Sure, but keep in mind your odds are 1-3%, so apply knowing you’ll be rejected (97-99% probability is as close to certainty as you’ll get.) At Harvard, Yale, MIT, your ability to pay won’t enter the equation so the fact you can be full pay won’t help you. It’ll help at Stanford, Columbia, Cornell…
Most of all, apply to states flagships and places with scholarships. Even if you think right now you’ll be fine if you don’t get into Hypsm, in reality you’ll want to have at least one admission somewhere even a random university so that you don’t lose face and have something positive to announce.
@MYOS1634 yes i will have plenty of backups including my local universities and safety options in the US. I guess i’ll choose 3 high reach crapshoot options (Harvard, Princeton and Stanford) and maybe apply early decision for one of them. What do you think about my chances at Columbia/Brown/Berkeley?
You asked for a list of schools that would provide financial aid but then said that your parents would be willing to pay if you got into a prestigious enough school.
I may be missing something but it seems to me that if your parents are able to pay for you to attend a “top” school, you aren’t going to qualify for financial aid at any other schools, even if those schools do offer assistance to international students.