<p>Akshay, It’s time for you to take the time to do some in depth research. Have others from your school or other schools in your area applied to American schools? The schools should have some data on who got in where. Much of what you read on boards like this will not apply to you as an international who needs financial aid. I can tell you at Harvard, getting accepted with financial aid as an international requires much more than it would of an American. You need to focus on schools where your stats are exceptional, schools that have a low number of Indian applicants (none in California but you should find many in the Southern US), and those that are need blind or otherwise known to be generous with internationals. The list will be short, but if you really want to come here it’s the necessary approach.</p>
<p>no not necessarily low number of indian applicants. let’s not play this like it’s a game. apply to places you like akshay, places that can meet your financial need and are in line with your stats.</p>
<p>College admissions is a game that requires as much strategy as the hardest games I’ve played.</p>
<p>whatever happened to going with what your heart says…</p>
<p>By all means follow your heart, just do so with a good strategy in place or you could wind up with heartburn! Astrix, don’t know if you’re an international, too. I work for a law firm with many international clients and they seek our advice for their kids applying to US schools. What is obvious to me is that a strong strategy is needed by an international even more so than by an American applicant. We see 1600s rejected over and over at top schools, and these are mostly kids who need no money. Indian, Chinese and Korean internationals seem to have the hardest time. Those groups are well represented among US immigrants, so often aren’t seen as offering diversity. However, when such applicants focus on schools where they do provide diversity. and their 1600s are exceptional, they do well.</p>
<p>Yes, I’m an international applicant from India as well. And I see your point now. But as much as Akshay has shown inclination to accept any full ride that comes his way, I don’t think his interests would be served if he settles for just anything. So yeah, he should apply to schools he really likes, and if they don’t have too many Indian applicants, great :)</p>
<p>Williams was a good suggestion on that count. UPenn is known to admit as many as ~50 people from India every year (and lots of people apply) - yeah I know, sounds incredulous but akashbansal seems pretty sure about it.</p>
<p>Astrix:</p>
<p>I was not trying to discourage anyone. I think any Indian kid looking for fin aid better apply lower level colleges instead of focusing on HYP where the competition is intense. In my son’s prep school, I see many Indian kids who have famous parents back home. These kids all end up in Ivies. But I am sure many Indian kids from India without my criterion make it but numbers are maybe less than 10. That is why it is so important to focus on your energy as kirmum suggest. Good luck.</p>
<p>I guess your point is one should have a balanced list and not have unrealistic expectations, which I agree with. But I don’t think he should apply to lower tier colleges alone.</p>
<p>Out of 50 kids, 30-40 kids are born in USA. Thus, they have American citizenship or green card. You may not know all the facts. For some reason, many USA citizens who are abroad are counted as International even though they are from US. I have seen some data.</p>
<p>And yes he needs to apply to top school but should also focus on lower than HYP Caliber schhol. Wharton is as good as HYP Caliber.</p>
<p>oh and kirmum as someone was nice enough to point out to me 
</p>
<p>This is a info only:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/18/41ecc15aed80c[/url]”>http://www.dailypennsylvanian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/01/18/41ecc15aed80c</a></p>
<p>“Fifty-eight of the accepted students are African American – an increase of eight from 2003 – and 67 are Latino, an increase of one. 187 Asians were admitted, a decrease of 22.”</p>
<p>Thus these numbers includes the all the asian kids - chinese, Korean Indian etc. I am sure these includes all the kids from US as well as from asia. I highly doubt that they will take 50 Kids from India. I did ask a parent who have kids in UPenn about the numebr of kids from India. He mentioned around 3-5 kids last year came to Upenn from India. But I have no proof for that and I could be wrong.</p>
<p>Parentny, I do think you have a point about the 50 kids, however, I think Astrix also knows what he is talking about. The times are a changing from the time you and I knew about and a lot more kids are coming from India these days. And these are ordinary kids in terms of being from ordinary families, not the families of a Sonya Gandhi or something.</p>
<p>For example, there is a kid from India this year at Swarthmore. Her father is a scientist at an Indian institution that is well known. But he is not someone who is famous in India or something. Same with other kids my son knows about from the South Asian group he belongs to…they do come the normal route of being very good students and then getting good financial aid. These students are probably the same caliber as Akshay and Astrix - that is very good.</p>
<p>But you are right - not a whole lot of people come from India because it is very selective for them; a lot more selective because many are asking for financial aid.</p>
<p>By all means apply to the top schools as well, my point is that it’s important for an international who is determined to come to the US for undergrad to also have some schools where their stats are unusual, and they provide diversity, to be safe.</p>
<p>Justa BUMP</p>
<p>Akshay, you’ve gotten a lot of good advice on every board. A magic bullet will not appear. To summarize:
- Apply to a range of colleges from top schools to those where you will be top
- Research which schools give generously to Internationals; which are need blind
- Look for schools where you would provide diversity</p>
<ul>
<li> agrees *</li>
</ul>
<p>what happens to us (international students) after we graduate? do we face another round of discrimination in graduate/professional schools admission? say we got lucky and graduated from graduate/professional schools. Can we get a job without a problem?</p>
<p>I am not saying this in a bitter tone, although it kinda sounds like it. I am really curious.</p>
<p>Hopemanjkjk, things are better in most graduate school situations. The criteria for acceptance in those programs are more like the international schools in that they are not as holistic, there tends to be more aid options in the way of stipends. Exceptions are medical and mba programs. Jobs can be a problem. It is a pain for US companies to hire internationals who need visas, paperwork, so they tend not to do it.</p>
<p>Someone like Ashkay with such sterling numbers certainly will find something here in the US if he casts a wide net. And he might well get into a top school. Some kids are accepted, and he certainly has the numbers. If you read “A is for Admissions”, Michelle Hernandez addresses the issue of foreign students who need financial aid. Though the chances are slimmer, much slimmer for these student since Dartmouth is not need blind for international students (as most schools), there are still a number who do get in with full need provided. I’m sure Ashkay is in the running for those scholarships. Not that many perfects on the SATs. It’s just that they those who do achieve that score tend to cluster at a few schools.</p>
<p>There is only one student from India (Mumbai) enrolled in Dartmouth’s class of 2008 (as per the the Dartmouth College Green Book for the Class of 2008)</p>