<p>I am not a US citizen- I'm from India, and our school system is very different from the US. We don't get grades in the junior and senior years of HS, we get marks and percentages. So when colleges ask you about your GPA, what are you supposed to tell them? Also, do they ask you to give your senior year grades, or all 4 years of HS grades combined? We also don't have AP classes here. Is that a disadvantage for me?</p>
<p>Top schools have been accepting applicants like you for many years. Have faith that they know how to convert whatever you put down. SATs become very important for students who may not have access to IB/AP programs.</p>
<p>You should know however, that given the generous fin aid of Harvard, the competition for the very few international slots is the most severe. To say you’ll have to be among your nation’s top students (not just your school) is not asking too much in order to be a realistic applicant.</p>
<p>Thanks, T26E4.</p>
<p>The academic part is really only half the problem. We don’t have much chance for ECs here either. No clubs in my school.</p>
<p>If you’re considering applying to an Ivy League university, I hope you’re not relying on ‘school clubs.’ Unless you have genuine problems, you need to have stellar extracurriculars. </p>
<p>It’s the same in my school, in the United Kingdom. My school has no clubs, as they are rare in this country. I created my own nonprofit organization and am also a board member for a charity with ~70 million worldwide members.</p>
<p>T26E4, could you clarify what you mean by this, please?
“given the generous fin aid of Harvard, the competition for the very few international slots is the most severe”</p>
<p>Harvard Yale and a few others have the extraordinary policy of need blind admissions AND meeting the full financial need of all accepted International students. Thus, kids w/little financial resources can suddenly afford Yale and Harvard. This translates to a huge spike in apps from internationals.</p>
<p>But the # of slots has remained relatively static. Therefore the int’l admit rate has even plummeted more…</p>
<p>Are you implying that there’s some sort of unofficial quota? It is also possible that the additional candidates have been simply of a lower quality</p>
<p>yes – look at the static # of internationals admitted over the last 15 years. </p>
<p>no: Very unlikely – and even less so given the more competitive pool. Why should H be less picky when more people are applying? Just the opposite.</p>
<p>[“Are you implying that there’s some sort of unofficial quota?”]</p>
<p>[What</a> Are Some Tips for International Students Applying to U.S. Colleges? - College Admissions Q&As (usnews.com)](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/09/14/what-are-some-tips-for-international-students-applying-to-us-colleges]What”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/09/14/what-are-some-tips-for-international-students-applying-to-us-colleges)</p>
<p>"International students need to realize that they can’t simply look at overall admissions stats to determine their odds because most schools limit the international student population to 10 percent of the overall class. Even though colleges don’t admit to quotas, these numbers don’t vary much year to year, so they are what I would call virtual quotas. If you look at a school that has a 20 percent overall admissions rate, the admit rate for international students is likely to be closer to 5 percent—not to mention the fact that international students compete with other international students from 80-plus different countries, plus their own country. Schools might receive 300 applicants from China and then accept two or three!</p>
<p>Therefore, students should focus on lesser-known “name brand” schools that all international students apply to, schools that don’t receive as many applications from international students. Rural schools for instance or schools outside the Northeast tend to get fewer applicants from international students. Study the U.S.News & World Report list of [National</a> Liberal Arts College Rankings | Top Liberal Arts Colleges | US News Best Colleges](<a href=“http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges]National”>http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges) and focus on those more than just the Harvard University/Yale University/Princeton University-level schools that have super low acceptance rates."</p>