<p>hey guys! i’m thinking of applying to bs for the next school year, but i want to make sure i have some semblance of a shot at bs before asking my parents 
i’m currently in grade 9, and I’ll be applying as a sophomore. </p>
<p>Race: Chinese
From: Asia
Financial Aid: I think I will need it. Not sure.</p>
<p>----------- Academics
- top school in my country, and it’s notoriously difficult, especially grade 9
- A average (1 A- and 1 B)
- i love math and biology! <3</p>
<p>------------ Extracurriculars</p>
<p>— a) athletics
- currently playing an interesting, uncommon sport competitively for my school in the varsity league (3 years)
- cross country (not competitively) (2 years)
- swimming (not competitively, proficient in all strokes except butterfly) (12 years)</p>
<p>— b) arts
- photography (2 years)
- graphics design / digital art (4 years)</p>
<p>might send in a portfolio i don’t do any of this in school, and am self-taught</p>
<p>— c) community service
- active volunteer for my school (3 years)
- library
- won a competition recently for a project</p>
<p>— d) language
- japanese (4 years) ; fluent (self learning currently)</p>
<p>— e) others / academic achievement
- research program for history
- writing summer camp
- fluent in 3 languages</p>
<hr>
<p>After much research, I am strongly considering Andover / Choate / Lawerenceville, but I need to know if there are any schools that provide substantial FA to international students? Does lawrenceville have the Davis International Scholars program?</p>
<p>Also I’m not sure about what to include as my ECs on the Candidate Profile! D: Would you put something that you do non-competitively, but have been doing it for a long time, down? Also how do you make the distinction between a hobby and an EC?</p>
<p>Finally, in your opinion, are there any other schools that an international FA applicant, who loves math, biology and english, is extremely self-motivated and independent and wants a range of rigorous academic opportunities, should consider?</p>
<p>The elite BS’s are always eager to bolster their stats for percentage of int’l students, to increase the diversity of their student body. But even amongst in’tl students, they are looking for diversity. </p>
<p>What is particularly tough for you is your country. There are a lot of int’l kids from China/Hong Kong and Korea. You will be competing with your countrymen(women). I am not trying to discourage you but simply make you aware of the reality. It would probably be more favorable if you were from Myanmar.</p>
<p>You say you are not sure whether you will need FA. FYI, these schools cost plus 40,000 USD for tuition/fees. As an int’l student, you will have to factor in transportation costs too. During long school breaks, the campus is closed, so you will need to consider costs for what to do during those periods.</p>
<p>For FA for int’l students, I would contact each school individually to see what their policy is. Too many people assume all schools have the same policy/rules.</p>
<p>@Blehjoints
Which school in China do you go to? I consider I myself am in a very prestigious secondary school in China. Anyway, I just live here for some years and probably next year I go back to US.</p>
<p>oh i’m not from china 
i’m just chinese 
and thanks for the advice, GMT!</p>
<p>If you look at the chance me threads you’ll notice that your stats are similar to many candidates. So what it’s going to come down to is not the school you want (you chose three of the hardest to get into - and each has a huge influx of applications from international students). What it will come down to is a subjective feel on the part of the Adcoms as to who is the best fit for their campus. </p>
<p>It won’t hurt to try. You won’t know what the outcome will be unless you do. If you get in, but can’t get enough FA, you’re no worse off than you are now. </p>
<p>Go for it, and see what happens.</p>
<p>The best thing to do when you are lacking in EC’s is to suddenly join every single thing you can and then make it sound as impressive as you can. It has worked for me in the past really well, and I made a lot of friends in the process. It is a lot of work though!</p>
<p>By the way, I think it is worth a shot to apply. Let me tell you, you have NO CHANCE of getting in… if you don’t apply! If you apply, then you have a good chance like any of us! Try your hardest, and you can achieve… I know that sounds cheesy, ha ha :-)</p>
<p>Umm - I don’t really think that works. Frankly,</p>
<p>I do tag interview reports of students with lots of EC’s and no depth or passion.</p>
<p>Resume padding is not a substitute for having substance.</p>
<p>Don’t assume that what worked for you will work for the OP. There may have been something else in your file that had the effect of overriding concerns about the EC resume padding.</p>
<p>Echoing Exie. There’s a little box next to the EC title which asks “For how many years have you been doing this?” If you see that there’s a string of “1” in it, it’s sort of a problem and does not look good at all.</p>
<p>I should have made myself clearer. An example of my method would be:
Let’s say that you have been doing swimming for five years for fun but you never have been on a team or anything. What you do is simply join a team and then get into some meets. That way you can put down five years for swimming competitively. Athletes often times wait to do an actual competition, so it can work. Makes you look better than putting down, “recreation”.</p>
<p>^^I think that would technically be lying… You can’t outright lie about how many years you’ve been swimming competitively. Really, it’s not good to circumvent the apps process by finding loopholes in things.</p>