<p>Now the end is near…
So here’s my experience:
Let’s just say my ethnicity seriously hurts my chance!!!
Plus I’m asking for 30k+ FA, as an international </p>
<p>stats:
GPA 4.0, unranked at school (religious private high school with 1000+kids)
TOEFL 114
SAT 2280
ACT 34
SAT II 2400 (math/phy/chem)
AP three 5s (Cal, PhyC mechanics, Chem) and a 3 (phyC EM), all did it junior year
Senior Course: AP Gov, AP Econ, AP Cal BC, AP Phy, AP Eng, Linear Algebra, World History, Computer application, bla bla bla
Some math contest awards
Been doing computational chemistry research at a university
VP of Mu Alpha Theta, NHS, some other random ECs
Good rec letters (not the best)
Great essay (i think it made a big difference) </p>
<p>I applied to some 35 schools so…</p>
<p>Results: </p>
<p>UBC (canada) 25k
Baylor 18k
UMN 6.25k
WPI 16k
SMU 28k
Cooper Union 24k
Macalester 35k
Vassar 0k (forgot to ask for FA on my app, but it’s def gonna be a rejection had i done that)
UT Dallas honors free-ride, which is like 36k a year</p>
<p>Rejected by pretty much everywhere else (top 50s, ivies), except waitlisted at Dartmouth 
(yeah I was like what the heck? )</p>
<p>Really haven’t made up my mind yet as to where to go.</p>
<p>It’s been a really exhausting year–just to keep up with all those 35 schools I applied to sucked up a lot of my time. For almost a year I basically had no social life and locked myself in my room working on SAT/ACT/AP/TOEFL preps or improving my essay&common app answers or filling out forms. But let’s face it–we’re int’l and we’re asking for FA, so be prepared to get rejects after all your hard work.
Last piece of advice: NEVER FORGET TO APPLY TO SAFETIES! Apply to some Canadian schools if you have time</p>
<p>Good luck to everybody!!!</p>