Hi there, I have created this discussion so that the international students can increase their chances of getting into the top universities.
This discussion has the main objective :
● To help international students by studying their profile and also providing a genuine amount of advice on what can be done to improve the profile of the students.
I’ll be waiting for someone’s reply so that I can start to post the profile of the student.
P.S : Also it would be of great help if the students currently pursuing their education in the U.S can provide advice on how they got into the colleges being an international student.
The only thing I can think of is being a full pay…which isn’t really a key.
Other than having a great GPA, test scores, significant extracurricular, good LOR and statements -all of which are important for domestic students - there are no “key” to get into top universities for international students. Even many brilliant domestic students are rejected yearly by those schools, so the chance is even slimmer for international students.
Three key factors: luck, coming from an under-represented part of the world (say, sub-Saharan Africa) and unusual accomplishments (great SATs, great grades, unique/impressive ECs). That’s for the top private universities with single-digit acceptance rates for American students.
Add a fourth key factor for admission to top public universities or other elite schools that are not need-blind and do not guarantee to meet FA: money. Being full pay ($60,000/year+) opens up many doors.
@paul2752 Well I have had a significant amount of encounters with students with all of the qualities you mentioned but still they didn’t gained admission, whereas other students with comparatively less qualifications were granted admission and FA did not play a role in this.
Just telling my side of the story.
Let me start by posting a profile below and please share it with me that what can be done to improve the profile of this student.
Profile :
SAT score : 1560/1600
SAT Math level 2 : 800/800
SAT Physics : 780/800
GPA : 3.8
E.C’s :
- I know 6 foreign languages ( including english ) and 3 regional ( Indian ) languages.
- I am an ‘A’ ranked officer in the National Cadet Corps ( Junior Military ).
- I play guitar and have passed the grade 1 guitar examination with distinction.
- I have done about 100 hours of volunteering.
- I have won the best speaker awards in Model United Nations and also the Best Debater awards at state level.
- I have won state level awards in badminton, chess and swimming.
- The second-in-charge of all the college fests organizing teams.
- Also, I have interned for a education counselling company.
- Intermediate fluent in 2 programming languages ( C++ and Java ) ( self-taught).
Note :
My intended major is EECS or CS+BUSINESS or CS major i.e whichever one is possible. I will do apply for financial aid.
The following are the universities I am looking forward to apply to :
Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, UCB, UCLA, CALTECH, UChicago, Cornell, Yale, Princeton, CMU, GeorgiaTech and UPenn.
This profile is from another thread of mine but still I want suggestions on how what do I do to improve this profile and also increase my chance at getting accepted to these universities.
That’s exactly my points: a foreign student can have a perfect stat and still may not get an admission to Ivy league. In fact, nobody, international or domestic, is entitled to get into top US universities.
Were you other students with “compartively less” qualifications from URM countries?
Pay full fees.
UCLA and UCB don’t offer significant financial aid to international students. They are public universities whose priorities are to California residents.
But if you have the $60,000+ per year… I think it’s a pretty good bet that you’ll be accepted.
@paul2752 Nope. None of them were of URM countries.
@“aunt bea” That’s a non existing option for me as the whole fees will leave a great amount of debt on me, which I wish I do not obtain.
@katliamom what about others ? I have a strong inclination towards UChicago, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Caltech, Cornell and CMU. What does my application needs more to get accepted at these above colleges considering the financial aid application.
Also, what does really amazes the admission officers in an application and makes a profile stand out among others ?
The others are all highly regarded and highly competitive private universities which can – and do – award financial aid to the international students they want. But keep in mind that some of them have single-digit acceptance rates because almost everyone who applies there is a highly qualified applicant.
“what does really amazes the admission officers” – that’s not an easy question to answer. It depends what they’re looking for, what your competition is, how many other accomplished applicants from India there are that year – it’s really a complex set of criteria… that’s why getting into these schools is a bit like playing the lottery.
Your stats are excellent and impressive. If you don’t get into these schools, it won’t be because you’re lacking in accomplishments, but rather because you’re targeting some of the best known elite schools in the whole country. All the hot shots are applying there…
@“TherealD.V.”
Your college list is problematic because none of them are safeties or even matches due to you being international students and needing FA(IDK about Oxford and Cambridge or any other British universities). Scratch UCLA/UCB if you can’t pay 60K+ per year. It’s just not possible because they don’t give out any aids (except Regent scholarship which is only about 1000$ per semester) to out of state students(both non-CA domestic students and international students.)
You have to look at other great colleges as well to aim merit scholarship based on your GPA and SAT. I highly recommend you to look at Kenyon College, Clark University, Mount Holyoke(if you are a female), Howard University, and University of Alabama at Huntsville. Especially UA- Huntsville is located in Huntsville, a great tech city in the US.
No one wants debt. US students also don’t have money to attend their own universities.
Where would the money come from? Nothing is free. There is no big pot of money.
You asked what would make an application stand out. The answer is: Top scores, grades, and enough money to pay your own way.
The UC’s don’t fund anyone who is not a resident and has not paid state taxes in one form or other.
If you qualify for a lot of fin aid, you’d probably have more success looking at some LACs that give fin aid to internationals.
You’d be full-pay at the UK unis (which are all publics) as well.
First, your application shows you to be a smart, hardworking candidate who could do well at a top college. Unfortunately for you top colleges are swamped with candidates who fit that description.
The strongest college applications tell a story. An admissions officer should be able to sell you in one or two phrases in a way that differentiates you from other candidates. “Refugee chess prodigy.” “Published poetry who cares for his disabled mother.” “Self-described geek whom physics teacher says is the finest mind he’s seen in 30 years of teaching.”
You have a lot of strong ECs but they don’t tell a story. Are you an athlete, a musician, a debater, a linguist?
Second, I think you’re missing the “and so…”
When I see strong EC’s I want to see the impact you are making with them in the world around you. That’s the “and so…” It’s great to have talents but admissions will want to see evidence that they are used for more than composing a list for colleges.
I speak 6 languages and so…
I translate at the local children’s hospital
I am the sole dominant language speaker in my refugee family and have always had to take on an adult role in my family
I am working on a project with the university to preserve an almost-extict language
I want to work for the UN as a diplomat
I work for a company with branches all over the world
My advice would be to pare down and concentrate your list of ECs and awards on those that speak to what you want to do in college and beyond. Work hard on gaining experience in those areas. Right now I don’t see anything other than your C++ and Java knowledge that tells me you want to do computer programming or engineering. Is there any particular reason you’ve chosen those disciplines? Most successful applicants will have years of practical experience in those areas.
@sue22 Well, here is a fact about me… I wasn’t sure of what I would do in the future when I was in the 10th grade. Then I started to grow more towards computers as they amused me. In 11th grade I took up Computer Science as one of my subjects and this led me to choose the field of computer science engineering.
Also, should I gain more expertise in the EC’s I already have or should I take up more ECs to improve my application ?
OP, by asking, and the highlights about yourself that you show, it seems you don’t know what it takes, after grades and scores. That’s your biggest handicap, right now. Eg, it’s not an admission factor that you speak multiple languages or play guitar. You need to start digging into what your targets want to see, what they say (not a forum or some blog,) and the sorts of kids they highlight, their depth and breadth.
And any narrative you offer needs to be relevant to what that college is looking for. It needs to be relevant, not just something that can be used as any old shorthand to describe you.
@lookingforward I got something you said but not the whole thing, can you please add a little more detail to it ?