HS Class of 2013 Lessons Learned

inaweoflacs
Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:28:57 +0000

Internationals asking for financial aid: You might be rejected by schools like TRINITY with a 2250 SAT/ 800 + 770 SAT IIs/ 4.0 GPA. Yes, money matters. Apply to need-blind schools (but only a couple, as these are crazy reaches) and then to true safeties, with a few 15-30% in the middle (but these will be VERY hard to get into)
Go ED NOW! I applied ED to Dartmouth over Amherst or Middlebury or Bowdoin, which I now realize I should have done, just because I didn’t visit or do my research and decided to go for name recognition… DON’T!
Forget the Ivies and Stanford and UChicago for a moment and look at some liberal arts… They actually come in all sizes, are insanely cool, and ONLY UNDERGRAD!
Whether you’re from Europe or China, forget about what people back home will think. “I go to Skidmore” might not mean anything to my friends and family back in Rome, but it can mean a lot to you. Also, the Ivies are not for everyone… As an international, you would probably benefit from a tight-knit community where you can actually meet all sorts of people instead of just clique up with people from your country.