Am I aiming too high?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>My everything is rather incomplete, but could you please tell me whether I am aiming too high with credentials like these? </p>

<p>Personal</p>

<pre><code>* Applying for Financial Aid?: Yes
* Intended Major: International Relations or Economics, possibly dbl major
* Country: Mongolia
* Gender:M
* Income Bracket < 30k
* Hooks (URM, first generation college, etc.): URM?, multilingual: English, Slovak, Mongolian, Russian, and learning French
</code></pre>

<p>Stats</p>

<pre><code>* SAT I - 2140: 700 CR, 700 M, 740 W (retaking in November)
* SAT II - will take Math, Physics and World History in October and December
* TOEFL - took yesterday, expecting 100+
* GPA - 98/100 (4.0 if converted?)
* Rank - School does not rank; too few students to rank anyways
* Took lots of classes in junior year (about 25 subjects); 9 hours everyday
* Senior Courseload: Similar to junior year, will trim down a bit
* Awards: National English Olympiad silver medal, bronze medal from standardized mathematics olympiad, Best Student of school thrice, Golden Key best student award, scholarship to study at local leading bilingual school, special award from Russian olympiad semi-finals, 10+ medals from various English olympiads
</code></pre>

<p>Subjective</p>

<pre><code>* Extracurriculars: Debate team captain, won the "Global Debates" international competition (took away most of my free time) by the UN Foundation, French Club, translated Harry potter GOF, created and maintains websites (not many opportunities for ec-s here in MNG)
* Job/Work Experience: Part time editor, translator
* Volunteer/Community service: Red Cross Youth, environmental clean-up
* Summer Activities: Youth Leadership Summit in NY,(reading lots of books?)
* Essays: Will be good, I hope.
* Recommendations: Should be good and insightful. But probably won't "shine".
</code></pre>

<p>I'm looking at following schools:</p>

<pre><code>* Harvard
* U of Penn
* Yale
* Middlebury
* Pomona
* Hamilton C
* Colby C
* Carleton C
* Amherst
* Grinnel C
* U of Chicago
* Reed C
* Princeton
* Stanford
</code></pre>

<p>I'd be happy to get every advice or suggestion you might have.</p>

2

<p>I don’t know which colleges might offer financial aid to foreign students, but as far as admission goes, you will be competitive at all of the schools mentioned. I don’t think being Mongolian will count as a URM, but it would seem that a lot of colleges would like to have somebody from there.</p>

3

<p>If you are interested in IR and Econ I would also suggest you look at Tufts and perhaps George Washington University. and you need to identify, for yourself, which are your safeties, matches and reach. If you are applying as an international student, your essays will also have a big impact. You certainly have impressive statistics.</p>

4

<p>Check out Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, too, as a safety.</p>

5

<p>Thank you.
I’m not really sure how to identify my safeties and matches. Do I do that simply by comparing the school’s average SATs with mine, and by looking at the admitted percentage?
I’ve looked at Tufts and added it to my list of schools I’ll “research”.
George Washington U seems not so clear on its international aid, so I assume it isn’t very good. I have to have my full need met because of my family circumstances. </p>

<p>Clark U in Massachusetts says on its website that international students are expected to pay for their personal expenses and room and board, which I can’t do.</p>

6

<p>Your stats are fine, but every school on your list is still a reach–to varying extents–because you basically need a full ride. Make sure you have a safety in Mongolia that you can afford.</p>

7

<p>I’ve narrowed down my list to something like this:
*Harvard
*Yale
*Princeton
*Stanford
*Amherst
*U Penn
*Pomona
*Middlebury
*U of Chicago
*Reed C
*Lafayette
*Grinnel</p>

<p>Supposing that I wrote a really good essay, and that I need a full ride, could anyone please identify these as reaches, matches, and safeties for me? I guess the list is full of reaches but there has been a pretty good record of Mongolians with 1800-1900 SATs getting into the Ivy League, so I hope I’ll have the same luck.
And are there safety schools for me on whom I could rely to offer me a full ride?
Thank You.</p>

8

<p>That’s the problem–even U.S. citizens can’t rely on safety schools to offer a full ride unless they have automatic merit scholarships (which internationals don’t qualify for, almost universally). You have reaches and perhaps some matches, but no international needing a full ride has a true safety (unless in your own country and you can afford it w/out FA).</p>

9

<p>Would Lafayette and Grinnel be the only schools that can be classified as matches for me? Should I add some more schools similar to these two?</p>

10

<p>Yes, Lafayette and Grinnell (2 l’s) are your only matches at present. However, they are need-sensitive, so they are financial reaches. Whereas the reachiest schools on your list are reaches for everyone academically, but need-blind.</p>

<p>Note that Middlebury is need-aware for the upcoming cycle. And Reed is definitely need-aware. I believe Chicago is as well for internationals.</p>

<p>The issue is that while you may be academically qualified for these schools and would likely be accepted as a full-pay international, the “meets-full-need, but need-aware” schools may reject you because you “cost” them so much.</p>

11

<p>Bilguun - I don’t know your history at all … but if you were born and raised in Mongolia then you might consider choosing a university in one of America’s international cities. Those would include New York, Washington DC and Miami on the East Coast … Los Angeles and San Francisco on the West Coast. You might find more by seeing in which cities your country has Counsulates.</p>

12

<p>As an international needing significant aid, there are absolutely no safeties on your list. If you have sure schools in your country, the list is fine. </p>

<p>There will be no US safety when you need that much money. If the very top schools get numerous applications from Mongolia, and they may well, you will not be competitive with current scores and they are the only schools generous with internationals, especially right now given their endowment losses.</p>

<p>If you’re counting on a US school, you need to go way down the rankings lists to schools where your stats are off the charts that give guaranteed aid for certain stats.</p>

13

<p>hmom5, even guaranteed aid is often not applicable to internationals.</p>

14

<p>I don’t believe Amherst even has an International Relations program…</p>

15

<p>

</p>

<p>True. Yet there are schools out there desperate to up their averages that don’t care where the high scorers come from. Again, this is dipping pretty low compared to the schools on the current list.</p>

16

<p>Thank you all.
@NewHope33
I was born in Slovakia and moved to Mongolia 6 years ago. How would studying in cities in which there are my country’s consulates help me? I don’t want to be picky but I wasn’t really excited about studying in Columbia when I visited it this summer. I guess huge metropolitan areas are not for me.</p>

<p>@hmom5
I’m quiet sure there won’t be many apps from Mongolia to the top schools I have currently on my list. Few schools send students to US schools and I daresay I know most of the competitive students
Could you please name schools like those you’ve mentioned in your post? I can’t seem to find schools that would be at least “kinda” safeties for me but would still offer aid.</p>

<p>@Danielle :slight_smile:
Some schools on the list are just schools I’d be happy to get into and I haven’t decided on which major to choose anyways.</p>

<p>@
I read that Middlebury would be need-blind to internationals to some extent. Does it mean they’re going to be need-aware?</p>

17

<p>I’d say for an international needing aid, you’re in a pretty good situation. That being said: you’re not guarunteed admission anywhere. I don’t think you have much of an option of studying in Mongolia. However, you should be a Slovakian citizen, and if you need a safety I’m sure there’s some sort of uni in Slovakia. Probably not of the highest quality, but it would at least give you somewhere to study if no American uni accepts you. I don’t know how the European Union works with admitting applicants from other EU nations, but it’s possible that there could be other European safeties. I just checked out the list of Slovakian universities, and while not large, and unlikely to be of the same caliber as the US system, you should probably look into them as a possibility. Though I understand how much better prospects could be after going to a US university.</p>

<p>Actually, in your case, I’d consider, for “safeties,” looking at private colleges whose average SAT score is below 2000, because they may be desperate enough to get a really diverse student to admit a candidate from a unique location with outstanding test scores and GPA who needs full aid. At the top schools (Yale, Amherst) you’re going to be competing against other top-scoring international students (some, but not all, with impressive resumes too), while to middle-of-the road privates (Lehigh? Drexel? Temple? Boston College?) (use collegeboard to try to find some) your competition may be less fierce. And with your income, they <em>should</em> realize you won’t go without significant aid.</p>

18

<p>Penn is a great school and you should definitely apply (IR is great) but no guarantees on aid for internationals.</p>