perfectly acceptable, though most schools will require you to take the SAT or ACT exam so that they can judge your preparation against the standard of USA High School. If you can get an IB (International Baccalaureate), this is instantly recognized. It is unlikely, though possible, that you will be required to take an English proficiency exam. Some elite colleges deliberately seek outstanding foreign students and offer scholarships, but in most schools you will have to compete for a place with USA-based students. Financial aid and scholarships may or may not be available, according to arbitrary rules.
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