How is this my list? Am I aiming too high?

College Search & Selection
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<p>^You have a misconception here. Most international students DO NOT apply to these top schools and as a result, they don’t even consider applying to aid. I know many international students personally who came from Asia and their parents had no problem paying 40-50k a year for a state school. Basing your generalization on some CC threads is not reflective of the reality. </p>

<p>On CC, the only colleges people tend to make threads about are top schools that are mostly need-blind for both US students and international students so why shouldn’t they apply for aid? If I am an international student applying to a school that is need-blind for internationals, heck I would apply for aid because there’s nothing to lose.</p>

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<p>Harvard University
Stanford University
Cornell University
University of Southern California
Boston University</p>

<p>Yes your list is very stunning, I didn’t get to read your stats… but listed universities ( from your own list) that you at least should keep in thought…</p>

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<p>Post your stats here so we can tell if you’re actually aiming too high or not.</p>

<p>As a whole, though, your list does appear to be rather prestige-obsessed.</p>

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<p>I would agree that private institutions are perfectly at liberty to give financial aid to whoever they wish, including internationals, so I guess it’s not my place to criticize that. I do find it interesting though that while an international student could get a full ride at an American university, a US citizen could not get one at an international university (except in ridiculously rare situations, ie a Rhodes scholarship).</p>

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<p>Well you obviously have a couple of options:</p>

<p>1) Apply to US schools to do a BS/MD program (these are highly competitive, even for US students…)
2) Apply to US schools to get a BS/BA (what if you find out that, hypothetically, you really don’t want to do medicine? Option 1 screws you over). First off, it’s a little less stressful… and you have the option of (possibly) taking a break after undergrad. I have few friends who took a year off working in order to not only figure out if medicine was right for them (it may be what you want to do 100%, but I’m not sure) and also to take a break before the hectic life that med school will bring.
3) Go to a school where ever you are and come to the US for med school.</p>

<p>Now, you obviously have chosen these schools by some sort of ranking. Regardless of what your scores are, you need to do some research! I don’t care if you are qualified for all of them… you can’ really look at a school just by its name or “prestige factor”. The rankings are there for a general guideline of sorts. Plus, there are many schools with good medical programs outside of your (rather long) list.</p>

<p>I suggest that you look at a list according to what specialization you want to do (may add/cut out some colleges). Also, do some research. Do you want to attend a school with a large population? Urban or rural setting?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that, as others have pointed out, these are not the only options to go to school, even for international students. It’s not possible for ALL doctors to come from these schools, and not even for the BEST ones. Your education is going to be what you make of it, so you want to go to a place that you’ll like and would mind spending 8 years at ;)</p>

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<p>You would have a point if I said that few international students ever come and pay full-pay. But that’s not at all what I said.</p>

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<p>^Well a vast majority pay everything so your statement “there’s something more than a little annoying about all these international students coming here and expecting massive quantities of financial aid” is unwarranted. It’s like making a general stereotype statement.</p>