Selam everyone,
Hope your week is off to a great start!! The 2019/20 Application cycle has been open for a while now and we will be posting weekly tips about the college application process. Today we are going to kick off with some basic overview of the application process.
***The Common Application***
You will most likely complete your college apps online, either through the Common Application or on the school's website. The Common App makes it easy to apply to multiple schools with just one form, but each college will have different requirements for essays and test scores. Read the application instructions for the colleges of your choice carefully.
You will be asked to list basic information about yourself, your school, and your family, as well as your GPA, standardized test scores, extracurriculars, and any awards you earned in high school. If you start to fill out an application and realize you need more information from your school or parents, you will be able to save an in-progress application and return to it before submitting.
***High School Transcript***
You will need to request official transcripts from your high school for each college where you're applying. The transcripts are submitted via the commonApp. Remember that the administrators and counselors at your high school are helping all the other seniors in your class at the same time, so be polite--and patient. Senior year grades still count!
***SAT and ACT Score Reports***
You need to take a standardized exam to apply to most colleges in the U.S.. When you take the SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests, you can request that a score report be sent directly to your prospective colleges. You can also decide later whether colleges see one, some, or all of your scores. Schedule your test with enough time first to receive your scores (2–8 weeks for the ACT, about 3 weeks for the SAT) and then to request reports for the colleges on your list. Both ACT and the College Board offer rush or priority report options, for a fee. A school may consider all test scores from all dates, your highest overall score from a single test date, your superscore, in which case you'll submit all your scores and the admissions committee will consider only the highest score on each section or test scores may be completely optional.
*** Letters of Recommendation and Personal Statement***
Most colleges require two or three letters of recommendation from high school teachers or school counselors. Pick someone who knows you well and can speak to your strengths. Your college essay will probably be the most time-consuming part of your application—start early. Use your essay as an opportunity to tell admissions counselors what makes you unique and what you can bring to a given campus community.
***Financial Aid***
Be aware that applying for admission and applying for financial aid are two separate processes. Check every school's financial aid policies—They will require forms like the CSS/ISFAA.
We will be back with much more detail on each of these topics in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Hope your week is off to a great start!! The 2019/20 Application cycle has been open for a while now and we will be posting weekly tips about the college application process. Today we are going to kick off with some basic overview of the application process.
***The Common Application***
You will most likely complete your college apps online, either through the Common Application or on the school's website. The Common App makes it easy to apply to multiple schools with just one form, but each college will have different requirements for essays and test scores. Read the application instructions for the colleges of your choice carefully.
You will be asked to list basic information about yourself, your school, and your family, as well as your GPA, standardized test scores, extracurriculars, and any awards you earned in high school. If you start to fill out an application and realize you need more information from your school or parents, you will be able to save an in-progress application and return to it before submitting.
***High School Transcript***
You will need to request official transcripts from your high school for each college where you're applying. The transcripts are submitted via the commonApp. Remember that the administrators and counselors at your high school are helping all the other seniors in your class at the same time, so be polite--and patient. Senior year grades still count!
***SAT and ACT Score Reports***
You need to take a standardized exam to apply to most colleges in the U.S.. When you take the SAT, ACT, and SAT Subject Tests, you can request that a score report be sent directly to your prospective colleges. You can also decide later whether colleges see one, some, or all of your scores. Schedule your test with enough time first to receive your scores (2–8 weeks for the ACT, about 3 weeks for the SAT) and then to request reports for the colleges on your list. Both ACT and the College Board offer rush or priority report options, for a fee. A school may consider all test scores from all dates, your highest overall score from a single test date, your superscore, in which case you'll submit all your scores and the admissions committee will consider only the highest score on each section or test scores may be completely optional.
*** Letters of Recommendation and Personal Statement***
Most colleges require two or three letters of recommendation from high school teachers or school counselors. Pick someone who knows you well and can speak to your strengths. Your college essay will probably be the most time-consuming part of your application—start early. Use your essay as an opportunity to tell admissions counselors what makes you unique and what you can bring to a given campus community.
***Financial Aid***
Be aware that applying for admission and applying for financial aid are two separate processes. Check every school's financial aid policies—They will require forms like the CSS/ISFAA.
We will be back with much more detail on each of these topics in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
The Final Week before SAT
As the October SATs are coming up this week, the CTP team would like to extend well wishes for the test and give you a few tips on finalizing your prep. Hopefully, you have been preparing for weeks, maybe months now and you are ready to take the test. #Advice number 1. BRIEFLY REVIEW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR: if there are notes or summaries you took while studying go over them once or twice just as a reminder. Looking over a list of techniques for the reading and writing section and a list of mistakes for the Math section is also helpful. #Advice number 2. FINAL PRACTICE: As a warm-up to the test, do some practice questions and take a practice SAT or two. This will help you know of the progress you have made as well us give you a sense of what to expect on the day. But make sure you don’t overwork yourself on these last days. You don’t want to take the test tired and worn out, which leads me to my last advice. #Advice number 3: GET ENOUGH REST: Although most of us are used to working rigorously the week of and specially the night before an exam, this is not a good strategy for the SAT. Instead you should spend take time for yourself to rest and eat well. Doing the opposite will lead to exhaustion and stress. Not only are these unfavourable conditions to be in before a test, they might result in your sickness. And we don’t want that. Finally, relax and chill cause you got this!!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!
As the October SATs are coming up this week, the CTP team would like to extend well wishes for the test and give you a few tips on finalizing your prep. Hopefully, you have been preparing for weeks, maybe months now and you are ready to take the test. #Advice number 1. BRIEFLY REVIEW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE SO FAR: if there are notes or summaries you took while studying go over them once or twice just as a reminder. Looking over a list of techniques for the reading and writing section and a list of mistakes for the Math section is also helpful. #Advice number 2. FINAL PRACTICE: As a warm-up to the test, do some practice questions and take a practice SAT or two. This will help you know of the progress you have made as well us give you a sense of what to expect on the day. But make sure you don’t overwork yourself on these last days. You don’t want to take the test tired and worn out, which leads me to my last advice. #Advice number 3: GET ENOUGH REST: Although most of us are used to working rigorously the week of and specially the night before an exam, this is not a good strategy for the SAT. Instead you should spend take time for yourself to rest and eat well. Doing the opposite will lead to exhaustion and stress. Not only are these unfavourable conditions to be in before a test, they might result in your sickness. And we don’t want that. Finally, relax and chill cause you got this!!! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!
Hello everyone!! Today, we’ll be having our first Instagram takeover of 2019/2020 on our Instagram stories😱😍🎉🎊 It’s a series we started last school year where students abroad can show you what a day in their life looks like. So check out the stories if you’re interested! If you’re not already following us on Instagram (eskahun??) here’s the link: www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
Happy Friday Everyone!
For this week’s CTP tip, we will be providing you with ways to stay organized over the weeks to come. Balancing standardized testing, essay writing, financial aid applications along with classes, assignments, friends and family can be challenging (we as college students still struggle with this on the daily, so know that you’re not alone). Therefore, to get the most out of this experience, it is important that you have a means of strategically achieving your goals and holding yourself accountable.
The first step to staying organized is to have a clear idea of your goals, your action plan and your deadlines. Invest in a notebook/planner and first write down all the things you have to achieve every week. Rate those items in terms of urgency and difficulty. Ideally, you should be spending the most time on the most urgent and difficult activities. Finally, block in times in your planner to work on these items. When you do cross off a certain item on your list, reward yourself (an episode of your favorite TV-show, candy – whatever works for you, as long as it doesn’t break the bank. Do it to keep yourself motivated!)
The second step is to pace yourself. A lot of the work you must complete to produce a successful college application can’t be done overnight. The best essays come out from weeks of editing and rewriting, and the highest SAT scores are contingent upon routine practice leading up to the exam date. Set a dedicated time each day (for instance, 45 minutes a day for SATs and 45 minutes twice a week for essays) to work on these items. Stick to your routine and you will see a lot of progress!
The third step is to structure your workspaces (notes and on your computer). For SAT’s keep a folder of your notes divided by section. On your laptop/computer, set up folders for financial aid, transcripts, essays, practice tests and guides to colleges. And of course, back up EVERYTHING on another computer or a flash drive!
The last step is to work with others. Find people who will motivate you and you in turn will motivate when the going gets tough. Work with them, share resources and support one another. The process will be less stressful for you if you’re around people with the same goals as you.
Managing college apps with classes can get tough but know that you are supported and more than capable. Stick to your plan, organize your workspaces and keep your self motivated. You got this!!
For this week’s CTP tip, we will be providing you with ways to stay organized over the weeks to come. Balancing standardized testing, essay writing, financial aid applications along with classes, assignments, friends and family can be challenging (we as college students still struggle with this on the daily, so know that you’re not alone). Therefore, to get the most out of this experience, it is important that you have a means of strategically achieving your goals and holding yourself accountable.
The first step to staying organized is to have a clear idea of your goals, your action plan and your deadlines. Invest in a notebook/planner and first write down all the things you have to achieve every week. Rate those items in terms of urgency and difficulty. Ideally, you should be spending the most time on the most urgent and difficult activities. Finally, block in times in your planner to work on these items. When you do cross off a certain item on your list, reward yourself (an episode of your favorite TV-show, candy – whatever works for you, as long as it doesn’t break the bank. Do it to keep yourself motivated!)
The second step is to pace yourself. A lot of the work you must complete to produce a successful college application can’t be done overnight. The best essays come out from weeks of editing and rewriting, and the highest SAT scores are contingent upon routine practice leading up to the exam date. Set a dedicated time each day (for instance, 45 minutes a day for SATs and 45 minutes twice a week for essays) to work on these items. Stick to your routine and you will see a lot of progress!
The third step is to structure your workspaces (notes and on your computer). For SAT’s keep a folder of your notes divided by section. On your laptop/computer, set up folders for financial aid, transcripts, essays, practice tests and guides to colleges. And of course, back up EVERYTHING on another computer or a flash drive!
The last step is to work with others. Find people who will motivate you and you in turn will motivate when the going gets tough. Work with them, share resources and support one another. The process will be less stressful for you if you’re around people with the same goals as you.
Managing college apps with classes can get tough but know that you are supported and more than capable. Stick to your plan, organize your workspaces and keep your self motivated. You got this!!
Hola folks!! A quick reminder for students who took the October SAT exam last Saturday: Don't forget to utilize your 4 free SAT score reports. In case you don't know, taking the SAT exam doesn't mean that colleges will automatically see your scores in the test. At this point, it's only the collegeboard that has access to your SAT test results.
In order for colleges to get your results, your score report would have to be sent to them directly from the collegeboard. Normally, sending an SAT score report costs around 12 dollars per school. However, collegeboard allows you to send your SAT score report for any four schools of your choice for free as long as you send the scores within 9 days of taking the exam.
Therefore, if you took the SAT exam last Saturday, make sure to go to collegeboard.org and send your score reports for four colleges. You only have a week left, after which you'd lose the privilege of sending your scores for free. So do it now.Time is ticking!!
In order for colleges to get your results, your score report would have to be sent to them directly from the collegeboard. Normally, sending an SAT score report costs around 12 dollars per school. However, collegeboard allows you to send your SAT score report for any four schools of your choice for free as long as you send the scores within 9 days of taking the exam.
Therefore, if you took the SAT exam last Saturday, make sure to go to collegeboard.org and send your score reports for four colleges. You only have a week left, after which you'd lose the privilege of sending your scores for free. So do it now.Time is ticking!!
Hello everyone!
For those of you who haven't joined our Piazza forum yet, please complete the form below so that you can get an invatation link to sign up to CTP's forum.
https://forms.gle/gACS6io6yvDwbj9t9
Don't know what CTP's Piazza forum is? Check out this post from last year:
We have been getting a lot of requests to create a college application forum that is specifically catered to Ethiopian students. Well, we heard you loud and clear and now we are happy to announce that the CTP Piazza page is live! With just a few steps, you can join the discussion forum which will serve as your one stop destination to ask any college application related questions. With more than 20 current and past students who have studied at U.S. colleges montitoring the forum, you can be sure that you will get an adequate response to all your questions. And now, we invite you all to join the Piazza page and take part in the discussion!
For those of you who haven't joined our Piazza forum yet, please complete the form below so that you can get an invatation link to sign up to CTP's forum.
https://forms.gle/gACS6io6yvDwbj9t9
Don't know what CTP's Piazza forum is? Check out this post from last year:
We have been getting a lot of requests to create a college application forum that is specifically catered to Ethiopian students. Well, we heard you loud and clear and now we are happy to announce that the CTP Piazza page is live! With just a few steps, you can join the discussion forum which will serve as your one stop destination to ask any college application related questions. With more than 20 current and past students who have studied at U.S. colleges montitoring the forum, you can be sure that you will get an adequate response to all your questions. And now, we invite you all to join the Piazza page and take part in the discussion!
Hello everyone!! Don’t forget to register for our Piazza forum(read prior message)! Also, today we have our second Instagram takeover coming to you from Cornell University! Again, it’s a series we started last school year where students abroad can show you what a day in their life looks like. So check out the stories if you’re interested! Make sure you’re following us on Instagram. Here’s the link: www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
You know what time it is🎊🙌🏾🤙🏾🎊🎁!! We have our THIRD Instagram takeover coming to you from SUNY Plattsburgh University! As you know, every week we show you what a day in the life of a college student here is like and so far it’s all been Ethiopians like you! So check out the stories if you’re interested! Make sure you’re following us on Instagram. Here’s the link: www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
Hi CTP, hope you’ve all had an interesting couple of weeks. As ED1(Early Decision 1) comes to a close, we would like to say a bit about the second Early Decision window, commonly referred to as ED2 or Early Decision 2. ED2 has the same benefits ED1 does, but its timeline is significantly different and will affect how you proceed with your Regular Decision applications. The deadline for ED2 is usually around January 1 and, typically, most colleges let you know about your application status by February 17. As you might have guessed, applying ED2 doesn’t guarantee you’ll hear back from colleges before most Regular Decision application deadlines, so you’ll have to still apply to the rest of your colleges through Regular Decision before you hear back from your ED2 colleges. You can think of ED2 as a second chance at applying Early Decision, but with the timeline caveat. For most schools, acceptance rates tend to be lower for ED2 compared to ED1, if they have the ED2 program at all. Here’s the most up-to-date list of colleges we could find that have the ED2 option so you can get ahead of things: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kristenmoon/2018/12/13/early-decision-ii-colleges-the-complete-list/#2437de114acf
Here is some additional tips to help you decide if ED2 is for you: https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/7-things-to-keep-in-mind-before-applying-early-decision-2
Hope that was helpful! We’ll be back next week with another dose of tips and notes.
Here is some additional tips to help you decide if ED2 is for you: https://www.saraharberson.com/blog/7-things-to-keep-in-mind-before-applying-early-decision-2
Hope that was helpful! We’ll be back next week with another dose of tips and notes.
Forbes
Early Decision II Colleges: The Complete List
Didn't get in ED I? It's not too late for ED II.
Make sure to read the previous message with useful info on Early Decision applications! On a different note, we know you’ve been eagerly waiting for something. Perhaps...an instagram takeover🤷🏾♀️ Well the wait is over because we have our FOURTH takeover coming to you from Bryn Mawr College! As you know, every week we show you what a day in the life of a college student here is like. Check out the stories if you’re interested! Make sure you’re following us on Instagram too. Here’s the link:
www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
Hello everyone,
Hope you are having a great weekend! For this week’s CTP tip, we wanted to talk about one of the most crucial elements of the college application process, The Common Application Essay. The Common App essay is the best way for admissions committees to get to you know you. Recommendations are what your teachers say about you, transcripts are what your grades say about you, but think of the essay as what YOU say about YOU. For this reason, try to treat the essay as an opportunity to tell colleges why you are unique and what matters to you. Since your Common App essay will be seen by numerous colleges, you will want to paint a portrait of yourself that is accessible to a breadth of institutions and admissions officers.
Because the Common App essay is only 650 words long and has few formal directions, organizing a response might seem daunting. Here are a few steps to formulate a strong and unique common app essay
Brainstorm
To begin developing your own high-level ideas, you can address these Core Four questions that all good Common App essays should answer: “Who Am I?”, “Why Am I Here?”, “What is Unique About Me?”, “What Matters to Me?”
The first question focuses on your personality traits — who you are. The second question targets your progression throughout high school (an arc or journey). The third question is more difficult to grasp, but it involves showing why your personality traits, methods of thinking, areas of interest, and tangible skills form a unique combination. The fourth question is a concluding point that can be answered simply, normally in the conclusion paragraph.
Overall, there is no single “correct” topic. Your essay will be strong as long as you are comfortable and passionate about your idea and it answers the Core Four questions.
Organize
Common App essays are not traditional five-paragraph essays. You are free to be creative in structure, employ dialogue, and use vivid descriptions—and you should! Make sure that context and logic are inherent in your essay, however. From paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, your ideas should be clear and flow naturally. Great ways to ensure this are using a story arc following a few major points, or focusing on cause and effect.
Write
Your Common App essay must display excellent writing in terms of grammar and sentence structure.
A few tips to accomplish this are:
“Show, don’t tell” is vital to writing an engaging essay, and this is the point students struggle with most. Instead of saying, “I struggled to make friends when I transferred schools,” you can show your emotions by writing, “I scanned the bustling school cafeteria, feeling more and more forlorn with each unfamiliar face. I found an empty table and ate my lunch alone.”
In many cases, writing can include more specific word choice. For example, “As a kid, I always played basketball,” can be improved to be “Every day after school as kid, I ran home, laced up my sneakers, and shot a basketball in my driveway until the sun went down and I could barely see.”
To use active voice over passive voice, be sure that your sentence’s subject performs the action indicated by the verb, rather than the action performing onto the subject. Instead of writing “this project was built by my own hands,” you would say “I built this project with my own hands.”
Finally, avoid clichés like adages, sayings, and quotes that do not bring value to your essay. Examples include phrases like “Be the change you wish to see in the world” (it’s also important to know that sayings like these are often seriously misquoted—Gandhi did not actually utter these words) and lavish claims like “it was the greatest experience of my life.”
Deciding on a Prompt
Each of the common application essay prompts lends itself to distinct topics and strategies, so selecting the prompt that best aligns with your idea is essential to writing an effective Common App essay.
Here are this year’s prompts:
https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2019-2020-common-app-essay-prompts
Hope you are having a great weekend! For this week’s CTP tip, we wanted to talk about one of the most crucial elements of the college application process, The Common Application Essay. The Common App essay is the best way for admissions committees to get to you know you. Recommendations are what your teachers say about you, transcripts are what your grades say about you, but think of the essay as what YOU say about YOU. For this reason, try to treat the essay as an opportunity to tell colleges why you are unique and what matters to you. Since your Common App essay will be seen by numerous colleges, you will want to paint a portrait of yourself that is accessible to a breadth of institutions and admissions officers.
Because the Common App essay is only 650 words long and has few formal directions, organizing a response might seem daunting. Here are a few steps to formulate a strong and unique common app essay
Brainstorm
To begin developing your own high-level ideas, you can address these Core Four questions that all good Common App essays should answer: “Who Am I?”, “Why Am I Here?”, “What is Unique About Me?”, “What Matters to Me?”
The first question focuses on your personality traits — who you are. The second question targets your progression throughout high school (an arc or journey). The third question is more difficult to grasp, but it involves showing why your personality traits, methods of thinking, areas of interest, and tangible skills form a unique combination. The fourth question is a concluding point that can be answered simply, normally in the conclusion paragraph.
Overall, there is no single “correct” topic. Your essay will be strong as long as you are comfortable and passionate about your idea and it answers the Core Four questions.
Organize
Common App essays are not traditional five-paragraph essays. You are free to be creative in structure, employ dialogue, and use vivid descriptions—and you should! Make sure that context and logic are inherent in your essay, however. From paragraph to paragraph, sentence to sentence, your ideas should be clear and flow naturally. Great ways to ensure this are using a story arc following a few major points, or focusing on cause and effect.
Write
Your Common App essay must display excellent writing in terms of grammar and sentence structure.
A few tips to accomplish this are:
“Show, don’t tell” is vital to writing an engaging essay, and this is the point students struggle with most. Instead of saying, “I struggled to make friends when I transferred schools,” you can show your emotions by writing, “I scanned the bustling school cafeteria, feeling more and more forlorn with each unfamiliar face. I found an empty table and ate my lunch alone.”
In many cases, writing can include more specific word choice. For example, “As a kid, I always played basketball,” can be improved to be “Every day after school as kid, I ran home, laced up my sneakers, and shot a basketball in my driveway until the sun went down and I could barely see.”
To use active voice over passive voice, be sure that your sentence’s subject performs the action indicated by the verb, rather than the action performing onto the subject. Instead of writing “this project was built by my own hands,” you would say “I built this project with my own hands.”
Finally, avoid clichés like adages, sayings, and quotes that do not bring value to your essay. Examples include phrases like “Be the change you wish to see in the world” (it’s also important to know that sayings like these are often seriously misquoted—Gandhi did not actually utter these words) and lavish claims like “it was the greatest experience of my life.”
Deciding on a Prompt
Each of the common application essay prompts lends itself to distinct topics and strategies, so selecting the prompt that best aligns with your idea is essential to writing an effective Common App essay.
Here are this year’s prompts:
https://www.commonapp.org/blog/2019-2020-common-app-essay-prompts
www.commonapp.org
2019-2020 Common App essay prompts
The Common Application has announced that the 2019-2020 essay prompts will remain the same as the 2018-2019 essay prompts. Based on extensive counselor feedback, the existing essay prompts provide great flexibility for applicants to tell their unique stories…
We understand that common app essays are one of the most difficult, time taking and daunting elements of the application process. Just know that it is a process and it takes time to craft your own unique story. You got this!!
Hey Everyone,
Since Regular Application season is approaching us, we wanted to highlight some of the criteria to use in choosing your colleges. Some of you have a college that you have wanted to go to since you were six, while some of you might not be as sure when it comes to choosing that one particular college among the many thousands. But fear not, CTP is here to help you get an inch closer to choosing that "Dream College."
The first thing you should know is that you shouldn't have just one Dream College. It just doesn't work that way. You have to be flexible. You can't put all of your eggs in one basket. So try to find colleges that match your expectations. Of course, one college might satisfy your expectations more than any other, but you should also keep tabs on other schools, just in case. Especially during the regular application season, it's of paramount importance to have a list of dream colleges rather than being fixated on just one.
Now that we have covered that we need to have multiple dream colleges, now let's see what criteria we should use in picking these colleges.
1. Financial Aid: Depending on your financial status, this might actually be the most important criteria of all. College expenses are expensive going sometimes as high as 80,000. As such, it's a no-brainer that this criteria matters. Don't take it at face value when colleges say they give financial aid in their emails. Colleges and universities don't often speak openly about financial aid policies. This is a touchy subject for them. You need to find out whether they give financial aid for international students or not. Specifically, you need to find out whether the colleges provide students with need-based financial aid for international students or not, which you can find on Google. Unless you have a gold mine somewhere, it's best to pursue colleges that have need-based financial aid for international students.
2. Apply to your Ethiopians’ Alma Mater(s): this is something some people fail to realize. Whenever colleges send you information about themselves talking about how many international students they accept or have, you should take that with a grain of salt. This statistics on international acceptance doesn't fully shed light on the case with Ethiopians. While making your list of dream colleges, you should think about whether Ethiopians have been able to go to that school, and if possible, how many? I'm not saying that you have no chance of getting into colleges that Ethiopians haven't gotten into. All I'm saying is that the math is definitely not on your side. So, if possible, try to get a sense of how many Ethiopians go into that college, and use this as one criteria to make your choice
3. Major Interest: although colleges more or less are good at all of the majors they provide, one college could have the best software engineering program or the best business program in the country. As such, this is also something you can factor into your choice. Also, you should be able to truly understand the education policy of each colleges because they might have something different to what you expected. For example when it says Columbia University has a core curriculum, you should be able to know what that actually entails.
4. Setting: You should also know that you aren't only going to learn at that college, but you are also going to live there. Therefore, you should think about whether you would like to live in a city or a suburb.
5. Be Realistic: This is the criteria I hate to point out, but it's still important. SAT Scores and transcripts don't tell the whole story, but you should try to see the score bracket of that school and your score and make serious decisions based on that. It's good to be optimistic but you also gotta be realistic at the same time. I'm not saying scores are the be all end all of the application, but they do matter.
Since Regular Application season is approaching us, we wanted to highlight some of the criteria to use in choosing your colleges. Some of you have a college that you have wanted to go to since you were six, while some of you might not be as sure when it comes to choosing that one particular college among the many thousands. But fear not, CTP is here to help you get an inch closer to choosing that "Dream College."
The first thing you should know is that you shouldn't have just one Dream College. It just doesn't work that way. You have to be flexible. You can't put all of your eggs in one basket. So try to find colleges that match your expectations. Of course, one college might satisfy your expectations more than any other, but you should also keep tabs on other schools, just in case. Especially during the regular application season, it's of paramount importance to have a list of dream colleges rather than being fixated on just one.
Now that we have covered that we need to have multiple dream colleges, now let's see what criteria we should use in picking these colleges.
1. Financial Aid: Depending on your financial status, this might actually be the most important criteria of all. College expenses are expensive going sometimes as high as 80,000. As such, it's a no-brainer that this criteria matters. Don't take it at face value when colleges say they give financial aid in their emails. Colleges and universities don't often speak openly about financial aid policies. This is a touchy subject for them. You need to find out whether they give financial aid for international students or not. Specifically, you need to find out whether the colleges provide students with need-based financial aid for international students or not, which you can find on Google. Unless you have a gold mine somewhere, it's best to pursue colleges that have need-based financial aid for international students.
2. Apply to your Ethiopians’ Alma Mater(s): this is something some people fail to realize. Whenever colleges send you information about themselves talking about how many international students they accept or have, you should take that with a grain of salt. This statistics on international acceptance doesn't fully shed light on the case with Ethiopians. While making your list of dream colleges, you should think about whether Ethiopians have been able to go to that school, and if possible, how many? I'm not saying that you have no chance of getting into colleges that Ethiopians haven't gotten into. All I'm saying is that the math is definitely not on your side. So, if possible, try to get a sense of how many Ethiopians go into that college, and use this as one criteria to make your choice
3. Major Interest: although colleges more or less are good at all of the majors they provide, one college could have the best software engineering program or the best business program in the country. As such, this is also something you can factor into your choice. Also, you should be able to truly understand the education policy of each colleges because they might have something different to what you expected. For example when it says Columbia University has a core curriculum, you should be able to know what that actually entails.
4. Setting: You should also know that you aren't only going to learn at that college, but you are also going to live there. Therefore, you should think about whether you would like to live in a city or a suburb.
5. Be Realistic: This is the criteria I hate to point out, but it's still important. SAT Scores and transcripts don't tell the whole story, but you should try to see the score bracket of that school and your score and make serious decisions based on that. It's good to be optimistic but you also gotta be realistic at the same time. I'm not saying scores are the be all end all of the application, but they do matter.
https://www.internationalstudent.com/school-search/usa/
This is a site that you can use with regards to searching schools in the United States that accept international students. But, be sure to look out for institutions outside the US as well. There are some amazing institutions in the rest of the word like Canada and Abu Dhabi that accept international students.
This is a site that you can use with regards to searching schools in the United States that accept international students. But, be sure to look out for institutions outside the US as well. There are some amazing institutions in the rest of the word like Canada and Abu Dhabi that accept international students.
College and University Search
USA | College and University Search
the USA College and University Search for International Students.
https://blog.collegevine.com/schools-that-grant-financial-aid-to-international-students-a-complete-list/
This is a helpful site for figuring out which colleges provide need-based and need-blind financial aid for international students.
This is a helpful site for figuring out which colleges provide need-based and need-blind financial aid for international students.
CollegeVine Blog
268 Schools that Give Financial Aid to International Students
Studying in the U.S. isn't cheap for international students, but luckily these 268 schools offer financial aid to international students.
Hello everyone! Last week must have been rough for y’all without an Instagram takeover. We’re so sorry😢🙊 BUT! Don’t think we’ve forgotten you because today we have our FIFTH takeover coming to you from Princeton University!🎉🎊🙌🏾 As you know, every week we show you what a day in the life of a college student here is like. Check out the stories if you’re interested! Make sure you’re following us on Instagram too. Here’s the link:
www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
www.instagram.com/ctpethiopia
Recommendations are a very important, and yet the most underestimated, part of the college applications. By now you may have heard the spiel that admission officers expect very highly of your personal statements (the college application essays) mostly because it's the only place where they get to know and, depending on how good you are with your rhetoric, SEE your personality. (psst If you didn't get what I meant by "SEE", then check out last week's post about college essays and paritcularly about the SHOW DON'T TELL advice.")
And that's all true. Your personal statements indeed allow others to hear about the person you are outside the realm of academics and numbers. But there's one thing they fail at. Personal statements are accounts written by YOU about yourself, your personalities, and your accomplishments. And it's not unusual that people try to exaggerate their positive side and hide their negative sides. That's why admission officers are always looking for Teacher and Counsellor recommendations. They want to hear about you from someone else that's neither you nor your friend.
There's a reason why habesha parents try to investigate and find out about the man their daughter is about to marry through other people rather than directly confronting him. There is a reason why they "mastenat" him by their super secret source of knowledge (aka gossiping with other people). But anyways, I digress.
And that's all true. Your personal statements indeed allow others to hear about the person you are outside the realm of academics and numbers. But there's one thing they fail at. Personal statements are accounts written by YOU about yourself, your personalities, and your accomplishments. And it's not unusual that people try to exaggerate their positive side and hide their negative sides. That's why admission officers are always looking for Teacher and Counsellor recommendations. They want to hear about you from someone else that's neither you nor your friend.
There's a reason why habesha parents try to investigate and find out about the man their daughter is about to marry through other people rather than directly confronting him. There is a reason why they "mastenat" him by their super secret source of knowledge (aka gossiping with other people). But anyways, I digress.