Chance Me / Match Me intl student to Columbia and LACs [37/42 IB, Econ/Finance]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics: CO ’26, International, I’m European citizenship wise, private international school in Europe (around 50 ppl in my grade)

Intended Major(s): Economics/Finance

ACT/SAT/SAT II: Haven’t taken it yet, aiming for 1500+ hopefully!

UW/W GPA and Rank: I got a 37/42 IB score (without TOK + EE which would add 3 extra points) and I’m aiming for 41-43/45 for my predicted grades which I get in the fall, no ranking at my school

Coursework: I do the IBDP so I take HL Math AA, French B and Economics and SL Bio, Chem and English LL

Awards: Most of my awards are from Speech and Debate, which in my school only runs for 4 months of the year and we go to a competition hosted at different schools in EU each year.

I got 2nd place in Debate in G10, and 2nd place in Original Oratory in G11. I got honor roll G10 and G11, and a special award and stipend for my studies in French in G9, as well as 1st place in another intl debate competition in G9. Because my school is so small, we really don’t have awards, and we’re really isolated from other schools and competitions due to language barriers in my country so it’s not a great list I know!!

Extracurriculars: I still should probably refine my list but here are my main ones:

  1. Model UN: I’ve been doing this since G9 and we do 2 conferences a year, one really big one in Europe and one here. I’ve been student officer/president at both since began, so I’ve been able to take on leadership roles and manage 200+ delegates so I’m super grateful for that! (G9-11)
  2. Dance: I’ve been professionally training in my country’s classical dance form for the last 8 years, and I spend at least 6-7 hours a week for the whole year incl. summer, both attending in person and online lessons but also teaching kids in my community. I’ve been able to perform at maybe 25+ shows since G9! (G9-11)
  3. Speech & Debate: I’ve been going to comps since G9 and won awards, like I mentioned, we only have it for a few months so I’ve only done 4ish competitions in total but I was also the assistant coach for the Middle School S&D team who ended up winning their competition so that was nice :)) (G9-11)
  4. EU stuff: I have to be a bit vague but I was selected to represent my country in this EU group for youth, and we get to participate in focus groups, write articles, social media content, leading up to a conference each year that we organize w government officials. It has also developed my passion for a very niche interest which I hope to talk ab in my essay maybe (G10-11)
  5. Events: Very active member in my school’s tournament organizing team, I’ve been tournament director for 4-5 competitions since G10, so developing game schedules for various teams coming from abroad, picking them up from airports, planning their stay, etc. (G10-G11)
  6. Youth Group: I’m a board member of my local cultural group’s youth committee, we plan multiple events for kids in the community focused on developing their social skills, public speaking, and integration into the local community (G11)
  7. Volunteer for org: I’m a volunteer for my country’s Children’s welfare org, creating social media content, articles, videos, etc. not that high impact I think (G10-11)
  8. Internships/job experience: I interned at 2 different embassies and a local uni’s science lab. I’ve worked every summer since G9, once which was customer facing, I had a remote social media job and I’m working at my school this summer. (G9-11)
  9. Eco-committee: I’m joint president of my school’s eco committee, working towards getting certification and developing projects to ensure our school is more environmentally friendly! (G11)

Essays/LORs/Other: I haven’t started on my essays so honestly not too sure. I’m getting my rec from my English and Econ teacher, and I think they’ll be 10/10 and 9/10 respectively, because I’m quite close w both.

Schools: I know these are all reaches if not beyond but…

ED: Columbia

EDII: NYU

RD: Willams, Amherst, Barnard, UToronto

Disclaimer: I’m mostly focused on applying to European schools which have a completely different application process, however I have been looking into US unis and I honestly just want to shoot my shot and see what happens. In terms of extracurriculars and awards, there isn’t much I can do about it because I don’t speak the language of the country I live in so that cuts out taking college classes etc. Tournaments and competitions in my school require you to pay a lot of money to travel, participate etc which I only do for S&D + MUN, but I’ll be continuing most of my ECs at least for the upcoming semester. Because of this, none of my ECs are also even related to my intended major which I know is a disadvantage. I will be needing financial aid and I know that really decreases my chances but I’m open to suggestions of other places in the US and even in the rest of the world! Thank you so much for your time and advice!!

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My first reaction is that the various schools on your list are all very good, but they are not all the same. Columbia and NYU and Toronto are in the middle of big cities. Williams and Amherst are in small towns. Toronto is a huge university. Williams and Amherst are much, much smaller. You should think about what you want in a college or university.

I have trouble interpreting the European grading scale, but my impression is that your scores are very good. Admissions in Canada is largely stats-based, and if your stats are as good as I think that they are then your chances of admissions to Toronto is probably better compared to the other schools on your list. However, getting financial aid at Toronto may be a completely different issue. I do not think that Toronto has any need based aid for international students (unless I am confused or forgetting something). There are a very small number of very good merit scholarships known as the Lester B. Pearson scholarship, but it is very highly competitive, and you have to get you high school to nominate you to even be permitted to apply for it.

I notice that you have two small schools in the US on your list. I wonder if you want to consider small schools in Canada as well. As two examples, Acadia University and Mount Allison University in eastern Canada are both very good. They will not be as well known compared to the highly ranked LACs in the US. You won’t get a full financial aid package but the cost of attendance for international students is quite a bit lower at the small universities in eastern Canada, and again admissions is largely stats based. Acadia might be a little bit easier to get to if your city has direct flights to Halifax Nova Scotia. If you don’t have direct flights to Halifax, then it might take two flights to get to either school (or three depending upon where in Europe you are coming from).

I have no idea how to interpret or predict the current issues with student visas in the US, other than to say that it appears to be unpredictable and might change by the time that you need to apply for a visa. Canada appears to be more predictable in this regard.

Your ECs do not need to have anything to do with your intended major.

I think that Amherst College is need blind for international students. I think that Toronto is likely to ignore your need, accept you, but not offer you any financial aid which might not be any better than getting rejected.

Your chances at the other schools on your list might depend upon how much financial aid you need. Will you need a free ride, or do you need something less than this? How much can you and your family afford to spend per year?

You will not get a student visa to study in either the US or Canada unless you can demonstrate the ability to afford your education one way or another.

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I prefer larger cities, so maybe LACs that are closer to urban environments would be something to look for (eg. Barnard), but I’m not sure if they give the same level of aid as Williams and Amherst, which is a significant factor, which is why I’m aiming for Columbia and NYU.

My school will nominate me for the Lester B. Pearson scholarship, and like you mentioned I don’t think they provide need based aid so that would be the only way I would go.

My family would be able to pay up to 35-40k per year if they absolutely had to, and I know the NPCs aren’t that accurate for intl students but it seems to be within our budget for the US schools when we put in our details, with around 20-25k that we’d need to pay ourselves.

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Which of these schools is best known in your home country? Since you will most likely return after graduation, that may be a consideration.

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If you are considering Barnard (which, like Columbia, meets full need), what about Wellesley? Or Boston College? If you are looking for smaller colleges, what about Villanova?

Fordham would also be a good option.

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I would be surprised if NYU gives the same level of aid as Williams or Amherst, even though they meet full need. There can be quite the variability in FA offers even from meet-full-need schools because the schools calculate a family’s need in their own specific way. Some schools are more generous than others.

I agree there can be issues when international families run the NPCs. NYU direct COA for this year is $90K, so the NPC would have to show aid of at least $50K to get to the high end of your budget…is that the results you saw? Note also that NY is one of the world’s most expensive cities to live in. Here’s the NYU NPC.

I encourage you to contact the FA departments at the schools you are considering, ask if the NPCs will be accurate for you and if they have any tips for entering information, converting currency, etc. Lastly, NPCs may not be accurate if your parents are divorced, own a business, or own real estate beyond a primary home…are any of those the case for you?

For urban LACs that meet full need (will be need aware for international students) you might look at Macalester College and Rhodes College.

Bowdoin College is need blind for internationals, and although it’s definitely not urban, it’s not nearly as remote as Williams, for example, so you might look at that school. It is next to several blocks of a cute small town with restaurants and shopping within an easy walk, and Portland is about a 30-45 minute drive depending where you are going.

This makes sense, so your strategy might be to apply only to US colleges that you would attend over the EU or other ex-US schools you are considering. All the US schools you mentioned besides Amherst are need aware for international students, meaning the level of your need may impact the admission decision…these schools have limited $ and have to decide which international students to ‘invest’ in. Have you identified at least one safety/highly likely ex-US school that you will be admitted too that is also affordable?

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NYU is need aware for internationals so that reduces your chances of admission (already below 5% overall for both CAS (economics) and Stern (finance), and internationals will have a lower admit rate than overall).

Echoing the comment above about NYC being expensive. My daughter went to NYU and costs in the city add up very quickly (even though she is naturally quite frugal).

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I think Columbia and NYU. I doubt that the LACs are that well known.

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I think I prefer more urban environments so I’ll definitely check out Boston College!

I was also considering it but not sure how much aid they give out for intl students, I will have to take a look…

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The NPC says around 65k in aid which works out for us, and my parents are together and don’t own a business so it should be accurate in that regards.

I’m sure that all the smaller schools like Bowdoin and other LACs are great, but compared to other places in the EU it wouldn’t be worth it to me. On the other hand for Columbia or NYU I think it would be much more reasonable also for my parents to spend money especially if it provides more benefits when I return to my home country. I know that my logic is based more on prestige but I think it makes more sense to do all my reaches and beyond in the US and keep my matches and safeties here in Europe where it is more affordable and also less competitive. Would you say that I have a shot for ED at all?

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I can’t chance you. You are seemingly academically qualified, and a strong test score is a must. In terms of international students, both Columbia and NYU primarily admit internationals who who are full pay (you can look at proportion of international students receiving FA in a college’s CDS Section H6-7.) So, having financial need will likely work against you. But, there’s no downside to applying and seeing what happens. Do keep screenshots of your NPC results. Good luck.

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Primarily, but I do know internationals at NYU who got good aid. It’s worth a shot as long as OP realizes the chances of just being admitted are very low.

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Yep. And to put numbers around it, NYU gave 406 international undergrads an average of $36,706 in financial aid in 2023/24 (most recent CDS w/ completed section H.) That’s out of 7,710 international undergrads, so 5.3%.

I don’t doubt there are some internationals receiving significant aid, but in terms of internationals who need aid, NYU is choosing applicants whose families can afford to pay $50-55Kish (on average.) I would also expect some of the 406 with need are hooked in some way, such as athletes.

As I said above, it’s ok for OP to shoot their shot at these schools and go from there.

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Adding that if you want to be in the middle of a city and Fordham is of interest, I’d suggest you look at the school’s Lincoln Center campus.

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