<p>When I spoke with my local EducationUSA office they didn't have any statistics on Australian students that had been accepted into top-tier American colleges. However, they did note that many of the students that had applied had some sort of hook (mostly athletics). </p>
<p>Australia has a very similar culture to America, so I doubt there would be any added interest in accepting Australian students for "diversity". Australia also doesn't have the same competitive university application process as in America, nor (from my experience) do students have the same academic opportunities to bolster their applications. This seems to put Australian students at a disadvantage.</p>
<p>So my question is:
Are un-hooked Australian applicants competitive for entry to top-tier colleges?</p>
<p>If there are any Australian graduates (if from WA, even better) from top-tier colleges please feel free to PM me. It would be great to talk to someone who had been through the process. Thanks :)</p>
<p>Australians aren’t at a greater disadvantage than most Internationals. If your grades put you at a high percentile within your class, if you have outstanding SATs and at least some interesting ECs, you can be a competitive candidate. At the top schools (I assume you mean the Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Chicago, CalTech, etc.) there are so many qualified applicants from around the world that it’d be difficult to say which nationalities have or don’t have significant advantage.</p>
<p>Basically, my parents aren’t too sure if it’s possible for me to get in, and they don’t want me to waste my time. My awards and ECS, which would be considered really good in Australia, seem kinda weak compared to American students (from what I’ve seen on CC). If Australians don’t have any advantage over American students in admissions, I’m worried that my application would be considered weak.</p>
<p>Oh, and I am applying for Financial Aid as well. As most of the top-tier schools are international needs-blind though, I don’t think this should make too much of a difference.</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about your ECs not being on par with CC kids.
First, your own ECs look fine. Second, universities understand that opportunities for extracurricular activities and/or jobs vary considerably overseas. What the top tier schools DO want to see is commitment to an interest, a show of passion and – probably most important – leadership. Basically, they ask themselves, what can this person do for us? How can he/she contribute to the school & its atmosphere? Everyone applying to the top schools is an outstanding student. To get in, you really need something more. </p>
<p>As to schools being need-blind… that only means that they theoretically don’t take into account your finances when offering you admission. That DOESN’T mean they will automatically offer you enough aid to attend. Plenty of students on CC, American and internationals, get into top schools, only to find out they can’t go unless they/their families take on massive debt.</p>
<p>To add on to what katliamom said, you should apply to more schools that promise to meet 100% (or at least close to that) need. Some need-blind schools do not make such a promise. A good example is Cornell, which doesn’t consider need in making admission decisions, but only grants financial aid to limited international students. Hence, some admitted international student, will not be offered aid. Conversely, Columbia is need-aware, meaning applying for aid does affect your admission decision, but they do promise to meet 100% need of all admitted students.</p>