What extracurriculars are considered good?

MYOS1634
Sun, 24 Aug 2014 19:43:52 +0000

Being an American citizen makes a HUGE difference!
It means that for financial aid, you will NOT be competing with SouthEast Asian kids!
And since many universities don’t admit international students who can’t afford to attend but admit “domestic” applicants regardless of ability to pay (whether or not they provide suffiient FA), your chances increase a lot.
If you apply to “meet 100% need” schools, you will not be competing at all - they meet need for all domestic applicants (citizens and permanent residents). They get to define need so run the Net Price Calculators.
You will be competing with them for admission, so make sure to include at least two schools with an admission rate of 30% or more.
B@r!um is right, most internationals who get financial aid are truly exceptional not just in the classroom but also outside of it. We’re talking top 5 in the country.You’re lucky you’re a citizen in that you’re exceptional in the classroom even if your achievements don’t qualify as “exceptional” but that won’t matter as much since you won’t be in the same “pool” as them and your EC’s are strong enough for a “domestic” applicant that you’re competitive for most schools - but for the reasons she cited, two schools with an admission rate of 30% or more should really be the minimum number you apply to if you don’t want a shut out. (If only to avoid the humiliation of having to say you got shut out … having a couple admissions will make things easier for you and your parents even if you don’t intend to enroll.) You DO need to include schools beside “lottery” schools (schools with admission rates of 25% or less are “reach for everyone”, and even more so if the admission rate is below 20%).
Apply to universities and LACs ranked in the top 25 except for public universities that don’t offer merit aid (you’ll be considered out of state everywhere).
What’s your parents’ budget per year?
Note that any college in the top 50 (university or LAC) would be considered a “top school” in the US, since there are 3,700 colleges in the country - regardless of what universities your friends or parents may have heard of. Any university/LAC in the Top 25 is considered “elite”.
Most public universities in the top 50 will have an Honors College: check the websites to see if students admitted to that Honors College get special scholarships. Berkeley is an Honors College on its own so no special merit scholarships (everyone who get in would be Honors Material elsewhere), Penn State Shreyer is an awesome Honors College but the scholarship is only $4,000, ASU Barrett has competitive scholarships but the costs are slightly higher (better dorms, better food)… so check carefully for each university.
As for your EC’s: being in the top 1% in your country’s definitely your top asset. See if you can win a national prize/rank (not necessarily #1 of course) in one of your activities and you should be good to go - adcoms will know that being ranked in a city-wide competition in India is very impressive and overall your application looks strong. If you apply to a couple schools ranked 25-50 (including their honors college) and a couple schools with admission rates above 30%, you should be fine applying to as many Top 25 as you wish.