<p>umich is a public uni so if you are an intl you wont get any kinda finaid and scholarship is like extremely limited. if you want more scholarship, check out the top LACs like Williams, Amherst, Middlebury, etc., they're generous in giving intls finaid. but try to up your SATs a bit and make sure you have a hook. As for the ivies... they're famous for being ultra unpredictable, if you wanna go to the US make sure you apply for some safeties. Schools like Umich are actually very famous and have very high education qualities, dont get too obsessed with the ivies, which is sth most intls tend to do... actually many ppl give up ivies for schools like Williams or Amherst. Prestige doesnt mean everything - whether the school fits you is the most important thing, afterall you'd spend 4 yrs there and the last thing you want would be having a terrible experience in a famous school.</p>
<p>gap yr is nice. but make sure you do sth meaningful so that you could stress the gap yr experience in you app. gd luck!</p>