<p>Well then study any intro to marketing book, even the one non-calculus based.</p>
<p>I never said OP’s chances are zero and in fact I said he has good chances with the right hooks.</p>
<p>Statistically, his chances maybe be low, but it’s not impossible. Do you by any chance go to prep school?</p>
<p>I go to a public school that graduates a lot of kids to the local CC and a few to the Ivys.</p>
<p>@2010 Hopeful, BronxKid
Thanks for the optimism. It really does help. I will use what I have as experiences in my essays and interview. I guess the best thing to do is try, rather than wonder what could have happened.
This post was for me to get an idea of how I stand and how my achievements are. I guess FA will be hard, but we’ll see.
@Invent
Thank you for your honesty.</p>
<p>I admit I’ve just skimmed through this thread, but has there been any mention of need-blind policies?</p>
<p>student1996, if you’re unaware, a need blind policy is basically that they dont take your financial situation/whether or not you need FA into consideration during the admissions process. I know Andover definitely has a need-blind policy, and a few others but I’m not sure about the names, possibly you could look into that?</p>
<p>@CaliPaki
I was assuming FA meant need-blind too because Exeter said anybody earning under 75k will get a free education.
Isn’t that what FA for families under a certain income is?</p>
<p>student1996, if you apply ask for an application fee waiver from these schools as you are an FA applicant. If they are willing to give you 50K per year FA, they will be happy to waive your $50 application fee. They will still count you towards their admissions stats anyway. Otherwise, you may be wasting your money as the odds are very low for internationals needing FA (unless you have a serious hook like curing cancer). Ask any of the people that advice you including calipaki as to how many international Indians are at their BS on FA. Then it will be clear to you what a need-blind policy at Andover means. I have noticed some of the students and AOs are on CC that just push you to apply as they are marketing tools. Do apply and be realistic of the odds so that you are prepared for whats to come on March 10.</p>
<p>exeter does have a policy of giving free tuition to families making under 75k a year, but that doesn’t mean need-blind…
need-blind is what CaliPaki described; when schools don’t look at your financial situation when considering students (meaning, kids who need full FA are treated the same as kids who can pay the full tuition).</p>
<p>what exeter offers is totally different-- yes, if you make under 75k, you’ll get free tuition, but it’s still much harder to get in than if your family made 300k+ (and could pay full tuition). they take financial situations into consideration when making admissions decisions, so that’s different from being need-blind. they just have a free tuition policy for certain income brackets (but it’s still more difficult to gain entrance than if you were a full pay) </p>
<p>i hope that made sense 
and i second what invent said, to ask for application fee waivers. if you’re going to receive full to near-full aid (since you mentioned the 75k thing), you probably qualify for application fee waivers too. try to email or call schools (early, like in september or october) and ask for them. </p>
<p>i don’t think <em>ANY</em> schools are need-blind when it comes to international students, so you’ve got to work hard. of course, it’s not impossible but chances honestly are slim at best. try to cast a wide net, though this may be difficult because most schools don’t give aid to internationals, and hope for the best…
PS, schedule interviews early, since the spots that don’t have timezone conflicts tend to go early. if you want to avoid getting up at 4AM for an admissions interview, book fast-- i learned this the hard way :P</p>
<p>best of luck!</p>
<p>Wow - my ears were burning. I don’t actively sit on a committee right now, but I do interview and chair at least one major committee and have an MIT award to show for it - if that means anything. My husband, however interviews for one alma mater and is an active A/O (i.e. the final authority) at another. If that helps any. Our “notes” on applicant pools as are our stories are pretty similar. He posts on the college boards.</p>
<p>I interview international kids but don’t tend to get into the specifics of FA percentages and which student got what - although I’m told that FA for international students (from any country) is more competitive than for those within the states. Same is true for college. Having said that - realize a significant amount of funds in a scholarship pool also come from international alum - so this is not a US centric issue - and some FA does go to foreign students. Is it need blind? I doubt it.</p>
<p>Also - CC is a microcosm and doesn’t really reflect the BS reality. So assumptions and hearsay made on the boards tend to take on a life of their own and become “fact” after enough people regurgitate it (or mutilate it).</p>
<p>A caveat - regardless of status, FA makes the application ultra competitive. As can be seen by the strong candidates on this board who were declined or waitlisted for FA - the slots are few. 30-40% of applicants receive aid. When you consider most of those received “partial” aid (the percentage of “full rides” is low comparatively speaking) - then do the math –</p>
<p>The average school is now taking 9% of the applicants. If only 1/3 of those receive aid of any kind (ranging from a few hundred to full scholarship) that means only 3% of the total applicant pool received a spot AND financial assistance.</p>
<p>So - if you’re in that pool - put the strongest possible package together. It means EC’s that stand out, show your passion and longevity in the pursuit of something, and cast a wide net to a range of Boarding Schools (not just the big names). Know why you fit at a school (not just that it’s a top school). </p>
<p>Also - let me scream this from the mountain top since I see the stats and the breakdowns from several schools –</p>
<p>BS aren’t just taking the 90+ percentile students (including Hades). Scores of some applicants (especially those without hooks) might surprise you. </p>
<p>Schools concede they scrutinize scores because a history of so many kids are being prepped and then can’t do the work once on campus.</p>
<p>A single bad grade isn’t going to kill a application - or two. It’s the total package that counts. Don’t get recommendations that gush - get the teachers to give some insight into your personality and work ethic. The pile is full of perfect kids. What Adcoms remember are those who work hard to overcome a deficit or contribute in some way.</p>
<p>A good candidate with lower stats might be taken simply because everyone like him/her versus a good candidate with perfect stats and a lousy attitude or entitlement issue.</p>
<p>Based on the numbers - full pays get turned down with regularity. And legacy kids. And “connected” kids. In lower percentages - but the BS campuses don’t have enough room to hold them all even if they didn’t take anyone else. Still - full pays are 70% of the population and hold the advantage for negotiation in a tight economy.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. I love watching people debate what I may or may not do. Some people here, including the A/O on the college forums can vouch that I am who I say I am.</p>
<p>
This is something I personally feel bad about. I got to see a few of my recommendations and I wouldn’t have found them helpful as an A/O. They were very flattering, but not at all helpful or insightful. I think getting a recommendation from a fairly new teacher can be good because that teacher can see most of your strengths and weaknesses better than a teacher who has a serious emotional connection with you and would send in a “gushy” recommendation.</p>
<p>Hey student, I got into Deerfield Academy this year with FA :D. As for SSATs I got a 90 percentile and although some may have gotten in with 60s and 70s, I would have a higher SSAT score because those select few that do get into schools with low SSAT scores obviously would have some sort of hook. I read somewhere on the Andover site that the average applicants SSAT score is around a 93 percentile (sorry I don’t remember clearly)? And if you are applying as a junior, I would work really hard over the next year, because there are a lot of impressive applicants. So far from the extracurriculars you have, I will be blunt with you, the chances don’t seem very bright. I am sorry, and you can hate me for saying this, but to be accepted as a student with financial aid, I believe you need a hook, especially applying as a junior.</p>
<p>@ExieMITAlum
Thank you so much for the valuable advise. I understand that it will be challenging being an international with the need for financial aid, but I will give it a go nevertheless. I guess what I have to focus on are the basics of the application. Like what most people have said, I will need to portray myself as someone out of the ordinary in some way or another.
@deerfieldhungry
Congratulations on your admittance to Deefield. As far as hooks go, I obviously did not state everything that I have achieved/received. I just wanted to get an overview of how an international student would fare against the rest, especially with the need for FA.</p>
<p>Also, since these schools ask for records from the past four years, can achievements from those years be included too?</p>
<p>Absolutely you must.</p>