Demographics
-International
-Living in Canada
-Public High School
-Asian Male
-Have lived in over 4 different countries (Russia, Azerbaijan, Canada, South Korea)
Intended Major(s)
Mechanical Engineering
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
3.9 unweighted
Class rank: N/A
1580 SAT (790 Math, 790 EBRW)
Coursework
IB - HL math, HL Chem, HL Bio, everything else SL. Taking physics as well during the summer
Awards
YCI Grand award, Best-in-category, gold medal at Canada Wide Science Fair
Gold medal at Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair
Director’s award from school band
Extracurriculars
School STEM Club founder
Community Robotics Club Founder - I educated teenagers from my city and together started a kickstarter of a robot that we developed that raised $30000+ dollars
Internationally ranked CAD designer - global top 50, top 2 in Canada
Large volume personal book review blog and website
Volunteering at non profit radio provider, helped manufacture radios for third-world countries
Research conducted with various small businesses in area, patent pending and published in science journal
Cost Constraints / Budget
Will be applying for need based financial aid.
Schools
Reach: Harvard, Northwestern, Cornell, Columbia
Chance estimates for my reach schools would be greatly appreciated
If your class rank is top 1-5% then I say your chances at the reach schools are between 5% (Harvard) to 10% (Amherst). If your rank is outside of top 5% of your HS, then the chances are much lower, probably 1-5%. If your rank is outside of top 25% then I’d say your chances are close to zero.
Unfortunately you are competing in a tough demographic: over-represented race, over-represented major and applying for FA. The good news is that you probably have some great options within Canada.
Actually, those are the colleges that are need blind for admissions for international students AND also guarantee to meet full need for international students. This is an international student who is not eligible for U.S. federally funded loans anyway.
So…for this poster, their financial need will be considered when their application for admission is considered at Northwestern, Cornell and Columbia.
International student acceptances at these schools is in the single digits. So…apply and see. There really is no way to predict your chance of acceptance.
Sorry, yeah, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT and Amherst are the only schools that are need-blind, meet full need, and do not have loans as part of the package. Otherwise a financially needy international student can apply to certain special scholarships, which take some prospecting to find.
You seem a great applicant from what you’ve said here. I think the radio thing is interesting. You have a few dings against you, as do most applicants. Your demographic is over represented, your major is too, Canada will produce many very competitive applicants, and you need FA. Do you believe you are one of the top applicants from the whole of Canada? Will your teacher’s recommendations reflect that? If so, your chances might be better than most, but still, don’t count on it.
There are colleges that are need aware for international students but will meet full need for all accepted students…and so if you do get accepted, they will meet full need.
Yes of course, but if need aware, financial aid is also competitive and also funds sometimes run out. Basic message is that for needy students the only sure thing is those 5 schools, and they are extremely selective. But sure, apply to need aware schools, avoid loans as much as possible, and prospect for scholarships.
There are also some need blind schools that do not meet full need without loans, including some top schools. The permutations are multiple.
Again…what loans are you talking about for international students? They are not eligible for U.S. federally funded loans of any kind…so NO college can give this international student federally funded loans.
OP didn’t say whether or not they are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Like the US, tuition will be much much higher and admissions will be much tougher to Canadian universities if they are not.
What is your status in Canada? Are you either a Canadian citizen or a Canadian permanent resident?
I was an international student at two top US universities (one for my bachelor’s, one for my master’s). My first week at each university I got to attend the welcome event for international students. You would be amazed at how strong the other international students are. In the unlikely event that you get to attend any of " Harvard, Northwestern, Cornell, Columbia" then you definitely will want to attend the welcome reception.
Your stats are very good. If you are a permanent resident or citizen of Canada they are going to give you very good chances at any of the top universities in Canada, all of which are very good.
However, your stats are probably about average for the large majority of international applicants to the top universities in the US. This puts your chances as relatively low – close to the acceptance rate for international students.
Regarding applying ED to Northwestern: Have you run the NPC for Northwestern? Does the NPC show it as likely to be affordable? Northwestern is need-aware for international students, so your need for financial aid will impact your chances of admission. They however claim to meet full need for international students (which may be more important) which suggests that the NPC might be reasonably accurate for you as long as your parents are not divorced and do not own a farm, small business, or rental property.
I know multiple people who did their undergrad in Canada, and then went to graduate school in the US (including one person who did their master’s at Stanford and another person who did their master’s and PhD at Princeton). Undergrad in Canada and graduate school in the US is a possibility also.
Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately I am not a Canadian citizen or a PR.
Would you say that I still have a chance at getting into my reach schools, or should I apply ED to somewhere I have a better chance of getting into? Secondly, do you think I have a chance at the Lester B. Pearson scholarship at U of T?
Thanks!
I think that you are competitive. Your SAT is particularly very strong. My personal bias is to use ED only if you have one university that is clearly your top choice, and that will be affordable (or for which the NPC predicts that it will be affordable). I think that you need to decide for yourself whether any university fits this description.
I know that the Lester B Pearson scholarship is very competitive, but I do not know how it compares with admission for the top universities in the US. It is a great scholarship if you can get it.
In the absence of a significant scholarship, some of the less well known universities in Canada are more affordable for international students compared to the most famous universities. You might want to compare the international prices at somewhere like Dalhousie and/or Memorial University of Newfoundland and/or U.Victoria versus the international prices at McGill and Toronto and UBC. When comparing prices in Canada versus prices in the US make sure to take the exchange rate into consideration.
