<p>@sweetcookie - I’m from the Northeast; my hometown is around 600km northeast of Beijing. And thanks!</p>
<p>Bei Fang ren! My mother always said that the Northeast people’s Chinese accent helps them speak more fluent English.</p>
<p>Oh wow, now that’s something new 
my friends still tell me I have a Chinese accent though, so I dunno.</p>
<p>Are you from the South?</p>
<p>Guangzhou actually. Near Hong Kong basically.</p>
<p>All you international applicants with better CR and W scores than me are ruining my chances!</p>
<p>That being said, Aloice, that is VERY impressive.</p>
<p>@Aloice-- How is that possible? I thought Penn was financial aid? I applied finaid without the expectation of getting any… but I thought, hey, might as well</p>
<p>@mylife</p>
<p>Penn is NOT need-blind for international applicants, so they will take into consideration your financial situation while making a decision.</p>
<p>^ with the exception of citizens of Canada and Mexico, and permanent residents (regardless of citizenship) of the US–for those international applicants, Penn is need-blind.</p>
<p>OK, that makes me feel better. Thanks :D</p>
<p>omg laodicean it’s been a while since you’ve come back to this thread</p>
<p>I know! I’ve been so busy the past few days. My teachers all decided to pile me up with projects and papers and tests and such :mad:. I’m back though, for now… :)</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: Sometimes I wish China isn’t that huge. Huge country = more geniuses :P</p>
<p>@laodicean: thanks! It was kinda frustrating fun for me to fight to get good English grades.</p>
<p>Actually, I should correct what I said in post #1148, above, to include permanent residents of Canada and Mexico (regardless of citizenship) in the need-blind category:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>[Penn</a> Admissions: Financial Aid for International Applicants](<a href=“http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/aid.php]Penn”>http://www.admissions.upenn.edu/applying/aid.php)</p>
<p>@aloice
That “fight” is what is admirable – the fact that you didn’t give up so that you could get just that much closer to realizing your dream.</p>
<p>@Aloice - I KNOW! especially in math and science…those geniuses’ abilities are beyond my imagination. I’m a teensy bit glad that I’m not directly competing with them for a spot.</p>
<p>I am finding it increasingly difficult to do other supplements.</p>
<p>The difference between a Chinese education and a college education in the US is the creative and innovative aspect, which is so much more important than knowing everything. You will never move forward with just facts and figures, but you will if you have learned to think to create using those facts and figures.</p>
<p>@laodicean - My mother keeps bringing up the topic of this one genius from China who aced the notoriously difficult high school exam and was top scholar of his province but did not get accepted into ANY of the schools he applied to (including several ivies). He had pretty impressive E.C’s too, like student body president and national math olympiad awards. I really wonder how badly he messed up his essays…</p>
<p>@laodicean: I guess keeping the fight spirit alive is actually the hardest thing. Like, fighting to get into Penn even though geniuses are everywhere, fighting to keep oneself awake in class although one only got like 3 hours of sleep, fighting to understand things and all that.</p>
<p>@sweetcookie: hahaha, that’s me. I’m applying to SEAS so I’m kinda screwed there. As for the guy you talked about - perhaps his English sucked as well?</p>
<p>Yes! That’s my point! Chinese-educated children are good at solving complex math equations and spewing out information because they are notorious for rote learning, not discovery learning (psych is useful for once!). They don’t have the necessary social skills nor the foresight to understand what people notice in others and what others find important. While Shanghai scored the highest on the PISA test, you almost never hear about revolutionary discoveries being made there. There just isn’t the “moving forward” mentality in their education, and I find that to be a huge flaw.</p>
<p>@aloice
I know what you mean. It’s very difficult to stay motivated when the reward is so far into the future, but you’ve already made it this far! Only 6 days left to go guys! And don’t say that you’re screwed! You have higher test scores than me in all fields (I’m assuming), but I’m still trying to stay optimistic. You never know what will catch their eye.</p>