@IMartin , answering your primary question, I have been accepted into Andover, Groton and Milton as an international student from Brazil with full FA. While being an international student was harmful for getting FA (I was most likely waitlisted at Hotchkiss and definitely at Cate because of that), it was positive in the sense that it brought diversity to my application. You could look for need-blind schools or schools that have a “youth from every quarter” policy, like Andover.