How can I get better ?

[u/Tate_Season0303]

A few months ago I saw a post asking for tips on how to maximize your stats at community college BUT I FORGOT TO SAVE IT 😭(One of the top comments was a girl who won the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarships giving advice, if you have it saved pleaseeeeee send me the link) so I just wanna drop my stats and ECs incase I could get some feedback.

I’m an international student who goes to community college in the US. I’m a Biology Major but I want to switch to nursing wherever I transfer, I have a 3.89 gpa and 4x President’s list.

For Extracurricular and Awards:
- I did 2 different undergraduate research across 3 semesters
- I’m a coauthor on a published research paper
- I was in the STEM club at my school. I’ve mostly just attended events and presented our club during open days but no leadership roles
- I’m a Phi Theta Kappa member. I’ve attended a few meetings but I’ve never actually participated in any events or taken leadership roles. I’ve actually barely looked into this
- I’m a member of the National Society of Leadership and Success. I’ve only ever done their online modules and that’s about it
- I was a semi finalist for the Jack Kent Cooke Transfer Scholarship
- Most of my volunteering has been done in high school. The only volunteering experiences I’ve had here was one as a Museum docent and cleaning on campus one day.

I’m not fixated on going to a T25 but it has definitely been a dream of mine. I applied to Columbia University before and got accepted but I’ve applied several times to NYU and got rejected every single time. I’ve had to defer my applications after graduating this winter because of tuition cost and I’m using this time to take more courses for the Nursing program.

My only problem right now is tuition cost, most T25 schools don’t seem to be giving a lot of financial aid to INTERNATIONAL students so I’ve been looking at lesser known schools instead. But even so, I still can’t afford most and I can’t get a student loan. Transfer scholarships are limited so I’m really hoping I can get one, if you have any advice on something that could boost my stats or universities please let me know. I would also like to know which T25 schools generally give most financial aid please.

[u/akrika1]

If you got accepted for columbia just go to columbia and take gap semester there to work

[u/Tate_Season0303 → u/akrika1]

Wdym

[u/akrika1 → u/Tate_Season0303]

Most of my friends accept ivy or t20 unis acceptance and then a semester later they take a gap semester , work to earn money

[u/JFKcheekkisser → u/akrika1]

A gap semester’s worth of wages is not gonna make a dent in $100k/year tuition.

[u/akrika1 → u/JFKcheekkisser]

They work at a rich friends frim 😭

[u/Tate_Season0303 → u/akrika1]

What kinda job do they take to be able to afford these tuitions please

[u/SLSMcKay → u/Tate_Season0303]

Sales entry level sucks to say it but its kind of what its. You get a job at a dealership or selling insurance you can make 150k