johnleemk

I'm looking into applying as an undergraduate international student (as a freshman of course, not as a transfer) in the US. I'm thinking about going to some LAC or maybe (if possible) an Ivy League school (though I'm only looking at two of those: Princeton and Dartmouth).

However, a major (if not critical factor) in my decision is financial aid. I need it to study. Simple as that. Otherwise my parents will be saddled with loans until they die. I'm presuming an Ivy League school would be able to provide sufficient aid (someone please correct me if I'm wrong), but I'm also thinking about LACs. Right now, I'm considering:

Major reaches
- Swarthmore
- Dartmouth
- Princeton
- University of Chicago
- Williams

Slight reaches
- Wesleyan

Matches
- Bucknell
- Grinnell
- Colgate
- Wooster
- Macalester
- Gettysburg

Please give me an idea of what kind of aid I can expect from these schools; I know most, if not all, of them provide aid for internationals, but can somebody ballpark how generous these schools might be? Also, if anyone knows of a school with great financial aid for internationals and a decent academic reputation, I would be much indebted.

To give you an idea of my academic qualifications, I scored a 2340 on the recent June SAT: 800 for CR, 760 for math, and 780 for writing. However, my ranking in class will absolutely kill me; 17 (or thereabouts) out of 120 or so. Not that it matters, since I'll be dropping out of school soon to prepare for my A-levels (equivalent to APs) at a private institution. A-levels are standardised, however, so there are no rankings. In addition, I am likely ineligible for Wesleyan's Freeman Scholarship, because I will be skipping my SPM (which is the Malaysian equivalent of O-levels) to do my A-levels.

Thanks for any and all advice!

sybbie719

I can tell you first hand that Dartmouth is not need blind in it's admissions of international students. So your needing financial aid could be a factor in your being admitted. However, should you be admitted into Dartmouth, they will meet 100% of your demonstrated need.

Please be advised that international admissions at most of the schools you listed will have a lot of candidates for very few spots.

Since you state that you will need finanical aid, I would first suggest that you read up on the finanacial aid policies regarding international students. while many of the schools you have listed offer need blind admissions to U.S. citizens, there are only a small number of schools that are need blind in the admissions process (of the ones you have listed, Princeton & williams are the only 2 definite, Macalaster no longer offers need blind admissions).

If possible you should go to each school's website, and access the school's common data set. You can find this at tha school's office of institutional research. Of on the search line of the website. Type in Common Data Set.

Attached, is the link to Dartmouth's Common Data Set

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~oir/pdfs/cds_200405_02.pdf

For the Class of 2008, there are 54 international students enrolled.

The common Data set will also give you information such as SAT ranges for admitted students, the number of international students getting financial aid from the school and the average amount of aid.