As a high school student from a not-so-developed part of the world, every time someone asks me where I am going to pursue my college education, instantaneously, my mind thinks about the USA. I'm sure most international students can easily relate to me, and some people may ask- why so? The simple truth is that the USA is easily one of the best destinations for international students, there is, and it is even, arguably, the best.
Now, we come to the point of the colleges within the United States. Out of 4,495 eligible, undergraduate degree-granting educational institutions, a student has to choose one. This seems, undoubtedly, like a very very daunting task, to say the very least. But at the same time, there are a thousand factors to consider for this very task of discerning where to study, ranging from the most salient details, to the minutest. The biggest hurdle, though, for most international students, is their educational funding.
When it comes to the economics of college studies, all international studies go after the same thing, scholarships. Now, scholarships aren't things that colleges give if you just approach them and tell them that you're a good student. Substantial concrete evidence that a student is good enough for a scholarship is without doubt needed for each and every college. That's where standardized tests like the ACT or the SAT come in. The most popular standardized test for post-high-school students, the SAT, carried out by the Collegeboard Inc. is taken by almost a million and half students every year (according to Collegeboard statistics from 2006), and this number is sure to have risen to at least 2 million by now. Now, what is a good score in these standardized tests? Typically, a score of 2100 or above in the SAT and a score of 32 or above in the ACT is considered a "good" score by scholarship standards? (I don't know if that's even a phrase.) You are eligible to get a good enough scholarship, i.e. academic, once you get a score close to this. Basically, what we are saying is that, your standardized test score is going to help narrow down drastically the choices you have for your college education.
Now, we get on to the talk of the majors you want to go with. Usually, if you can get into a large university, the subjects and majors won't be a very big issue, but if you can get into one of the smaller colleges, you have to decide which field you want to go into, beforehand. Liberal arts, Science, Law, Medicine, and an array of other choices are there for you to get into. Of course, large scale universities have their own separate colleges within their premises, so none of this applies to them, but if you're looking for a smaller college, you've got a chance to cut down on the options available.
I, myself, am a very confused person. Of course, I am the average international student, who dreams of going to one of those large universities, those that offer the best services in the nation, but probably doesn't have the academic excellence to get in. But then, I'll try, I'll apply, and who knows, I might just get in. But if I don't, I'll have a lot of other colleges I'll be applying to as well, because I was already prepared for what would come. And I'd probably get into a good enough college. And that's what most average international students are going to do. Whatever we do, all international undergraduate students are faced with this very dilemma of which college to go to. And in the end, it all comes down to where fate leads us. Either that, or we make our own fate. So, yeah. Pretty much all there is to it.
- Mohit
