family crisis...applying Ivy League as a JUNIOR...chance PLS

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Currently a junior; must leave high school without a diploma because of financial issues--parents just lost half of life savings due to economic recession / stock market crash.</p>

<p>Rec letters should be amazing. Essays should be interesting with my extenuating circumstances- mother's a schizophrenic, economic crisis, political situation in Thailand.</p>

<p>Will need full scholarship/financial aid to attend. Money's the priority here.</p>

<h2>Applying to (list helped compiled by fellow CCers):</h2>

<p>Dartmouth
Princeton</p>

<h2>Stanford</h2>

<p>Carleton
Colgate
Johns Hopkins</p>

<h2>Reed</h2>

<p>Grinnell
Hamilton</p>

<h2>Kenyon</h2>

<p>Australian National U.
Bard C., Simon's Rock</p>

<h2>Nanyang Tech. Inst. (Singapore)</h2>

<p>Nationality: Thai, currently in Thailand
Unweighted GPA: 3.89
Weighted GPA (out of 4.5): 4.04
Rank: 1/200
School: Private Intl. School, not so competitive
PSAT: 200 - 64 CR, 68 M, 68 W
SAT: 2130 - 710 CR, 760 M, 660 W, expecting 2200> for Dec.
SATII: Bio-M 800, expecting 800 for MathII and mid 700s for Lit
AP: Bio 5, Eng Lang 4
TOEFL: 119 iBT</p>

<p>Courses Taken:</p>

<p>Freshmen Yr-
English 9: A/A
Math 10 Honors: A/A
Modern History: A/A
Biology 10: A/A
Thai Lang. Honors: A
Advanced Drama: A
Human Relations: A
PE 9: B+</p>

<p>Sophomore Yr-
AP English Lang and Comp: A-/A-
IB Math HL (7): A/A
Asian Studies: A/A
AP Biology: A/A
Thai Public Speaking: A
Chorus: A-
Ethics Honors: A
PE10: A-</p>

<p>Junior Yr (started IB Diploma but won't be able to finish, predicted scores in brackets):
IB English SL (6): A
IB Mandarin Ab Initio SL (7): A
IB Psychology SL (6): A
AP Calculus BC (5): A
IB Physics HL (7): A
IB Chemistry HL (7): A</p>

<p>total IB predicted: 40/42</p>

<p>ECs: involved in most activities for 2-3+ years
-Student government: class president (last yr), current school president
-Global Issues Group: vice president
-MUN: grade rep
-Health club: public relations
-Math club: secretary
-Rotary club
-NHS
-Peer tutoring
-Junior ROTC
-Varsity Cross Country</p>

<p>Volunteer Work:
-100 hrs> with the Thai Red Cross Society
-100 hrs> with the Community Pharmacy Association of Thailand
-Habitat for Humanity</p>

<p>Internships:
-Translator, State Railway of Thailand - past 2 summers
-Pharmacy Asst. - holidays</p>

<p>Awards:
- Kumon Math Scholarship 2006
- lots of mathematics awards
- semifinalist/finalist in many essay competitions
- Honor Roll Student - awards in bio, english, thai</p>

<p>Summer Programs:
-scholarship to Talented Youth Summer Program @ Hong Kong University of Sci and Tech</p>

<p>Pls. help chance me!! Feel free to suggest other colleges that offer a lot of fin. aid to international students or those that have early admission programs.</p>

<p>Thanks =)</p>

2

<p>Really amazing for a junior…Yr class rank, SAT score and IB courses would make you strongly competitive for all your listed colleges if you work out a good essay:) BTW, have you applied an ED or EA to any colleges?</p>

3

<p>I think you have a good shot.</p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

4

<p>@hethune…
my parents just realized that we wont be able to pay so i missed the ED/EA deadlines</p>

5

<p>You are an international needing financial aid, regardless of your qualifications, I have to say many of the colleges on your list are reaches because of your status.</p>

6

<p>^luckily for him, Dartmouth and Princeton happen to be need-blind towards international students. none of those other schools are, though. </p>

<p>regardless, you have great stats for a junior. but your international status + need of FA WILL hurt you in a lot of those schools. you still have a great shot, though.</p>

7

<p>^But that means he has to compete against the best of best of international applicants. I mean those IMO medalists, internationally recognized musicians, and other incredible applicants. </p>

<p>Not trying to dissuade you from applying or anything, but you have a tough shot (I have to disagree with blu_g8orade) You would be in great shape if you were US citizen/permanent resident though.</p>

8

<p>Look into more need blind international schools. I believe Middlebury is one as well.</p>

9

<p>anyway, Dartmouth and Princeton is need-blind for intl students, and Stanford and grinnell do be able to offer a high finaicial aid. It’s of great possiblity that you could get into at least ONE of them:)</p>

10

<p>i can feel your frustration but i think you should be more realistic and aim for less selective schools considering your financial situtation and the fact that you have no high school diploma. i have a feeling that lacs will be more understanding of what you’re going through than larger universities.</p>

11

<p>Sorry for not explaining my situation as well as I intended. I know that it might not be realistic to only apply to Tier 1 schools, but in the end, if I’m not going to a “good” US university, then I’d rather stay in Thailand and apply to the top universities here. So, the colleges that I selected are the ones that I would surely have preference over staying.</p>

<p>I looked around and found Middlebury and Williams as being needblind. But as collegeprep11 said, they’re just as competitive as the Ivies.</p>

<p>Do you guys know of smaller LACs that offer generous financial aid to intl. students and might be more understanding of my circumstances?</p>

12

<p>Guys, are you sure that his chances decrease because of Fin. aid?
I had a friend, who applied to different universities, including Duke (she is international student). She wrote, that she can pay 5-8 k a year max. So Duke accepted her, despite she could pay low % of the tuition, but gave 30% scholarship. In other words, she didn’t get rejected straightforward, but they rather showed her how much they can pay her, and how much she can try to get from other places (like loans, or grants from her government, who knows?). I mean if this guy applies to lets say Duke, will he be really rejected if they can’t cover 100%? I am not quite sure of this.</p>

<p>Ken, all the best for you, and I hope colleges will understand your situation and help you… And this level of achievements in 11th grade is incredible.</p>

13

<p>the chances of a full scholarship without being some sort of recruited athlete too are slim. Colleges don’t want to pay too much to bring internationals here.
Why do you have to apply to ivies? I mean, if my family just lost half their savings I wouldn’t even consider a private school. I’d go somewhere for 20,000 and below to save money and work hard there. I’d say you have a good shot in some schools but definitely not for good FA. Your parents will still be paying a lot no matter what.</p>

14

<p>nooob, my question is - let’s say he fits by academic/personality criteria… But doesn’t financial wise. Will they accept him and say like ‘we give you 20% scholarship’, or they will just refuse? My experience suggests 1st choice, but most of the people here lean to second one…</p>

15

<p>actually, to answer Alone’s question…</p>

<p>I’ve seen both outcomes in my experience. Many of the senior class at my school last year applied to Carnegie Mellon; their credentials were almost the same, but only one got in–the one who didn’t ask for financial aid.</p>

<p>Two years ago, Williams offered admission to one of the seniors but only gave her half the money she needed. The same goes for other Tier 1 colleges as well.</p>

<p>So I’d say that my need for full or nearly full fin aid for tuition will certainly have an impact on my chances. I can only hope that my essays will be able to justify my need.</p>

16

<p>Carnegie Mellon doesn’t provide aid to international students. ZERO. ZIP NADA. Lol, why am I not surprised that those who asked for aid did not get in?</p>

17

<p>Wait, admission offices don’t see your fin aid requests, they are looked at in different department, so you are treated fairly… Or at least that’s what I read on lots of websites</p>

18

<p>

yeah, they don’t see them if you are a US resident. </p>

<p>but if you’re international, they WILL see fin-aid requests unless they are one of the 8-10 int. need-blind schools.</p>

19

<p>Ken, it is heartbreaking to hear your family’s situation. honestly, you have a good shot at full-aid scholarship. and hear me out, if you don’t get it, appeal as much as you can. get your principals, counselors, students, teachers to support you. the fact that you are applying as a junior speaks for your financial need.
good lucl</p>

20

<p>after hearing from both sides…</p>

<p>do you think it makes sense to apply to all the need-blind colleges (which naturally are the 8-10 most competitive ones…Ivies, MIT, or LACs like Middlebury and Williams)? or should i focus on smaller LACs that will be more understanding…but may not have that much fin aid for intls.?</p>