I believe it wouldn’t make sense to make this thread degenerate into pointless bickering, so I’ll just back off.
More on topic: are invitations to selective math summer programs (HCSSiM this year, probably MathCamp or Ross next year) useful ECs?
It is harder to get in if you are international, particularly from Asia, and particularly if you need financial assistance. Plus the SAT Is, particularly the verbal sections, can be tricky for international students. You might not get into MIT or whatever, even with you Olympiad medal.
Lots of schools have good math. I would recommend Mathematical Science or Applied Mathematics programs, as you might not want to study the weird theoretical math.
No, invitations to math programs that you don’t attend are not meaningful. Attending a selective program is a nice and useful summer activity.
@BrownParent: Ah, I feared this. I’m going to attend next year if I get in again. You have no idea how much I wanted to go, but I couldn’t because of a family emergency this year, as I said.
@sattut: I do want to study “weird theoretical math”!
Because of the amount of financial aid you require you should plan on casting a wide net in applications. In my opinion your biggest challenge will not be getting accepted, but rather getting accepted with sufficient funding.
These are some schools that guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for internationals. Several of them have excellent math departments. The complication is that the amount they determine you need may not match what you actually need, but at least it’s a start.
GUARANTEE TO MEET FULL NEED FOR INTERNATIONALS
Amherst, Brown, Chicago, Colby, Dartmouth, Davidson, Emory, Grinnell, Hamilton, Harvard, MIT, Macalester, Middlebury, Penn, Pomona, Princeton, Richmond, Rhodes, Stanford, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams
These are some schools that offer merit scholarships to internationals; however, it’s difficult to learn how much merit aid you might be awarded in advance.
MERIT SCHOLARSHIPS FOR INTERNATIONALS
Alabama, Babson, Bard, Carlton, Chicago, Clark, Davidson, Dickinson, Emory, Fordham, Grinnell, Howard, Kenyon, Louisiana, Mt. Holyoke, North Carolina, Northeastern, Rhodes, Richmond, Rochester, Scripps, Smith, Wooster, W&L, WUSTL
Thank you for the list. Unfortunately, the first half all happen to be super-selective, but I guess that has to happen.
Rhodes does not promise to meet need of international students, nor does Emory.
According to the following sites, only 6 colleges are need blind AND claim to meet full demonstrated need for internationals.
http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-6-need-blind-colleges-in-us-for-international-students
http://www.internationalstudent.com/schools_awarding_aid/
The 6 are all super selective even for domestic applicants.
Another complication is that, if they are need-aware in admission, they may be more likely to reject a high-need student (especially if that student is otherwise on the borderline).
According to the following Wiki, Emory is need-aware for international applicants, but does and meet full demonstrated need of those it accepts. Rhodes apparently is need-sensitive in admissions, and does not claim to meet full need, for all applicants (international and domestic.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission
St. Olaf College is very small but has a strong reputation for math.
It is need-sensitive in admission, but does claim to meet almost 100% of demonstrated need (at least for admitted domestic applicants.)
International olympiad participation always helps but it doesn’t guarantee admission.
Obviously getting a gold medal at IMO can only help but no guarantee. The US team won IMO this year and those six students will probably go on to attend HYPSM. That said, any one school may reject these same students (e.g., MIT accepts but Stanford and Harvard reject the same IMO gold medalist).
Keep in mind, there are only, at most, 6 US students and hundreds of international IMO participants (about 35-40 will be gold medalists) so the competition is much stiffer among the international participants.
Again, this is in the “can only help, will certainly do no harm but no guarantee” category.
An invite is a nice-to-have ego boost but I’m not sure it means all that much in the college admissions world. If you get invited again, go.
Your problem isn’t can you get accepted to an American university. You definitely can. Your problem is affording the university. If money weren’t an issue, I’d be suggesting SUNY-Stony Brook as a back-up; unfortunately it doesn’t offer any aid to international students.
Apply to the six schools listed above: Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Yale, Dartmouth and Amherst and see what happens. Good luck.
University of Rochester only directly offers need-based aid to Canada and Mexico citizens. However, they participate in The Davis UWC Scholars program which provides need-based aid to students around the world to study in the US. http://www.davisuwcscholars.org/
Princeton and NYU are have reputations for being really good in math.
‘However, they participate in The Davis UWC Scholars program which provides need-based aid to students around the world to study in the US. http://www.davisuwcscholars.org/’
However, only United World College students are eligible to receive Davis money.
@SlackerMomMD: Is it even possible for someone in my place without a killer “hook” to get into one of those six places?
Thanks a bunch for answering the questions.
You can give it a try. The Olympiad stuff might do it. You should have at least 700+ or SAT Is and SAT IIs and top grades/scores in India for top schools. It is much harder to get in applying from Asia, than for a US student with a British name, much less black or native American. You might not get anywhere that you would prefer to where you would go in India, but give it a shot.
Princeton is supposed to have the best theoretical math department. NYU isn’t that hard to get into, and has a top math department, with all aspect, theoretical, applied, math history, and statistics.
My understanding is the Olympiad thing is really impressive, so I wouldn’t let people here discourage you too much. It is fine to apply to top 6 US schools. They are probably more interested in the Olympiad thing, than in another Asian international student with 800s in 3 math and science SAT IIs. You do want to have to scores too though.
I’ll take Emory off that list.
As for Rhodes, could you please explain further? From their website:
http://www.rhodes.edu/finaid/470.asp
I’ve often found conflicting information on websites, though. Any further updates are appreciated.
Limiting applications to colleges that are need-blind for internationals will put you into a wildly competitive pool, especially for East and South Asians. In my opinion need-blind vs need-aware is a bit of a red herring. Admissions officers are professionals and can infer a lot from the applicants’ backgrounds and experiences.
My advice would be to take the list of schools that guarantee to meet demonstrated need and think about which may not get a lot of South Asian applicants. Look at smaller colleges in the south or midwest or those in rural locations.
Some that I would consider would be:
Colby, Davidson, Grinnell, Hamilton, Macalester, Middlebury, Richmond, Rhodes, Vassar, Williams
These colleges may not be in the top tier for math, but they are all solid academically and if you need substantial aid you will have to consider compromises.
If u are truly gifted at math, your longterm goal is getting into a grad school that will charge u nothing, and there are lots of those. So, if u can get into a great college for undergrad, fine; if only a mediocre college will give you enough money to attend, that will get u to grad school as well. You don’t have to go to a great undergrad school to get in an excellent grad school. If u have to settle for a mediocre undergrad school, at least try to find one that has some flexibility as far as taking grad classes at a nearby university.
what math courses have you taken? Calc 3?
Does that mean multivariable? If so, yes, I’ve studied multivariable calculus. Taking classes at a local college is not an option here.
Small detail to an earlier post: Being the child of the POTUS is gonna be an auto admit, but for others, at most schools, legacy for parents who attended a school’s grad/prefessional school isn’t considered. Legacy is typically for undergrad.