I’m an international student, attempting for stanford- RD
Demographics -
-Female
-Indian
-16yrs Old (I skipped a grade)
Intended Major (s)-
-Mathematics
-Science, Technology, and Society
-Bioengineering
Academics:
ACT: n/a
SAT: october tesr date- 1580-1600 average on practice tests
SAT II: 720 Physics, 790 Math - Retake in December 2017
Class rank: top 5-10%
GPA: n/a (International Student)
Coursework: IB- 41/42 in recent year end exams. HL Maths: 7, HL Physics: 7, HL Economics: 6, SL English Lit: 7, SL Chemistry: 7, SL French Ab: 7.
(IB Scores are out of 7. Roughly, 7 = A+, 6 = A, 5 = B/B+ etc. Also self studied for AP Exams- Calc BC- 4, Physics C Mech - 4)
I am (at least I think I am) a good essay writer. I recently finished one of my essays and have gotten good feedback.
Awards:
Research paper selected amongst top 5 in the country and presented in front of professors from IIT, UCLA and American Mathematical Society
Class Highest in 10th grade igcse additional math- 97%
Lots of school olympiad medals in math, science and english
Extracurriculars:
Started a monthly donation drive in school and gave proceeds to many under privileged children nearby.
State and District level champion in 100,200 and 400m. Won several awards etc. Gold in all three when I was 12 running in under 16 category.
Also part of School U-18 football (soccer) team since I was 12. Won several IB tournaments and qualified for state selections.
Self studied classical piano for 4 years now. Gave grades 1,2,4,6 exams from Trinity College London. Will be giving grade 8 (final exam) this year. Got a distinction in grade 4 topping the school amongst all instruments and students (97/100 practical exam).
Duke of Edinburgh Bronze, Silver, Gold (might not be well recognised in USA, but this is basically a whole bunch of activities in sports and service), as well as compulsory service, sport and skill components for IB which I haven't listed out here.
Schools:
Stanford
MIT (low low low chance)
Columbia etc etc (Heart really set on Stanford tho)
Questions:
I require financial aid, so I have to apply for it even though it might reduce my chances. My family makes about $24 k a year.
I know stanford is so so so selective, but I would just like to know where I stand atm. I mean, doesn’t hurt to apply right?
Hi there! First of all, nice test scores! Do you not need to retake them, nor retake the SAT if you get your “average” score. You mentioned “School olympiad medals”… On what level? Did you get to the finals (nationally or to the international ones)? That’d be a huge plus, especially for the engineering schools.
The fact you’ll come from India will hurt you, but applying never hurts, indeed ;-). Your ECs see interesting, so that’s great. With your circumstances (about which I’d definitely write as it makes for an interesting story!) and achievements, I’d also apply to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn and UChicago. That is because they seem to value ECs more than the engineering schools, who, for example, seem to like major olympiads more. Plus, they meet full demonstrated need, basically meaning you’ll get a full ride, especially with an income of $24k.
Honestly, I think that if you emphasize your circumstances, ambition, olympiads, research paper and one EC you value a lot, your chances are pretty solid to get into at least one!
Hi! Thank you so much for your response. As for the school olympiad medals, I have only reached upto stage 2 which is the state level-- but this is not the same thing as the actual IMO etc etc. For the real one I qualified to give the regional mathematics olympiad. Since I have limited money to spend on applications I am only able to afford 5 universities (+1 since UChicago is free of cost to apply). I was considering Caltech, MIT, Columbia and Cornell apart from the two mentioned. I’ve read that schools like harvard and yale value grades a lot but I’ll look into it, tbh my 9th grade results were pretty bad ( and I mean actually bad not like a B or something) that’s why I wasn’t going to spend money on applying to yale and harvard. Thank you so much for your advice, much appreciated
if you can only apply to 5 schools, I would make them all match/safeties with the exception of one reach. You can’t take the chance of getting into nothing, and based on the fact you are looking at all Ivys/SM, you could get rejected everywhere.
Hi, I know that. I am fully aware that chances are I’ll get rejected from everywhere but I am unable to apply to public universities (i.e. safeties/ high acceptance rate) as they offer no financial aid. I have honestly looked at all options and am unable to find a school with a high acceptance rate but awards full financial aid for an international student. If you do know one, please let me know if would be much appreciated thanks
Heya, since many of the fee waiver things are eligible to people who got the SAT waiver, I can’t get it. For the sat, college board doesn’t allow me to get a waiver as I’m international. Also since I’m applying for financial aid, I need to complete the CSS profile which also (ironically) cost money and I can’t get it waived dues to the same SAT waiver thing. Pretty unfortunate but what can you do. Thanks for replying at least
Stanford (and HYP) are all need blind, so applying for FA won’t hurt your admissions chances. All 4 schools meet need with grant (not loans). The schools you have listed are all extremely selective and being an international from India makes your road even harder. You might want to look at some of the “need blind/100% demonstrated need for all student” LAC’s to give yourself some possible low reach/match schools. BTW, here is a quote from the Yale FA page:
"•You can provide a supporting statement from a school official, college access counselor, financial aid officer, or community leader.
If you feel that your college application and financial aid application fees present a severe hardship for your family, but you are not sure if you meet the qualifications as outlined above, please consider the final bullet point carefully. If there is an adult in your community who could attest to your family’s economic situation, please do not hesitate to request a fee waiver. You will not need to submit supporting documentation unless specifically asked to do so. More information about the guidelines Yale uses to determine eligibility for fee waivers is on the Fee Waiver page."
I would not be surprised if some if not all of the schools on your list will entertain a direct fee waiver request given your situation. It wouldn’t hurt to ask.
Hi, thanks for the reply. I will look into it. Although just as a correction Stanford and other schools are need sensitive to international students (explicitly written on their website) but are need blind for domestic. Thanks again
Just as another correction, Stanford is, as noted, need-aware for internationals. However, @BKSquared is correct that HYP ( and MIT and Amherst) are need-blind for internationals. Of course, admissions to any of those schools is exceptionally difficult.
I agree, which is why I wanted some feedback etc. do you think I could stand out in a way? I mean I was very interested in a lot of things but I realise now that I seem to have a very generic set of ECs it just happened to be that way haha I just really enjoyed doing things like track and football and piano
Stanford is heavily into “Intellectual Vitality.” I’d give a lot of thought as to the life of your intellect and how to best describe what you hope to do. Low single digit admissions. It will be hard, but your chance is as good as many.
which is exactly why I think stanford is the best school for me. I truly do enjoy learning new things and have always been eager to hear new ideas from people. Thaks for your help!
