Be aware that even with a “full ride” your family may still be responsible for costs such as transportation to college, health insurance, books, spending money, etc. which could be thousands of dollars.
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Dartmouth is both need blind and meets full need for all admitted international students.
I believe all are listed now. The OPs list, and the three I added upstream.
@al_00 please keep in mind…the net price calculators are currently set for students starting college in fall 2025, and that is not you. Also, for international students, the NPCs can be a bit off. If the college asks if you are an international student on the NPC, it might be more accurate than if it doesn’t. Regardless…right now…these should be viewed as an estimate only.
These colleges are very competitive for admissions. And the colleges determine how much aid they will actually give you.
You are a strong student, and in my opinion, you have a shot. But no guarantees for sure.
I’ll also be working part-time if im accepted to any of these schools, so we should be able to cover it up some way.
As an international student your work opportunities will be quite limited.
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Because of cultural/linguistic reasons or being an international student in general?
If accepted, you will be here on a student visa, not a work visa. As an international student, your amount of work hours is limited. @MYOS1634 do you know the number of hours?
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Because on-campus jobs are limited and you can’t work off-campus on a student visa.
Also, be aware that when a school says they meet full need, they determine your need, which is almost always less than what the student thinks they need.
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I see. So my options are limited to jobs on campus. I’ll have to research about what my financial direction in the us will be then. Thanks!
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I’m not myos, but it’s 20/week during the semester.
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Noted, hope this won’t be a setback in the case of me being accepted, but I’ll be coming up with backup options just in case.
I also think the number of hours this student will be able to work will be limited.
OP should bear in mind that some of the campus jobs are federal work- study jobs, which an international is not eligible for.
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I’ll do some more NPC’s and try to get a rough estimate of what it’ll cost for now.
To be honest I never got to the “if im accepted” stage in college admissions, now that I have, I’ll put more thought towards it.
You can also look at colleges that are need aware but offer some international students significant aid. Some might be less competitive. But their funds for international students are limited.
Please please look at some affordable options elsewhere also.
My B plans are currently Germany and The Netherlands. Will also try to develop my options there.
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So I sometimes like to recommend Internationals check out the Inside the Yale Admissions Office podcast, which I think is very informative. Some of it is specific to Yale, but a lot is basically about holistic US college admissions generally:
Of course that is a ton of material, but one good starting place is Episode 26: Should I Even Apply?
It is a very interesting episode in that on the one hand, they are trying to assure potential applicants there are many different ways of being a strong applicant and a valued member of their college community. But on the other, they are clearly trying to warn applicants that there are certain specific things they see a lot that are basically disqualifying, such that maybe more such people should simply not apply.
OK, so the whole thing is definitely worth listening to (or reading, if you would prefer). But actually in a later episode, Episode 30 (where they share information about a new initial review phase they adopted to screen out more of the uncompetitive applicants they have increasingly been seeing), they summarize it like this:
You need to have a very strong command of English. You need to have a strong and consistent academic record that’s showing strength, especially in your most recent semesters. We need to see that you stepped up to the plate for the academic challenge, whatever is available in your context. You also need to have academic and personal integrity. We need to see that your academic interests align with the liberal arts approach that Yale is offering. And we need to see that you have the maturity, independence, and interpersonal skills needed to live on a college campus with lots of other people from really diverse backgrounds.
That’s actually a lot. Like that bit about academic interests that align with the liberal arts approach probably gets a lot of Internationals who think they have great qualifications eliminated at the initial review phase. Same deal with that bit about maturity, independence, and interpersonal skills. I think a lot of Internationals do not quite grasp exactly how important that is to these colleges, and how things they think are positives in their application can actually end up disqualifying in this area.
However, one thing that is notably missing from this list is “cracked ECs”, or anything like what a lot of kids online will tell you that you need to get admitted to these colleges. For sure, these colleges care about what you have done besides going to class. And they want to have a clear vision about what you might do besides going to class at their college. And for certain things, like sports or performing arts, say, you might need a lot of demonstrated talent to convince them you will be a big contributor to their programs in those areas.
But if you look at the other episodes that touch on this subject, they are actually very, very flexible about what could count as good ECs. It is definitely not so narrowly defined as some of the kids online will insist–indeed, I think those kids are basically in danger of getting into trouble in those other areas I mentioned above. Because they may not really understand how, say, different ECs can actually support a case for maturity, or independence, or interpersonal skills–the sorts of things that can actually make you a valued member of their college community.
Anyway, that’s a lot. But my point is this. If you meet all those six criteria on Yale’s list, I would not worry about whether your ECs are good enough. But you also need to take those six criteria very seriously. So, reflect on how you can show them you really understand the liberal arts tradition. Reflect on how you can show them you are a mature, independent person with strong interpersonal skills. Be active in ways that are meaningful to you, and possibly to others around you.
And then apply and see what happens.
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Exactly this seems to sum up the current “reddit” approach to extracurriculars.
Thank you so much for sharing this with me, this answer and this thread as a whole has really given me a different perspective regarding college admissions, and has basically made it realer for me. I will definetly be checking out this podcast. Thank you again for your insight.
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I also highly recommend this “Inside the Admissions Office” podcast. It’s an invaluable service they provide. The transcripts are located at their web site if you prefer to skim or read.
One key thing I learned is that the old trope of “successful applicants will have a spike; we’re looking for a class of spikes in order to help us shape a well-rounded class” is indeed bunk.
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They were quite funny when discussing that myth!
But perhaps on a cautionary note, when they tried to affirmatively describe what actually does stand out to them–it was really confusing. I won’t “spoil” it for the OP (if they decide to listen), but basically it was this extended metaphor that I found less than helpful.
So good news for the OP, they don’t necessarily need anything that other kids would call a spike.
Bad news, they almost surely do need to stand out from a field of other very highly-qualified Internationals in a way that is hard for even admissions officers themselves to describe.
So some kids find this very uncomfortable, and I think that helps explain why they keep circling back to the idea there is some sort of formula you can follow. It would be nice from their perspective if that was actually true.
But there isn’t. Which ends up not so great for the kids who follow a formula and don’t get what they want. But then other kids will not follow a formula, wonder if they really have a chance, and then be pleasantly surprised.
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I’ll definitely listen, and yeah that fact that there isn’t a certain formula (like there is in turkish admissions) is hard at times, but I’ll be doing my best to stand out and hopefully get an acceptance letter. Only time will tell.
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