Full-ride at non-Ivy League colleges! (share your experiences!)

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>I strongly suspect that there have been threads like this one in the past but I haven't been able to find them.</p>

<p>Like many students in this sub-forum, things would definitely be much easier and less stressful if colleges cost less $$$ but we can't have it all now, can we? Anyway, do you guys know of anyone (or did you?!) who got a full ride to a college in the States? I remember a few months back, a girl from Argentina, I think, said how she got into Brown with substantial scholarship money and how her friends made it <em>somewhere</em> as well. I just wanted to hear of similar stories, something to get my hopes up and perhaps even get a few more ideas as to where to apply! If possible, also post stats please. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

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<p>There are several people on these boards who are only attending school in the States thanks to generous financial aid; it is not as uncommon or hard to come by as you seem to think. I believe only a couple of us post here actively, though.</p>

<p>There is no experience to share. I applied for financial aid, I got accepted, I was offered the money I needed to go, and I went. It really is that straightforward.</p>

<p>If you need a lot of money, make sure to pick schools that will meet 100% of your financial need. That’s the best piece of advice I can give you.</p>

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<p>I see. After some searching, I found some fairly hostile and/or depressing threads. I thought it was possible. I mean, I’m not super-smart but I guess garden variety smart should be enough? :></p>

<p>If you don’t mind me asking, which school is that? What were your stats like? I only know of MIT and Amherst who provide full aid and are need-blind…</p>

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<p>The only schools that are both need-blind and full-need for internationals are Amherst, MIT, Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth.</p>

<p>That, however, doesn’t mean that they’re your only–or indeed your best–shot at receiving a good financial aid package from a US school. Contrary to what some people on these boards will tell you (I urge you not to believe this because it usually comes from people who have no actual experience with international admissions), the six schools above are in fact more competitive for aid-seeking internationals than almost all other US universities. Yale, for example, despite being supposedly need-blind, has a smaller international fin aid budget than Stanford. Williams, which is not need-blind for internationals, has a good relationship with my international school and routinely accepts aid-seeking internationals from it, whereas Amherst almost never does.</p>

<p>At a certain level of competitiveness, things like being need-blind really don’t make as much of a difference as some people would have you think, and mostly affect borderline full-pay candidates.</p>

<p>I go to Reed College, which was my first choice and offered me a very generous financial aid package. My high-school GPA was 3.3 and my SAT score was 2350, with 800 on the Lit subject test and 720 in French. Reed was a really high reach for me because of my low GPA (in addition to my international status), but I really wanted to go there and I guess that came through in my application.</p>

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<p>Sombre, you do realize “financial aid” typically means “loans”, right?</p>

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<p>I see. I naively assumed that things were as they appear on the box. Everybody lies, eh. :slight_smile:
I don’t mean to sound rude but is there any kind of “official” source to back this statement? Don’t get me wrong, I half-trust your judgement but it would bring me some kind of reassurance if I actually saw something from a more direct source, i.e, from a university/college official or the institution’s website. I was also quite discouraged from Stanford simply because of a WikiAnswers article I read about “How to get into Stanford” where some guy said his class included a guy who started a photography business to support his family, a girl who was fencing champion and a biomedical researcher, another girl who organised a fashion show to bring water to rural India. That and the fact they explicitly mentioned on their website that funding for int’l students was scarce. (or something along the lines of that) Maybe they’re the “good guys” here? Maybe I should give it a shot and apply? I intend on applying to ~20 colleges and I’m working as hard as I can (studying independently - quit high school as I felt I learned better on my own [long story]) to get at least 4 As at A-Level and 2200 on the SATs. I, too, will probably do French SAT II, along with Math 2 and perhaps a Science as well. (not so certain on the latter)</p>

<p>I actually went to an international school for 5-6 months but <em>their</em> IB subject choices were quite limited, their teaching average at best (for the most part - my English Lit and Math teachers were very good though and actually, they’re the ones who’re gonna write my recommendation letters!) and as such, I left because I didn’t think the price my parents were paying was worth it. Anyway, as far as I’m aware there’s only a bunch of that school’s alumni in the States and all of them are paying their own way as far as I know. I personally know three of them; a guy and two girls. All of which were very hyped. The guy had some personal struggles and didn’t get as good scores as he should’ve (shame) and then went to CC, where he’s having a great time from what I hear. One of the girls re-sat her IB, then went to Michigan State and the other girl looked like the perfect applicant on paper but wasn’t interested in going to the States, so didn’t even apply. When results day came by, things didn’t go her way (she barely passed her IB, I think) and she’s now in a CC in NJ.</p>

<p>I’ve seen a list on US News for colleges that offer full-need for all admitted students - is it safe to assume that this is a complete list? There’s not too many colleges listed and I could just look for the ones who have full aid for internationals as well by manually searching through the list. Also, do schools like SUNY Plattsburgh (for e.g) give out substantial aid/scholarship to international students? I don’t mean to sound arrogant but the SUNY schools don’t look too competitive and I couldn’t help but wonder…
Where else did you apply and get in/rejected? Or did you apply to Reed ED? How do you like it there? </p>

<p>I know this might sound cheesy but if someone were to ask me my “dream”, that would be it:

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<p>I should probably just hit the “post quick reply” button and leave it at that. I’ve gone on for far too much now.</p>

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<p>I have been accepted at UChicago with near full ride (the financial aid award meets my full aid) in the Early Action round. There is one student from Argentina and another from Kazakhstan along with me who got need based award in the early action round. </p>

<p>Asking for financial aid may/will hurt your chances. However the key is to be passionate about your academics, activities and the school you are applying to. Make the school want you badly. If they see you as a great candidate, trust me they wouldn’t hesitate to take you with aid.</p>

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<p>@Ghostt: Couldn’t have agreed with you more! Dartmouth is need blind as well but did you notice how small their international student enrollment is? From my country, students are rarely accepted into places like Amherst (need blind) and Williams (was need blind but as need based, still has the same budget), but around 2-4 students regularly get accepted at places like Vassar, Macalaster and Colgate.</p>

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<p>Darth, being “passionate” or convincing about one’s academics (math) and activities (doing some math-y things, especially over the internet with forums and such) is very doable if one likes them and that happens to be the case for me. I’m really not sure about how I could come across as being passionate to attend a specific school. I mean, I would love to go to UChicago, they have a great math department from what I gather too (!) but I’m not certain how I’d express my feelings towards a school without sounding like a suck-up. How did you do it? Do Chicago have a separate essay for them? What about your CommonApp essays?</p>

<p>Also, did you get 100% need met, through aid and scholarships? Does that include room and board? Theoretically, if one gets such a package, they shouldn’t be spending too much, no?</p>

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<ol>
<li>Yes you have be a suck up and desperate. But you cannot “show” you are a suck-up and desperate. How creatively you implement this matters. When talking about UChicago essays, remember they are outliers- normal college essay rules don’t apply. You can approach UChicago essays with utter seriousness or you can deviate from the norm and write something that labels you as an oddball. In 2015 EA round, a student submitted a love letter that was filled with jokes and punchlines that are unique to UChicago. On the other hand, my 520 word essay was divided into 4 paragraphs and talked about my passion for physics and how UChicago would help me to advance my career in sciences, the enthusiasm for Core, the characteristics of general UChicago population and how they are similar to my own characteristics and some other random things like Hogwarts styled theme of the place. I mentioned unique courses and professors that I am interested in and tied my research and career interests as to how UChicago would help me to achieve them. </li>
</ol>

<p>You see, nothing quirky or interesting about it. But I showed that on any day, my knowledge about UChicago can match that of a current student or an adcomm so that helped. You have to tell them that in your own voice and in your own way. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>My other essays were fine I guess. But I think the cumulative effect of the Common App EC essay, Common App Main essay, Why UChicago essay, UChicago Optional Favorites Things essay and the UChicago Extended essay must have been something. Its like all of them completed the puzzle that is me. I spent a lot of time on the essays: I drafted several versions, edited the final versions thoroughly and had my essays edited by readers here in CC. </p></li>
<li><p>On the question about financial aid: hypothetically yes, technically no. See individual colleges have their own ways to determine the amount of aid needed. I did not get a full ride, however the amount I have to pay can be covered by income and savings without creating any stress on my family. UChicago met my full need.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Say UChicago gave me a 50k aid, that won’t be enough to cover room+board costs because total cost is 67k. However if Colgate gave me a 50k aid, it would cover part of room+board cost as total cost is somewhere around mid 50k. Also note that this assumes Colgate and UChicago gave me same aid which is likely to not happen. </p>

<p>So be sure to apply to places that promises to meet demonstrated need fully. Apply to a mix of national universities and liberal arts colleges that you like. </p>

<p>Best of luck!</p>

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<p>Thanks a lot for your response. I really appreciate it.</p>

<p>Good luck with physics. I’m guessing you want to go to grad school? (actually, I’m just gonna send you a PM…)</p>

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<p>I got grants,scholarships and work study from my college that covers 100 % of my tuition and then some of room&board. My college’s has a pretty generous fin aid policy for internationals, but my stats were far from fantastic (GPA 3.6 and SAT 2030, but good essays and recs). I am not sure how that happened but I am glad it did.</p>

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<p>Silence, were you accepted by any other colleges that gave you aid?</p>

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<p>One other college gave me like 60 % but it wasn’t enough (also the reputation of that school is a lot worse than my current college).</p>

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<p>Sombre, I wish you the best of luck! Keep in mind that this will not be an easy process… I remember when I started out, I thought it would be a piece of cake. I was so wrong… Keeping my gpa at 4.0 and trying to score over 2000 on the SAT, while at the same time self studying for the subject tests, coupled with writing essays, taking the TOEFL, paying fees, writing letters, asking questions… overwhelming! </p>

<p>In the end I did manage to get a 2010 on the SAT, but my subject tests are horrendous, with 650 in both Biology and Literature. I just hope they don’t weigh that much against me. </p>

<p>I’ve applied to 20 schools, all that claim to meet full need for international students. I’ll name them here for your convenience: Amherst, Harvard, Brown, Princeton, Pomona, UChicago, UPenn, U of Richmond, Mount Holyoke (only applicable if you’re a girl), Colby, Dartmouth, Hamilton, Bates, Colgate, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Vassar, Vanderbilt, Washington and Lee and Stanford. I wanted to apply to Occidental and Wesleyan as well, but the limit was 20 on the common app. Also look into Berea and SOKA, Harvey Mudd, Smith and Wellesley (if you’re a girl), Middlebury, Swarthmore, Williams, Duke and Yale. They all claim to offer full need.</p>

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<p>

For the benefit of future applicants, I just wanted to mention that there are work-arounds for that limit. You could create a second Common App account with a different email address or apply to the remaining schools on paper.</p>

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<p>Indeed, there is that option. Also the Universal App. I know I almost took down Johns Hopkins for Oxy to apply to JH through the universal app, but in the end I decided that 20 colleges was enough. I would have loved the Oxy environment, but they had 5 full length essays, neither of which fit any other topic I’d written about… </p>

<p>Kids, don’t procrastinate. It’ll come bite you in the butt.</p>

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<p>Alisyn, thanks a lot for all the help. Yeah, I know how overwhelming things can get, seeing as I was going to apply last year but changed my mind and decided to take a year out. Do let me know what happens when the decisions come in! I hope you get in <em>somewhere</em> with enough aid! :-)</p>

<p>Barium: Clever! I’ll look into that if I still have some $$ left after the twenty allowed…
I read a few posts of yours, quite dated I must add, where you said you got into a college with financial aid when it was a rather unlikely possibility? (for some reason, I thought it was a UC) Which college is that? Did you apply to 20+ places as well?</p>

<p>_Silence: Wonderful! Where are you from? I don’t know of many countries besides the USA who use the GPA system…
Which college is that? University of Iowa?</p>

<p>Thanks everyone.</p>

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<p>Thanks, I sure do hope I get in! Chicago would be pretty awesome, or one of the two west coast ones. I’m tired of winter, so i wouldn’t mind the warm weather. Even with the earthquakes and all.</p>

<p>What country are you from? If you’re from one that rarely sends applicants, your chances rise somewhat, as most colleges want that diversity. On the other hand, if you come from China or India, your chances decline pretty steep. For some reason, they’re really selective with that area, so you have to be the tippy top applicant.</p>

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<p>As far as I know, there aren’t many students from my country in the States, at least, not at the Ivy League universities. Over the past few years, I’ve heard of 3-4, with two being at MIT, one at Princeton and one at Yale, with all of them getting a substantial amount of aid, except for the one at MIT who had a national scholarship and her dad is apparently very rich anyway. I made the thread because I knew about those few cases alone and needed some more perspective, I guess? Besides, getting into the top schools are a real stretch for anyone but these guys, from what I’ve been told (spoke to two of them), were not out-of-the-world extraordinary - just had great grades + SAT and did well enough on a few ECs. (one was more involved with things on the school level, the Yale one played badminton, MIT guy was among the best and judging what I’ve seen him write on the interwebz, he sounds like a golden boy, so that’s that (!) and I don’t know about the other one)</p>