<p>@circuitrider: Huh? No. I don’t see any logical inconsistency with saying Amherst is slightly behind only HYPSM and only slightly ahead or even with some other RU’s and LACs (many of which are tough to enter without a hook). So unless he is a recruited athlete elsewhere (or has strong reasons to prefer some of the non-HYPSM schools on my list over Amherst), why throw away a strong possibility of Amherst for uncertain prospects elsewhere (at schools that aren’t better)? </p>
<p>Name recognition, which is related to prestige but not exactly the same, may be a factor in your home country – for your family and for you. </p>
<p>Although I emphatically agree that you would get a fine education on a par with HYP at Amherst, Williams or several other small liberal arts colleges, I can also tell you from experience that their international name recognition is low. </p>
<p>Only you can can decide if this is important to you. Only you can decide if applying ED to Amherst, which would eliminate your ability to apply early to HYP and possibly eliminate your ability to apply RD to any school, would be a move that you would regret. </p>
<p>I’m not clear why you refer to your country’s involvement in terrorism. Is it because you think this would be a negative? Personally, I think being from a “news worthy” Islamic country would be a positive in admissions. </p>
<p>Remember, as an international you are competing with others in the international pool, not the total pool of applicants. Your background and life experience can contribute to the campus community both in and outside the classroom and may set you apart from other internationals. </p>
<p>A few questions:
What is your financial situation? Do you need substantial aid?
Have you visited any colleges in the US?
When does the Amherst coach expect an answer?
What will you do if you don’t get into one of these selective colleges? Do you have a safety in the US or is your fallback your home country?</p>
<p>don’t underestimate the attractiveness of D1 squash players, if that’s what caliber OP is, to college admissions, PT. They tend to be very good athletes AND very good students. </p>
<p>@jkeil911: Squash isn’t an NCAA sport, so there’s no DI. Here are schools where men’s squash is a varsity sport: <a href=“http://collegesquashassociation.com/teams/mens-teams/mens-varsity/”>http://collegesquashassociation.com/teams/mens-teams/mens-varsity/</a></p>
<p>However, if he isn’t a recruited athlete for squash at a school, you think that is a hook for that school? I don’t think so. Any more than being a HS football player is a hook at a school where you are not being recruited to play football there.</p>
<p>No, I don’t think it’s a hook. I do however know that students who are D1 caliber at squash are highly recruited at Top 30 schools whether or not they offer athletic scholarships. The squashies get their money one way or another.</p>
<p>@jkeil911: Yes, but the key aspect is that they were recruited. Most schools who are varsity in squash don’t offer athletic scholarships, so that’s a moot point. The key question is whether a squash player who is not recruited still has an edge for HYPSM. If not, the acceptance rate for internationals at those schools is in the low single digits (and many of those have hooks like famous/rich parents or big accomplishments). The OP is being recruited by Amherst but HYPSM coaches either have not returned his phone calls or are already done with recruitment.</p>
<p>BTW, I hope that you understand that there is a big difference even among “DI” in any sport. In football, the kid who plays linebacker for Harvard is just as much of a DI athlete as the kid who plays linebacker for Stanford, but that doesn’t mean that the Harvard kid was recruited by Stanford, and unless the Stanford football coach tabs that kid as a “preferred walk-on”, he’s unlikely to get an admissions boost in the eyes of the Stanford adcom either.</p>
<p>@PurpleTitan
You’re constructing a straw man. The real question is, why he should throw away an ED application on a school that isn’t his first choice?</p>
<p>@circuitrider:</p>
<p>It’s not a strawman. At many schools, coaches only have influence for ED applicants (not sure if you understand that). So if he decides not to apply to Amherst ED, he’s risking going to a worse school for little possibility of going to a better school.</p>
<p>Now granted, much depends on how much he values attending Amherst. If he doesn’t value going to Amherst at all or values it the same as attend Drexel/Fordham, then I agree, applying ED there makes little sense. And @momrath makes a good point that should be investigated (though I’d expect the Amherst network even overseas to be small but strong).</p>
<p>If it was me, I’d apply ED to Amherst, but that’s because I rate the WAS LACs just below HYPSM, and not being a recruited athlete to HYPSM, I wouldn’t have a good hook to get in to those schools.</p>
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<p>NCAA Division I is explicitly divided into two subdivisions for football, the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision. Stanford is in the Pac-12 in the FBS, while Harvard is in the Ivy League in the FCS.</p>
<p>@ucbalumnus: Indeed. So substitute North Texas for Harvard (and assume that this hypothetical kid has the grades and test scores to get in to Stanford).</p>
<p>@momrath @circuitrider @PurpleTitan </p>
<p>Indeed @circuitrider makes a good point about Amherst not being my first choice school, and hence the ED hesitancy for Amherst. </p>
<p>As for the questions asked by @momrath:</p>
<p>1) Substantial aid
2) Not yet, but hope to go to the US to play a tournament at Yale in December
3) He hasn’t asked for the confirmation yet.
4) If I don’t get into one of those ultra-selective colleges, fallback is in my home country…</p>
<p>While reading this myself, it indeed seems like an unreasonable risk to pass out for Amherst ED and go for HYP (not doing S & M because of aid issues) SCEA. If I could get the coach to pull his strings in the RD cycle maybe?..</p>
<p>And thank you for the replies. Much appreciated</p>
<p>Have you worked the net price calculators to confirm that these colleges would offer sufficient need based aid to make to workable? I would expect that the packages offered by all of the most selectives (HYPSM/WASP) would be quite similar whether they are need blind for internationals or no. </p>
<p>A prospective visit to the States in December might be a persuasive argument to ask the coach to allow you you apply RD.</p>
<p>If that’s the case then I’d apply SCEA to Yale (or whichever is your first choice) and RD to as many others as you can handle effectively. Yes, there is risk in this approach, but there is risk on issued opportunity as well. </p>
<p>But the visit is going to be after the SCEA/ED deadline :O</p>
<p>Sorry I wasn’t clear. What I meant was that perhaps you could ask the coach to support your RD application because you don’t be able to visit before the ED deadline. </p>
<p>Financial for internationals is variable and mostly unpredictable. Need blind does guarantee that you’ll get the aid you need. </p>
<p>Some net price calculators adjust for internationals; some do not. (Amherst’s does not.) If you require substantial aid you’re better off not applying ED so you can compare and negotiate. All of these selective colleges can be generous if they want to be, but it’s hard to know how much you’ll get in advance. </p>
<p>I saw your post and I wanted to respond to it and of deciding between HYP and elite liberal art colleges.</p>
<p>I was admitted to Yale, Stanford, and Columbia, as well as some other fantastic schools. I ultimately ended up choosing Pomona because I felt happiest there. It’s the West-coast parallel to Amherst- similar reputation, similar academics, similar consortium availability. </p>
<p>I think there is something to say about the sheer opportunities that HYP offer that schools like Amherst will not be able to offer you. I have friends at Yale who I keep in touch with, and they are doing summer sponsored study abroad and are linked to top notch recruiting programs and speakers- which are not really as common at Pomona. </p>
<p>However, there is an academic distinction at Pomona that Yale students encounter to a lesser extent. It is a genuine interest and friendship built upon by all of your professors, and even those who may not be your own. The school is so committed to bridging these relationships and making you a contributing member of the community that you gain a very nurturing experience. With every possibility of failure is someone who looks to get you right back on track (which I definitely needed; Pomona was much more rigorous than my secondary education). I can not draw academic parallels to the quality of teaching at HYP since I have no experience with them, but the teaching at Pomona is top notch: challenging, fulfilling, and robust. My mind has been pushed to depths I could not have even fathomed. We have a big focus on learning for the sake of growing here; there is no “academic divide” in which certain majors separate from others.</p>
<p>Ultimately, despite having a sort of disadvantage in resource access in choosing to attending Pomona, I have been able to do summer research for a summer here, done two internships through the academic-year Pomona College Internship Program, and was admitted to a Goldman Sachs internship this past summer. I know many of my peers ended up in hypercompetitive research internships and fellowships, so if you work hard to break through, that disadvantage becomes less of a factor. </p>
<p>I wish you all the best in exploring your college decisions and options.</p>
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<p>Not exactly. “Need blind” guarantees that need won’t be a factor in the admission decision. Only 6 colleges are need-blind for internationals (HYP, MIT, Dartmouth and Amherst).</p>
<p>However, even at many need-aware colleges, and even at some schools much less selective than Amherst, the average aid to internationals is quite high. I think the reason for this is that, unless you can demonstrate ability to cover all your expenses, you may not get a visa to study in the USA. So there is no incentive for a need-aware college to admit a needy international applicant if it isn’t also going to offer a decent aid package.
(<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware</a>)</p>
<p>Oh dear, I meant to write that need blind does NOT guarantee you’ll get sufficient aid. With internationals the results can be unpredictable. I agree, however, that the schools we’re talking about here are generous, and if they admit you they’ll try to make it workable financially. It’s just better to be in a negotiating position. </p>
<p>I’d say yes.</p>
<p>Right thanks for the responses guys, will check out what the coach says</p>
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<p>Actually, a lot more than 6 colleges have need-blind admissions for internationals (and everyone else). But most of them do not give good (or any) financial aid to internationals (and often everyone else as well).</p>