Hey guys,
I need advice. I am an international student (I’m from Belarus), and I am going to apply to these schools:
Stanfrod
MIT
Princeton
the University of Pennsylvania
Johns Hopkins University
the University of Richmond
Trinity College
Skidmore College
Macalester College
Franklin and Marshall College
My stats:
SAT I Combined 2140 (690R, 780M, 670W)
SAT II Math II 800, Phys 800
TOEFL 112
GPA: 9.4 out of 10
EC: awards and prizes from some national and Russian international (not IOI) programming contests, national science fair prizes
And the worst thing: I need a full ride.
My question is if it will make sense if I apply to some less selective schools of my list early decision II just to increase my chances of getting in. I see that I have virtually no chances of getting into first 4 schools on my list, and I applied because they gave me fee waiver, but as for the rest, what are my chances? Will applying early decision increase my chances? And if the school I chose to apply ED to accepts me, will I get decent aid package? Or should I rather apply only RD to be able to choose among offers?
The title suggests that you didn’t do a single research about any of these schools:
- ED is over for ALL schools in US
- Stanford and MIT don’t even have ED. Stanford has SCEA and MIT has EA, and int’l students can’t apply for MIT EA
- Except first four, none of them give full aid to international students, nor they have enough merit scholarship to cover full cost.
4)Do you even realize that you are too late for RDs as well???(assuming you didn’t apply to any other US schools)
@paul2752 four schools of the list have RD deadline on January 15th.
@paul2752 not only RD, but also EDII
Well then you should have specified which ones you were talkijg about…and also as I already said, you wont get full rides from any of last 5 schools except U of R.
Also Fm is a PUBLIC school.
@paul2752
U of R, Skidmore, Macalester, and F&M have their RD and EDII on the January 15th.
And where is it stated that F&M is public?
Oh sorry…got mixed up with other schools in my head.
Anyway…except first four and richmond, all the others wont give you full rides.
It’s a toss up between Macalester and Franklin&Marshall. If you’re rather conservative, go with F&M ED2 if they allow internationals who need FA to apply ED2. If you’re rather liberal, go with Macalester ED2.
Make the “why us” essay very convincing, linking your strengths and interests with their strengths and specific offerings.
A student who needs a full ride (ie., who has $5,000 or less due to costs of living in their home county - average monthly salary in Belarus is $436 so $5,000 would represent a huge amount already) is at a disadvantage in admissions.
@paul2752 I personally know people from my country getting in with full ride at TrinColl and F&M.
^Trinity Col prioritizes athletes though.
F&m and Macalester are both generous to internationals they want.
ED2 is a gamble - op has to choose the best fit for him and forget about the possibility he’d get into some of the first schools on his list, admissions that’ll mostly rest on his national and international science prizes and his ECs since the rest is on par with the expected (neither so low it’d get him cut right away, nor so outright exceptional he’d stand out in the pool of applicants at these particular schools). If OP can’t “gamble”, then he should apply RD. For a poor, gifted international, it’s a very hard choice to make but one only OP can make.
@cauldroncastle: what college are you attending?
@MYOS1634
I am going to major in computer science, and of all the schools, I like Macalester the most, they seem to have the strongest CS department, and the location is great. But I am still undecided about ED, because at Skidmore there is probably a chance to get Porter Scholarship, and losing this chance wouldn’t be nice. What are my chances of getting in RD?
@MYOS1634 I’m applying for the class of 2019.
Well, you still have a couple days… it’s a gamble.