Chance an international seeking a full ride

Colleges and Universities A-Z Reed College
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>I read about Reed College today,did some research and holy s%^t! This college seems to be almost perfect for me. Just the kind of college I've been looking for. I live the life of the mind and am highly interested in the intersection of science and the humanities. Here are my stats. Please chance me!</p>

<p>I will be applying to the class of '19</p>

<ol>
<li>SAT Reasoning- 2320</li>
<li><p>SAT Subject tests:
World History- 730
Biology(Molecular)- 790
AP Psych- 5
(AP exams in India are too expensive, almost $150 each. No waivers available either. I could only take AP Psych)</p></li>
<li><p>The most important factor is that I am a homeschooler. I have homeschooled myself in the last two years of high school due to personal reasons I will be talking about in my essays. I have created for myself, a very unique curriculum that incorporates learning, research, standardised testing, work and community service. Will being an international homeschooler have an adverse impact on my application?</p></li>
<li><p>I have taken many courses on Udacity, Coursera and edX. I will also be appearing for exams from the National Institute of Open Schooling(NIOS), a government-organisation in India for homeschoolers. My GPA has always been a constant 4.0(No mommy evaluated courses. All external examination bodies)</p></li>
<li><p>Lots and lots of extra-curriculars. Might seem too much so I might not mention everything</p></li>
</ol>

<p>*Winner, Intel IRIS(The Indian science fair that selects students who will represent the country at Intel ISEF). My research project was the best in the country in the 'behavioral sciences category. I narrowly missed out on going to ISEF(Out of the 9 National winners from different categories, 6 made the final cut. I didn't. But I still ended up best in my category)
*Founder editor of my high school newspaper(This was during the first two years of high school. I am a homeschooler now)
*Won lots of quizzes, debates and other related stuff. I've also competed independently at several university-level debates and quizzes and won many.
*2-month internship with a cancer surgeon. Improvised on existing methods to create a new low-cost detection kit for colorectal cancer for use in developing countries. Will be submitting it to Google Science Fair '14. Founded a cancer awareness charity
*I am ranked 681 in the world in Scrabble(Rated by WESPA, the body that governs competitive scrabble across the world)
*I am a freelance journalist and have published articles in some of the most popular mainstream publications of India including The Bangalore Mirror, The Hindu and others.
*Endurance running- 10ks and Half-Marathons. Will have run my first marathon before I apply
*Play the guitar, sing and write.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Total family income- $3000. I'm a first generation college student. That basically means I will be unable to even set foot on American soil without full financial aid.</p></li>
<li><p>I hope to major in psychology, philosophy or biology.</p></li>
<li><p>Gap year applicant</p></li>
<li><p>I am not sure if I should apply ED to Reed given my status as an aid-seeking international. Will it boost my chances or bring 'em down?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>The other colleges I will be applying to are: (Given the number of colleges I'll be applying to, I probably will have to work hard through the summer to save money for SAT score report fees and CSS profile fees)</p>

<p>Reed will be my top choice college:</p>

<p>(In order of preference)</p>

<p>Deep Springs (Choice no. 2 after Reed)
Harvard
Stanford
Soka University of America
Berea
Middlebury
Amherst
Brown
Princeton
Yale
Grinell
Trinity
Skidmore
Colgate</p>

<p>So, what do you think? Chance me for Reed and the other colleges on my list too!</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>Also, a question to current Reed students or alumni: Do you know of International students who have been given a full ride covering tuition, fees, room, board and expenses?</p>

3

<p>Are you sure about Reed? Although Reed encourages students to take courses in all subject areas, it is known for being conservative academically: interdisciplinary study between <em>seemingly</em> disparate fields is not exactly possible. Also, it is not possible to double major due to the thesis requirement. That said, if you apply ED, your chances will be high. Few to no internationals apply early to Reed and the school loves to see such enthusiasm from international applicants. I have cousins and brothers who attended Reed, and they were offered really great aid. Reed will meet 100% of your need in any case. I don’t think it will give you flight tickets but it will most probably give you personal expenses in the form of work-study, PROBABLY. Idk. Ask the school? They are the most reliable source.</p>

<p>I cannot say anything about how much being an international home-schooler will affect you. Colleges would, however, like to see a LOT of standardized testing if you’re home-schooled. Consider taking A Level exams? Econ, psychology, sociology and math are doable at home (if you’d like details, PM me). A few A Levels will allow colleges to consider you without any hesitation. Cost wise, I believe it will be around $90 per exam, but again, four A levels ~ 8 APs. 3 A levels is the standard load for those who opt for A Levels. HOWEVER, as you have taken Indian external exams, you don’t need to worry that much. :slight_smile: (Btw, Coursera/Udacity courses don’t matter to colleges. You need to prove what you have learned and the only way to do this is through standardized tests.)</p>

<p>Tips to save money on applications: ask the college for a fee waiver for the CSS and if they don’t give that, ask them if you can submit the ISFAA instead. It is also possible to not have to pay for any of the SAT reporting by asking your GC to upload the report to CommonApp, but since you don’t have a GC, you could ask the local USEF center to do that for you.</p>

<p>Ok, now as for your college list… Schools like Colgate and Trinity are a far cry from Reed. I do not get why you would want to go to such party schools? It will cost you a lot to apply to Soka. They REQUIRE an IERF report (no way around this – you HAVE to submit it, otherwise you cant apply), which will cost you $175 for the report and $75 for having your documents sent back to you. Are you willing to pay for that? </p>

<p>That said, all of those schools are reaches for you, including Reed. The acceptance rates for virtually all good schools that offer aid to intls is below 10%. </p>

<p>I hope this helps!</p>

4

<p>Hi, thank you for your feedback and the valuable advice on saving money on college apps.</p>

<p>I did consider opting for A levels, but the costs (prep material and exam fees) were a real hurdle to be honest. The external examinations I’ve appeared for are considered equal to regular schooling in the context of Indian university admissions, so I’m hoping that’s good enough.</p>

<p>Through support from extended family and friends, I can manage flight fare and a minor portion of living expenses. A work-study program would be perfect because I’ve been working these last two years to support my family and I’m kinda used to the work-study thing now. </p>

<p>I do understand that the fields of concentrations I’ve mentioned do seem disparate. I’ll be majoring in Biology and retain a special interest in psychology and philosophy.</p>

<p>Hardcore party schools like Trinity and Colgate are on my college list only for reasons of Financial aid. They will be last in my list of preferences.</p>

<p>Do you think it would be a good idea to apply to Reed ED as opposed to an ivy? Financial aid is very important for me. </p>

5

<p>The only thing you should be concerned about is whether or not the school guarantees to meet 100% of your need. Reed does promise this. You ought to email Reed and ask them about what they consider to be the full cost of attendance for international students. This will be a good way to understand what Reed includes while calculating your EFC and to figure out whether or not they would give you flight tickets and personal expenses. Do ask them about work-study programs as well. Just ask! It doesn’t hurt, trust me! It would also be good to directly contact the international admissions officer. That way, you could get a quicker response. :)</p>

<p>The thing about Ivy league schools is that they, save for Brown (which, unfortunately, is obsessed with UWC students), do not really consider interest in the application process (at least not nearly as much as small LACs like Reed). So, therefore, I would recommend that you apply ED to a good LAC like Reed with a generous financial aid policy for internationals. My GC always recommends students w/ high need to apply ED to a small LAC because it’s much less competitive during ED (for intls). In RD, all these small LACs are as competitive as any Ivy league school.</p>

<p>When you apply to schools, you should consider whether or not they offer loans to internationals. From what I understand, Trinity College adds $5k worth of loan to your financial aid package every year. They are still meeting your need, though not through a grant. Do you think you would be willing to take such a risk? The loans would add up to $20k over your undergraduate years. Although you can pay it back if you get a job (whether in India or elsewhere), I think as a biology major, you’d want to go to graduate school? You should find out whether or not these schools defer repayment till you finish grad school.</p>

<p>Look into UChicago and Swarthmore too! Vassar and Wesleyan are also very intellectual. All these schools are known for their generosity (w/o loans) to international students. Make use of ED 2 if ED 1 doesn’t work out btw. Good luck! ^_^</p>

6

<p>Hey, I just wanted to add some info for you. They are upfront that international aid is limited and that their admission process for all applicants is “need-aware.” If they accept you, they commit to meeting your financial need but they even post on their website that they can only do this for about 20 international students a year and that some of that aid can be in the form of loans (unlike schools like Amherst or Brown which do not include loans in their aid packages for your income bracket.) Basically, keep these things in mind before applying ED.</p>

<p>My daughter was just at Reed last week and asked about double majoring. It’s not impossible but it’s a really hefty load requiring two senior thesis… not recommended. However, you have the option of an interdisciplinary major which combines two subjects. They have a few that are ready made (like theatre-literature or mathematics-economics) but if you can prove that two other subjects combine well, you can create your own interdisciplinary major. </p>

<p>Also, there are some waivers for CSS Profile and SAT score costs. I’d be looking into those to help with your applications. Sometimes they limit how many you can receive but any bit would likely help.</p>

<p>Read through this page… lots of good info including how they handle travel expenses and such.</p>

<p><a href=“Apply - Admission - Reed College”>Apply - Admission - Reed College;

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<p>@International95 - Thank you so much for the detailed tips. I will definitely apply ED to a small LAC, depending on their financial aid policies (hopefully, Reed) . I’ve written to Reed and I’m waiting for a response now.</p>

<p>Also, were your cousins international applicants too?</p>

<p>@turtletime- Thank you for replying.
I will research the aid packages of different schools before I decide to apply ED.
Is your daughter applying to Reed?</p>

8

<p>Yes, my cousins were international students as well. 5 were accepted (over the years), 3 chose to enroll, over some other very nice offers (this is in part because they wanted to study physics, and well, Reed has a nuclear reactor lol).</p>

<p>Financial aid is limited everywhere, but from what I’ve seen, it seems easier to obtain during ED. So yeah, do not be discouraged when a small LAC tells you that there is limited aid available. This is true across all schools, even at Amherst (even though it is need-blind, the admit rate is very low in part because they know they can’t afford to admit too many intls.) Look into Hamilton, btw. INCREDIBLY generous! And LOVES strong, international students that apply ED. </p>

9

<p>In light of this new information, I’m definitely applying ED to Reed. If I get in, I won’t even bother applying elsewhere. (They promise to meet 100% of demonstrated need of all ADMITTED students)</p>

<p>Thank you so much for helping out with the valuable advice and information!</p>

<p>BTW, are you applying to college or do you already go to college?</p>

10

<p>Yes, it’s now my DD’s top choice and she applied for this Fall. She applied RD because we couldn’t visit that campus until recently. She had reservations due to various reputations and really needed to experience it for herself first. She’s not international but she does have financial need and we know that 50 percent of Reeds admits must be full pay. So, despite what seems to be pretty good odds outwardly, her chances are halved because of the financial need. At this point, you just cross your fingers and hope for the best. Luckily, she already has some nice financial safeties in the bag and can attend if none of her favorites happen. </p>

<p>I second a look at Hamilton. My DD applied there too. Open curriculum like Brown… a tad bit easier to get into. You might check out Pitzer along with the other Claremont schools like Pomona. Pitzer specifically has the “build your own major” feature. The most academic freedom of the consortium. They are “full need” schools and “need blind” but they do include loans. Good luck to you!</p>

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<p>@Turtletime - I looked at the Hamilton website and read a few reviews. It seems to be an amazing place. Their ED acceptance rate of 43% seems quite promising. I am beginning to understand why applying early to a small LAC will be the best I can do. </p>

<p>Reed still remains my top choice but I will take everything into consideration before applying. Thanks for the heads up!</p>

12

<p>I am currently applying. And btw, I generally don’t recommend colleges in California to international students. Take a look at Pomona for now (it is in the process of becoming need-blind for all students), but the other Claremont schools do not care enough about internationals to make available a nice financial aid budget available to them. CMC has like… 3-5 internationals on aid, and Pitzer is going to offer aid to ONE international student this year (I called and asked! lol). How ridiculous is that?</p>

13

<p>Haha! 1 STUDENT!!! That is ridiculous!</p>

<p>And to think that the international student fora on CC is full of people recommending aid-seeking international students to apply to Pitzer!</p>

<p>Will you be applying to Reed as well?</p>

<p>I think I will apply to Soka in spite of the $150 I need to spend on getting my transcripts verified. They have an amazingly diverse student body, a beautiful campus, good academic standing and my stats are well above their middle 50% range. They are very generous with their aid and I’m counting on getting in. </p>

14

<p>In my various email conversations with admission officials of various universities, I’ve found the people at Soka to be the friendliest and most personal. They were the only ones who didn’t cut and paste text from their website to answer my queries lol. I’ve spoken to a few students as well and it has an overall positive vibe</p>

15

<p>I was just recommending Pitzer based on the type of schools you were looking at. People are just trying to help…</p>

16

<p>@turtletime - I am very sorry if you thought that was directed at you. IT WASN’T!</p>

<p>Your assessment of Reed and other suggestions have been of great help and I’m very thankful! :)</p>

17

<p>Here’s what the Reed admissions office had to tell me about their fin aid policies for international students:</p>

<p>“Yes, if you were accepted, Reed would meet 100% of your demonstrated financial need. In general, an aid package is made up of a moderate loan (around $2500 for a first-year student, increasing by $1000 each subsequent year), mostly institutional grants, and a work study program”</p>

18

<p>The loan is pretty moderate. Hamilton offers $2500 in loans too. Do you think you will apply ED now, though? You should ask about loan policies i.e can you repay after grad school.</p>

19

<p>As long as you’re enrolled full-time as a grad student (and if fact for a year after you cease to be a student at an accredited institution), your loan debt will be put on hold.</p>

20

<p>I will apply ED to Reed. It is my top-choice college and my best chance of getting in would be if I applied ED especially since they offer aid to only 20 to 25 internationals each year. Plus, their common data sheet says they consider ‘interest’ in the college ‘important’. So, applying ED would definitely boost my chances.</p>

<p>@Ghostt - I’ve come to conclude from your threads and replies on CC that you are a student at Reed. What do you think are my chances of getting in if I apply ED? </p>