Hello guys,
I’m international student.
I had my master from UK.
I work as Lecturer in university in my country.
the university awarded me a full scholarship covering tuition, monthely salary and health insurance.
my GPA in master 3.67.
I have 3 years of experience with a big company in the middle east.
also I have two years teaching experience in the university.
I have 4 letters of recommendation:
two from professors from Uk ( both of them says in the recommendations I was one of the best excellent students in the master program)
one from my supervisor in the company and also he provides me a very strong recommendation.
the last one from my head of department in the university I work with. the recommendation is also very strong and he stated the scholarship is very competitive and we give it to the best .
my ILETS score is 7, reading 7, writing 7.
I applied for phD in USA.
my top choice is UCLA.
honestly, after I read on the internet, there are many students who have a very very strong profiles applying for USA universities.
I thought for a seconds that my profile is not that competitive enough comparing to others.
so my hope went the scholarship I have, I said it might increase my chances.
what do u think guys?
Since you are not seeking financial aid, you don’t really have a financial aid question.
Please visit the graduate school forum for fuller discussion of your question about admissions (but yes it can help.)
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/graduate-school/
Well I have heard that it can certainly help you. Especially at UCLA where they have terrible budget cuts and actually admit people without funding. They may be very happy to have someone they don’t have to fund. And I should think that you will not have a problem with qualification having won such an award and having the letters to go with it. But you are right UCLA is super competitive, depending on field, and there is a matter of a match with one or more professors.
I think any issues will stem from your unfamiliarity with English grammar unless you plan on teaching your current language.
Hello guys,
I’m international student.
I had my master from UK.
I work as Lecturer in university in my country.
the university awarded me a full scholarship covering tuition, monthely salary and health insurance.
my GPA in master 3.67.
I have 3 years of experience with a big company in the middle east.
also I have two years teaching experience in the university.
I have 4 letters of recommendation:
two from professors from Uk ( both of them says in the recommendations I was one of the best excellent students in the master program)
one from my supervisor in the company and also he provides me a very strong recommendation.
the last one from my head of department in the university I work with. the recommendation is also very strong and he stated the scholarship is very competitive and we give it to the best .
my ILETS score is 7, reading 7, writing 7.
I applied for phD in USA.
my top choice is UCLA.
honestly, after I read on the internet, there are many students who have a very very strong profiles applying for USA universities.
I thought for a seconds that my profile is not that competitive enough comparing to others.
so my hope went the scholarship I have, I said it might increase my chances.
I merged your two threads, since one was moved from financial aid.
Having external funding can certainly help your case, but it is by no means a definite in. People who apply for PhDs at places like UCLA are extremely competitive candidates and many of them come in with, or eventually win, competitive external fellowships - in my department at Columbia, there were at least 5-6 of us with NSF GRFs alone. So yes, it can make you more appealing to the department, but the rest of your package also has to be outstanding.
Yeah, I know it is very competitive.
Also I do not have a research experience.
so my chances in university such as UCLA is low.
I do not know if the admission, in general, takes into their account the circumstances that each applicant had.
For example, I was very surprised by how many students in USA have a research experience.
However, in my country, the story with research is different.
the educational environment in USA is encouraging students to participate in research activities.
in my country, the research activities is almost zero.
the hope is waning now. 
.
Oh my god.
I just called Iowa state university.
they said to me: the department has recommended u for admission.
it is not my top choice but at least I secured an offer
That is great! I was going to say that having your own funding helps as long as the department considers you admissible. So you only have to pass one hurdle and not the second one of whether there is available funding for you in the department.