<p>Stop worrying. You are in a much better position than many, many aid-seeking applicants. With top grades and 25k/year to spend, you could go to many schools, like The University of Hong Kong, which is no doubt a fantastic school (and if you have parents who/you are obsessed with rankings, you could check out how well HKU fares). Unfortunately, from the Indian guys that I do know who were admitted to/attend S, I must say that you will probably not get into Stanford (and not only did those guys have amazing, international awards, they are also full-pay). A great essay could potentially put things in your favor but it is likely that it won’t given the competition–at least at S (your accomplishments are impressive, but S is just at another level, especially for Indians; I’d say that if you were from Mali, Stanford would probably give more attention to your application). Instead, I recommend you add more options and look into liberal arts colleges. Although these schools are less selective than S for intls seeking aid, the competition is still very high: the odds are 10% or below for aid-seeking internationals. At Kenyon College, an LAC of which you may have never heard, the admission rate was around 3% this year, which is the same rate as that of MIT. </p>
<p>I seriously do not understand why you are obsessed with the Ivy League schools. The Ivy League is an athletic conference. A person who is happy at Brown could potentially hate Columbia (I cannot tell you how many times my friend says “I HATE LIT HUM!”, a required course at Columbia), and vice versa. There are so many amazing schools out there. Just be realistic, apply to as many schools as you can, but realize that if you don’t get into HYPSM etc etc, it’s not the end of the world.</p>
<p>Also, understand that it’s not necessarily inability to pay that makes it difficult to get into S or any other need-aware school; it’s rather that the competition is just incredible. I seriously doubt that S’s adcom would pass up an applicant they REALLY like just because the applicant needs aid (despite the fact that S spends a meagre amount on international aid, unlike its peers). I, for one, decided early on in the process that I didn’t want to bother with the risks and the competition associated with applying to S and other schools. I limited myself to LACs and one top university (and a top uni in Australia, which was my safety school), and this approach worked out just fine. You can take any approach you want as long as you understand the risks and “chances” associated with it.</p>