<p>But I have been studying in the US since 8th grade, I went to a not-so-good middle school, and after one year, I transferred to one of the top 5 private high schools in the US ranked by Forbes.
How does this combination of being an international student and studying in a top notch high school affect my chance of getting into the ivies? Is being international an advantage or disadvantage? I DO NOT NEED FINANCIAL AID.
Also, even though I am from China, I am not a stereotypical chinese international student for that I am not math/science oriented at all. My focus is more on history and english and I do extracurriculars related to those topics. does that increase my chance? </p>
<p>ivies are tough b/c you’ll be evaluated in the very large international pool. The quota for these is small and due to Ivies’ general favorable FA policies, there are tons of applicants. Sorry.</p>
<p>i can get a green card right now if i want to, but I’ve always thought that it’s advantageous to be international so didn’t choose to. Should i get it now instead of later?</p>
<p>"Is being international an advantage or disadvantage? "
it is a big disadvantage. So if you are a JR , and can get a green card, do so at once. If you are a Sr its probably going to be too late, unless you can literally get one before you send in your applications .</p>
<p>In your case, it will not hurt you. You will be evaluated with students from your school, which is a top prep school, look at your Naviance and you will know your chance of getting into those top schools. Because you will not need FA, it will give you an advantage, most international students need FA, the ones who do not will have more of an advantage. A lot of colleges want intrnational students who could pay. DO NOT check off needing FA.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom, what do you think about oldfort’s comment? could this combination of both international and top prep high school be possibly advantageous to me? cause i think i might even an edge to get into a top 10 college. and yes I am a junior @oldfort, thank you for the input! i hope what you said is true!</p>
<p>If you can have a green card now, why on earth don’t you! Everything will be sooo much easier! No more renewing your visa, no more restrictions on employment, no more worrying about how being international will affect admission. With a green card you are in the domestic pool. Period.</p>
<p>@happymomof1, because i thought the combination of being international, coming from a top notch prep school, and not needing FA would give me an edge when i apply to a top 10 college, no?</p>
<p>I would think so. You should talk to your college counselor AND email some of those school’s adcoms. I know a lot of families send their kids to American top boarding schools, so your GC should be very knowledgeable. My younger daughter is an American at an international school. We spoke with some adcoms to find out how she would be read. We were told that she would be read with her peers in our region, and she would be considered as an American when it came to FA. We didn’t need FA, so it was an advantage for her to be read in our region - her GPA and test scores were a lot higher than kids at her school because she went to a prep school in the states until 10th grade.</p>
<p>i thought the combination of being international, coming from a top notch prep school, and not needing FA would give me an edge when i apply to a top 10 college, no? </p>
<p>NO, not as as undergraduate student. </p>
<p>a lot of US colleges severely restrict the # of slots available to international UG students, regardless of where they went to HS- MIT is a good example:</p>
<p>“How MIT Considers International Applicants
MIT considers any student who does not hold US citizenship or permanent residency to be an international applicant, regardless of where you live or attend school. If you are in the process of obtaining a Green Card, then you are considered by MIT to be an international student, regardless of where your high school is located.
MIT receives many applications from very smart and talented international citizens. From this great pool of candidates we may only take a small cupful. Every year more than 3,000 international students apply to MIT, and we can admit fewer than 150.
There are students from 115 countries at MIT. Approximately 9% of our undergraduates are international”
[How</a> To Apply To MIT | MIT Admissions](<a href=“http://mitadmissions.org/apply/international/howto]How”>International applicants | MIT Admissions)</p>
<p>“Every culture in the world is represented in the city of Chicago, and The University of Chicago prides itself on reflecting that global diversity on our campus. International students account for 15 percent of UChicago’s undergraduate applicant pool” [which does not mean that 15% of admitted students are international] </p>
<p>That is why it is a disadvantage- US colleges, especially those at the top, accept mostly US UG students. Graduate school admissions is another matter, however.</p>
<p>But I would assume many elite colleges (excepting Grinnell) have diversity goals for international students, and would want representation from a number of different nationalities-- the schools love to tout that they have students from x-number of countries. Therefore, my guess is that it would be tougher to apply as a national from an over-represented country (e.g. China), vs. an under-represented country (e.g. Lithuania)</p>
<p>I think every college is different. MIT has quota, but Columbia does not when it comes to admission. Columbia states that it does not evaluate internationals differently than domestic. Dartmouth actually advised Americans stuying at international schools on its FAQ page to apply as an international, which is very different than other institutions.</p>
<p>There is no “international” advantage if all of your secondary education in the US. That advantage would go to someone coming from outside the US who can be expected to bring a new perspective to the classroom.</p>
<p>@menloparkmom, “Every culture in the world is represented in the city of Chicago, and The University of Chicago prides itself on reflecting that global diversity on our campus. International students account for 15 percent of UChicagos undergraduate applicant pool” [which does not mean that 15% of admitted students are international] </p>
<p>what does it mean then? i don’t really get it…</p>
<p>and also, of course US colleges are accepting more domestic students than international, but also few internationals apply, right? among those who apply, there are some VERY, VERY smart ones, but besides that, doesn’t having studied in a top prep school and having a decent GPA/recommendation/community service/SAT help me? because they trust the information my school supplies more than that of some distant international schools?</p>
<p>and i am really not interested in applying for MIT…because as i said, im not math/science oriented at all. the schools i am looking at right now are Columbia, UPenn, Dartmouth, Chicago, Cornell. the target/safe schools being NYU, UMichigan.</p>
<p>and thank you everybody for your input, i really appreciate it. once i get a college counselor (in 1 month) i will definitely talk to him/her about it and tell you guys what he/she thinks about this.</p>