Hey guys, I just finished my A’ Levels last year (international student) and am looking at applying to college. I’m trying to construct a list of reach, match and safety schools. I will be applying for financial aid (there’s that term in swahili) for some schools and not for other schools. I’m looking at constructing 2 separate lists, 1 for schools where i’m requesting for FA another for schools where I’m not requesting for FA.
Here’s my brag sheet:
Extracurriculars: President / Vice President of 2 social responsibility projects; Competitive debater (debated and won at intl competitions, nationally ranked); student researcher; cofounder of a startup; interned locally and internationally at a venture capital firm
Test scores: 35 for ACT; 800/800/800 for SAT II Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics
GPA (We don’t use the GPA system, but here are my A’ Level grades): AAAB/AA
Here are my O’ Level grades: AAAAAAAAC
Honors: A few minor ones
I’m not too sure about my teacher recommendations, but if I had to rate how comfortable I am with my teachers I would say a lukewarm 7/10?
I’m Asian (I know, this hurts when applying to college…)
I’m thinking about applying to a few LACs and need blind schools where I’ll require financial aid. For the list of schools where I won’t be applying for financial aid (I’ll try to get a scholarship of some sort from within my own country), I was thinking about spraying and seeing what sticks. But how high should I be aiming?
Which set of schools would be within my grasp (with FA, match+reach schools) and which set of schools would be within my grasp (without FA, match+reach schools)?
p.s. I’ll be the first in my family to go to college.
The number of schools that are need blind for internationals is very small. Whether or not you apply for financial aid will not matter for those schools, so go ahead and apply for FA. For all others, your chances will decrease depending on how much FA you require.
Your scores put all schools within your grasp. As an international Asian, your chances will likely be lower than for a US citizen though. Apply to some schools which have fewer international and fewer Asians so that you stand out.
Apply as high as you wish, but include some not so popular schools if you are set on attending school in the US.
My recommendation is that your reach schools are unis with a 15% acceptance rate and less, safety schools are ones with 40% or higher and match is anywhere in between.
The US News website has a feature that ranks colleges by acceptance rates.
The amount of aid you need will be a factor. How much can you and your family contribute? You will have better results if you need less rather than more.
Good luck. You are clearly a strong student.
You can definitely aim for Ivies and the like (Duke, Amherst, etc.) I agree post #3 entirely. Safeties could include Brandeis (which gives decent merit too) and others with an acceptance rate above 35%. You definitely don’t need a safety with a 70% acceptance rate.
Brandeis and any school with a 35% acceptance rate is in NO way a safety. Only for Malala Youfsazai would Brandeis be a safety. A safety school for someone with your stats will have an acceptance rate of about 45% or higher. Interest will probably be considered. For an international looking for FA, your choices are limited. As an international, it won’t be a hook that you are first gen to college. @bouders advice is sensible. LACs tend to have fewer Asians, so I would try those first.
I am a little concerned about your recommendations. As an international looking for FA, you need really good recs. Is there a reason why you think your recs won’t be great? And I also don’t know why you are applying for FA at some and not others. Are you just trying your luck? Maybe there is something I am not understanding.
You give no indication of what you want to study or what type of environment you are looking for. Conservative, liberal, urban or rural, sporty, politically active, intensely academic, casual, lots of partying, and so on. You need to give us more information.
@Lindagaf thanks for your insights! I don’t really know how my recommendations would be viewed as I have 2 strong ones and 1 generic one. Had no choice but to accept and use them (due to the way my school does recommendation letters).
For the schools that I’m not applying for FA, I’m planning to apply for merit based scholarships provided by institutions in my own country. I’m a little reluctant to do that though, especially since there’s a bond length (service length) attached to these scholarships.
To be honest I don’t really have specific types of colleges in mind. I grew up in a city and attended schools that have always been academically rigorous. By extension, a college that possesses these characteristics wouldn’t really stunt me. A college, situated in a college town located near a major city, with rigorous academics (but one that recognizes the importance of extracurriculars or work experience) would be extremely appealing. While I’m not too sure how I’ll fare in colleges that are very preppy or have a strong Greek life presence, I think that it’ll be an interesting experience.
@“Snowball City” I’m working on a strict requirement that the colleges that I’m looking at should have a cost, college experience and outlook that is comparable to universities in the U.K., specifically UCL, LSE and Warwick. Attending college in the US is by no means a must, it’s a good to have. Career prospects are extremely important for me. It’ll be good if the school is a target /semi target / able to place well into MBB or WS.
What area of study to you intend to do? History, science, etc? If you are looking for good merit money there may be lessor known colleges with niche specialities.
@“Snowball City” I’m looking at Philosophy, Economics or Computer Science for UG studies
Have you looked at Harvey Mudd? I don’t know if they have much merit money because they are very popular with the computer science and engineering crowd.
If Applied Economics interests you - https://www.cfans.umn.edu/academics/majors-minors/applied-economics
Definitely has merit money available.
@“Snowball City” Hmm… I’m not too sure if I’m willing to give up University College London or the LSE for Minnesota. Don’t get me wrong though, UMN is an amazing school. It’s just that as an international student, I have to be cognizant of the cost of college and the value I obtain for every dollar spent.
Thanks for the luck by the way, I would really need it haha.
On a separate note, does anyone think that it would be reasonable for me to apply to Emory ED II and request for financial aid? Or would it be unrealistic?
I don’t how what it is like currently but a few years ago my relative at a UK university found very little support for internships, career advice, and alumni connections. There was nothing like what a major US university has.
University of Minnesota is in Minneapolis. The greater area has many multinational corporations such as 3M and Cargill.
I was projecting that you might want to obtain a foot in the door in industries that may have a presence in your home region.
As you look for universities here, google the industries in the area.