<p>I’m in your position. I decided to apply for financial aid because I realized that even if I got in, I wouldn’t be able to afford to go. I really don’t want to come out of Stanford with like 100 k in loans.</p>
<p>My guess is that this probably limits my chances of getting in 
but you have to be realistic about what you can/cannot pay for. Also, I’m from Canada and a lot of Canadian scholarships are only tenable at Canadian universities… so… : ( I’m not sure if there are outside scholarships in the U.S. geared towards Canadian/International students. I doubt there are very many …</p>
<p>Also, I think if you apply as an international who does not require financial aid, you have significantly better chances of getting in… maybe even more so than u.s. citizens. This is because Stanford is a university and universities are businesses that need to make money. And having a foreign self-supporting student= 50k/year completely unsupported by Stanford. It’s great business. really.</p>