International Seeking for Aid

International Students
1

<p>Hi I am reapplying to some US colleges this year after being rejected by many last year, including Amherst, Dartmouth, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and some LACs. I guess it was because of my low SAT scores (M/CR/W 800/590/710), but now I have a pretty good ACT (Composite: 33, E/M/R/S 34/35/33/28, W: 10) with SAT Math 2 800 and Chemistry 770. I also learned that I wrote terrible essays but now I am pretty confident with them. For EA I applied to UChicago, Bard, NYUAD (possibly rejection), Yale-NUS (already shortlisted for interview), NYUSH (already shortlisted), and Colorado. If the plan doesn’t go well I should seek for other colleges to apply to in ED 1 or RD. But the problem is I am really IN NEED of financial aid as an international student.</p>

<p>This is my short profile:</p>

<p>Objective:</p>

<p>ACT : 33
SAT II : 800 Math II, 770 Chemistry
Unweighted GPA : 93.5/100 (it’s not that bad)
Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): 1/74
Awards : Bronze and HM in two international science fairs, ranked 8th out of 1.6 mil students in national examinations (average score: 9.51/10), bronze in NChO (USACO-equivalent), bronze in national science fair, second prize in Ministry of Education Essay Writing Award, second prize in major travel blog award</p>

<p>Subjective:</p>

<p>Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis): </p>

<p>Environmental Research in national institute (2 yrs; participation in international and national science fairs), Science Olympiads (4 yrs; 2 national medals, 2 regional medals, several science camps), Student Council (VP; 4 yrs), Creative Writing (published Indonesian novel), Social Campaign in school to fight discrimination (Founder/President), School Publication (President, 3 yrs), Badminton (intramural; School’s Athlete Semifinalist), Foreign Languages (German/self-learning, Turkish Lang and Culture Center)</p>

<p>Volunteer/Community service: teaching children (during gap year), school’s program in meal service for orphans (2 yrs)
Summer Activities : research, science camps, Student Council’s activities
Essays : Common App 9/10 (I wrote about significant roles I had in dormitory room which was occupied by 10 students)</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendation: #1 Biology teacher: he said that he remembered every detail about me and also wrote small anecdotes on the recommendation.</p>

<h1>2 Civics Education teacher: she admired my sensitivity to others.</h1>

<p>Counselor Rec: #3 GC: 3 pages. He was my history teacher and my home room teacher, but now the principal of the school.</p>

<p>Country (if international applicant): Indonesia
School Type: Private/boarding, based on national exams ranked top 10 in the country
Ethnicity: Asian
Gender: Male
Income Bracket: <40K</p>

<p>I just want to know what my chances are in UChicago, Colorado, and Bard, and to which schools do you suggest me to apply in the next application rounds (ED2 or RD)?</p>

2

<p>how much can you pay per year? is a critical question before anything.</p>

3

<p>I noticed that NYUAD is on your list of schools. If you get accepted to NYUAD they will give you whatever you need not merit-based, need-based. I know people who have gotten free rides, half paid, or 70% paid.</p>

4

<p>I expect to pay less than 10K. I know it is a really small contribution, that’s why I am trying to find out really generous colleges to international students.</p>

5

<p>You should apply those automatic scholarship schools with your stats, starting with Alabama, look them up here:</p>

<p><a href=“Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>are they also applied to international students?</p>

7

<p>Alabama’s scholarships are available for international applicants. You need to check the websites of the other places to find out what their current policies are. </p>

<p>Check the links in this thread for more possibilities: <a href=“Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

8

<p>anyone can chance me for UChicago or Ivies or top LACs?</p>

9

<p>Reach, but your national science olympiad records will be helpful. </p>

10

<p>Thank you. isn’t it like Ivies and top LACs reach for everyone? And is my ACT score enough? I’m also considering Vassar, Middlebury, Wesleyan (with Freeman Asian Scholarship) and Bates though.</p>

11

<p>Act score is fine but it would be better to have like 35 or 36 for better chance.</p>

12

<p>Thank you! You are one of the kind people in CC, since many people, as I’ve seen in other threads, told with 33 one has no shot in Ivies, Amherst, and Williams. I just looked for something encouraging for my application, so thanks.</p>

13

<p>U have a good shot at a lot of those schools if there is nO high needs of aid. However, your 33 Act is not competitive for almost full ride scholarship at those highly competitive need aware schools. </p>

14

<p>OP is a national winner of science olympiadS AND a published novelist AND has a 33 ACT. So come on guys: he’ll get into one of his colleges - NYUAD for sure and financial aid is guaranteed, and I think UChicago is a match.
Internationals have it way harder than others, but his stats are among the most competitive there’ll be - there’s no difference between 33, 34, or 35 at this level, what they want is national/international level achievement, and OP has this, not just in one, but in THREE different categories. </p>

15

<p>Thanks @‌MYOS1634 Anyway I just got an update from Yale-NUS. That is, I am rejected. They actually tend to either accept or deffer applicants who are shortlisted for the interview, but I don’t know. It may be because I reapply to the college, which is now being a big question to me. I have seen the andi’s son thread, but I only see that the poster only reapplied to 2 schools which are both among the most selective ones. So I just want to make sure, whether reapplying really does have a huge negative impact to application?</p>

<p>And, I also have an update to my award list that I’ve just received a national award in youth human rights activism–I am not sure if it’s gonna make a difference. </p>

<p>I am still waiting from UChicago, Colorado, Bard, and NYUSH or NYUAD right now. But any suggestion to which school I should apply for ED2? I am considering Reed, Swarthmore, or Middlebury. I have two conditions: I want to go to graduate school after college (which is why I consider Swarthmore and Reed), and also need almost full ride (why Middlebury is). Note: I haven’t applied to any one of them.</p>

16

<p>I recall a thread from an int’l student from india who reported he received generous financial aid from WPI.</p>

17

<p>Did you do the “Why Yale NUS” essay?
Re-applying rarely ends well, since you need to have something significantly different between application 1 and application 2.
Keep us updated.
I do think you have a shot at UChicago.
ED2, I’d pick Reed if the “vibe” matches yours (strong classical cannon freshman sequence, illegal-in-many-states vapors floating around, one of the heaviest workloads in the country).</p>

18

<p>I did the essay, and, in fact, attended the interview. I agree with you, but I also heard some successful stories of Harvard’s and MIT’s re-applicants. Anyway, I’ll just prepare my best for more new schools in this cycle. </p>

<p>UChicago’s decision, supposedly followed by Colorado’s and Bard’s, will be out next week; they are all in my new schools list, to which I never applied before. </p>

<p>I am, too, more attracted to Reed’s vibe honestly, but more concerned about its chance for FA-seeking international students, compared with Middlebury. </p>

<p>And yeah, I will keep this thread updated. The earliest one will be a decision from one of NYU’s schools I guess. </p>

19

<p>Reed is very good with financial aid for the internationals it wants.</p>

20

<p>I just learned that international students are excluded from ED II, so I guess I’ll just apply to Midd for ED II, if the initial plant doesn’t work out, since Swarthmore’s international aid doesn’t seem quite good.</p>