Hello.
I am an Iranian student, and jhu is my dream college. Considering that our currency is very weak, I require substantial aid.
So I would like to know if it is worthwhile to apply. I understand that only about 20 int’l students are aided every year, but I was unable to find any data about how many int’l students apply for aid.
Also,will I compete with fellow middle Easterners or with the whole pool?
Thank you for sparing the time and effort to read through.
I did not want to fill the post with stats, since my question isn’t really personal. I will provide them if you believe that they are necessary to answer me.
P.S: sorry for the strange capitalization that may exist, my phone’s auto correct behaves in ways that I do not fathom.
It is very surprising that JHU even gives aid to internationals. I believe most of it is merit-aid, as they rather have the financial aid to domestics. Unfortunately, needing aid can negatively affect your application. You will be competing against the whole pool in terms of admissions, but will be compared to your region. I’m not sure about financial aid though, but you definitely have to be the top of the crop to receive it, as it means they REALLY want you.
@mailmeicecream thank you for your answer.
according to their site, jhu offers need based aid to 10 percent of internationals.
I know that there IS a negative effect.I want to know how big that effect is, considering jhu has no currently enrolled undergrads from my country, if my info is correct
Another factor is that international students typically have the financial means to be considering applying internationally due to additional costs such as airfare and being unable to bring many living essentials from home. As you stated, there are not many Iranian students at Hopkins (I never met any, and they haven’t reported any from what I’ve seen), which is definitely great for you since Hopkins (like most schools, honestly) value diversity and the perspective you bring. Hopkins loves to tout all the countries its incoming class represents, and you offer the chance to raise that marketing stat by one more! Of course that alone will not guarantee aid.
I believe it is still worthwhile to apply if you are interested in the school. Honestly, I’m sure you will face this dilemma at most schools unless you’re somehow able to get a guaranteed scholarship prior to applying (which of course, will not happen). You can also try and find schools with better stats regarding this matter, but remember that stats like these aren’t benchmarks the school aims for, but largely depend on the applicant pool year to year. International applicants I imagine vary significantly from year to year beyond the few major feeder countries (e.g. Canada, China, Korea, India).
The schools that have need-blind admissions for intl students are also the hardest schools to get into.
@NixonDenier thank you for your informing answer,
I Have no problem with the airfare, essentials or other small expenses. But the tuition + room/board is far beyond the financial means of almost all Iranians.
So this is what I am asking: will my admission chances be lowered to below the rate of a need blind school?
Will having my stats help with answering that?
To the best of my knowledge JHU does not provide the stats necessary to inform such a decision. Even data available on financial aid for international students would be misleading since international students are a very diverse group that are highly variable year to year. As an Iranian applicant you would probably not be represented well by the available data even if you could find it. You can try contacting the financial aid office with detailed questions, but I’m sure they will not provide this level of detailed stats, and they will simply encourage you to apply. If you are considering applying RD then I wouldn’t be concerned since (beyond the time and application fee) there isn’t much drawback in learning if you receive financial aid, and, if so, how much. If you’re applying ED then there is the risk that you might be coerced into attending a school with an unfavorable financial aid package, so maybe you should just apply RD. Or, take the risk and hope that even if you are accepted ED, hate the financial aid and refuse, there are limited repercussions in your case as an Iranian applicant (as if we need more drama in the international relationship between our countries).
I’m sure you have a good idea if you would be a competitive applicant or not. You can post your stats if you feel that will help, but beyond standardized test scores I wouldn’t know how to fairly compare an Iranian GPA, ECs, etc. with U.S. applicants. Even if your scores are not competitive, there are many additional factors to consider in your case that could compensate for this. It’s hard enough comparing U.S. applicants with each other, attempting to go on an international scale is well beyond my comfort zone and is exactly why there are whole committees of trained professionals that do this for a living.
@NixonDenier for what it is worth, here are my stats. I did all I could to help with comparing, but understandably, much of it is not comparable.
Nationality : Iranian ( though I am a mix of all major middle eastern ethnicities)
Intended Major : premed/Biology/Biomed/Biochem
GPA: I double majored in Junior year so I have two gpa’s: 19.20 for my theoretical major , 19.40 for my Experimental , 19.06 Sophomore, 18.76 Freshman. according to https://www.wes.org/gradeconversionguide/index.asp, all my GPA’s translate into 4 in the american system.
Course Load: Biology 3, Calculus, Physics 3, Advanced Algebra and Probability, Geometry 2, Geology 1, Chemistry 3, Persian Literature 3, Persian Linguistics 3, Islamic studies 3, Arabic 3, English 3, Contemporary History, Math for EXP majors.
ACT : 34 (34 34 33 34)
Sat ii: took yesterday, expecting a 800 on math 2,770+ on bio and 700+ on chem
EC: Will graduate when I am 16.
English Teacher at a prestigious language college.
No AP or IB classes, as we all have the same curriculum in Iran. however, I was in a NODET (national organization for development of extraordinary talents) school, which means that our curriculum was tough as hell. however, I did have some advanced extra curricular classes in Math, Physics and Astronomy. I will probably write it as an academic EC.
Arts and humanities club member.
Internship at a very important Lens and Optics Lab.
part of high school National Computer olympiad team, no medal though.
9th at Ferdowsi Univ. Programming contest.
5th at Team Math&Chem City Contest
Fluent in English and persian, good at Arabic, Intermediate in French
c++, HTML, CSS, JS, PHP coder.
Web designer.
Swimmer, no awards though.
English,Geometry and Algebra tutor.
Just to be clear: ap, ib ,sat and act are not offered in Iran.
Sohells, if the SATs and the ACTs are not offered, did you have to travel to take them? I see you did take them and did very well.
Hopkins financial aid was very limited, when my dd applied and was accepted. They didn’t offer her a dime and their price was outrageous. Now for international students, it is even worse! $83K per year!
http://finaid.johnshopkins.edu/international_cost.html
For financial aid, you need to realize that Hopkins gives you what they THINK you need. Not what you actually may need. My family was not impressed with their financial aid packages.
If you are premed for Hopkins, you do realize that getting into a US medical school will be impossible, right?
@lostaccount yes, I took the exam in Turkey.
If you are wonderig how is it that we can afford travel but not tuition, do notice that we are upper middle class in the ME.
@“aunt bea” according to the posters, it is best to keep jhu for RD. that said, I do not think my predicted aid would be much different from my actual one. If I understand correctly, that problem is mainly for upper middle class americans .
And yes, I know that if you require aid, the odds of getting into us med schools are extremely small. As such , I have a few back up plans. More importantly, I am primarily interested in MD/PhD, and I am not dead set on it either.
Thank you both for your answers.