Office Hours for Low-Income International Students

Applying to US colleges from another country can feel like you’re working from an instruction manual written for somebody else. The deadlines assume a US school calendar. The advice assumes you have a college counselor down the hall. And the answer to a lot of your questions turns out to be “well, it depends on your country,” which isn’t much of an answer.

It’s especially difficult if you identify as low income.

So we’re trying something. Once a month, we’re setting aside an hour where you can ask an experienced counselor whatever you want, live, and get a real answer.

You can ask pretty much anything, though here’s the kind of thing that tends to come up:

• How to explain your country’s curriculum (IB, A-Levels, national exams, and that kind of thing) on a US application

• Testing: what’s required, what’s optional, and what’s actually worth your time

• Financial aid and scholarships for international students, including which schools are need-blind and what “need-aware” really means for your chances

• Building a school list when you can’t visit campuses

• Essays, and how much of your cultural context to explain to a reader who may not know it

• Recommendation letters when your school doesn’t do them the American way

• Visas, timelines, and what happens after you’re admitted

• Applying without a college counselor at your school

If your question isn’t on that list, ask it anyway. The list isn’t the point.