<p>I have some questions regarding us international students who are hoping to apply to top tier (Ivies among others) U.S. universities.</p>
<p>First off, I'm a middle eastern high school student from Kuwait hoping to get into a great university.</p>
<p>Due to the fact that not many students in the middle eastern region apply to the top universities, does that make me "stand out" among other applicants and therefore increase my chances of getting accepting, especially when looking at the private universities? (assuming my GPA, SAT, SAT II, EC's, letters of rec., awards, etc are on par with others)</p>
<p>Furthermore, I don't want to sound cocky or arrogant, but I don't need financial need. Yes, including in terms of the private institutions. Does that also make me stand out in regards to private universities that can't pay full financial aid to it's students?</p>
<p>Are SAT scores for internationals expected to be higher than the residents of the U.S.A or what? I'm assuming that due to competition in top universities, they should be higher or the same as most others.</p>
<p>For the Ivy Leagues, I’m not sure that being Kuwaiti/full-pay will make you stand out in any significant way. They get applications from everywhere, including the Middle East, and are need-blind, or, at least, not THAT concerned with money. They ARE concerned with exceptional grades/stats and skills. </p>
<p>However, both factors may be good boosts for other selective private/public schools.</p>
<p>Your question can only be answered with the most frustrating two words international students hear from US colleges when talking about admissions: “It Depends.” When you are looking at the most competitive schools in the country, you could have perfect scores and still not get in. Why? Because the applicant pool most years is so competitive that institutions that you might be targeting routinely deny students who were the top of their high school classes, and regularly admit less that 20% of all applicants. Some of the schools on your list may admit less than 10% of applicants. Each year, the most selective schools are looking to admit a class that meets their institutional needs. Importantly, what that magical mix of students is from geographically, economically, socially, ethnically, etc, may change from year to year. At competitive schools which don’t have aid for internationals, you might be a much more attractive candidate than at a top school that might be more interested in economically diversifying its incoming class. So the bottom line is you won’t know with any degree of certainty when you’re applying to top US schools until you get that envelope/email in early April. Good luck!</p>
<p>I would apply to great public schools like UC Berkeley and schools like that. Those are great schools but can only admit international students that are able to pay. How about good LACs?</p>
<p>LACs don’t seem to receive too many applications from full-paying international students, so your status could be an advantage there. At Berkeley, probably not. In 2009, Berkeley admitted 14.6% of its foreign applicants (vs 22% total) and the admitted international students had an average SAT score of 1446 V+M (vs 1367 total). Being international seems to be a disadvantage at Berkeley, and probably at other top public universities that only have a limited number of spots for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>The UCs have increased their percentage of internationals by a lot since 2009 and it will increase again this year. They’re worth the application for any full pay intnl with scores near their averages.</p>
<p>You are right, Berkeley has admitted more full-paying out-of-state applicants recently. According to Berkeley’s international office, their international admission rate for fall 2011 entry was 21%. Maybe not a disadvantage compared to domestic applicants but certainly not an advantage either.</p>
<p>I am not saying that the OP should not apply to Berkeley; only that he should not expect his international full-paying status to confer him a statistical admissions advantage over other applicants.</p>