International student needing aid -- chances at Yale SCEA?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hello. I am a Malaysian and a year-two, i.e. 12th grade, student at a junior college in Singapore under a Singaporean government scholarship. I wonder what my chances are, assuming that I'll be applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>SAT I: 2,310, essay 12 (took it once and not retaking anymore; wise?)
SAT II: taking in October</p>

<p>+Year one (i.e. 11th grade) "transcript":</p>

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<p>+Year two (i.e. 12th grade) most recent "transcript":</p>

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<p>+One of 40 top students nationwide for the GCE O Level national examination in 2005; had press and media interviews for that</p>

<p>+Highest award (gold) in the National Chemistry Olympiad in 2006; top 10 nation-wide
+Distinction award in the Nanyang Technological University Chemistry Concept Competition in 2007
+First place in intra-college chemistry competition in 2006</p>

<p>+High distinction award (highest award) for Australian Mathematics Competition in 2005
+Taking an undergraduate module (molecular genetics) at the National university of Singapore, as part of a "heaviest" workload
+Qualified for the National Biology Olympiad in 2006 and National Mathematics Olympiad in 2004</p>

<p>+School wushu team 2006-2007, participated in the National Wushu Championships and won two bronzes
+Quartermaster of wushu club (2006-2007)
+Various wushu performances in public places
+Talent-spotted for national wushu team, which I had to reject due to an injury
+Our school won 2nd place at national level</p>

<p>+Choir (2004-2005); we won the Gold award in the National Youth Festival judging</p>

<p>+One-month work attachment with the Disabled Peoples' Association (kick-ass letter of recommendation from here)
+Part of the organizing committee for the International Day of Disabled Persons 2006</p>

<p>+Week-long attachment at the Singapore Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
+Year-long commitment, teaching 10th graders once weekly
+Class President (2001-2003)
+Regular blood donor (5 times)
+ABRSM grade 8 (piano), Yamaha grade 5 (piano) diploma, which makes me qualified to teach at Yamaha Music School</p>

<p>I'm afraid that's all I have for my extra-curriculars, which I concede are inadequate. I'm looking at possibly chemical engineering (need to take some physics courses). I would need some form of financial aid from the schools, so it might really affect my chances, I don't know. These are the schools I'm considering:</p>

<p>Middlebury
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins
Cornell
Williams (might drop Yale SCEA and ED here, if my chances at Yale are crap)
Harvard (applying for the hell of it)
Yale (SCEA, first-choice school)</p>

<p>I don't have any safeties yet, so if anyone knows of any safety school which are lenient to international aid-applicants, do tell :)</p>

<p>My recommendations should be outstanding and my essays are pretty good (full with Asian flavour and a very personal voice).</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

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<p>Bump? Hope to hear some replies...</p>

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<p>I don't know why anyone might wanna reject you :)</p>

<p>But you definitely need atleast a couple of safeties</p>

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<p>Do you need a full ride? Then remove JHU and Northwestern from the list.</p>

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<p>Might I suggest MIT (since you seem interested in bio)?</p>

<p>As difficult as hell to get into for an intl, but need-blind...</p>

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<p>ajayc: I don't exactly need a full-ride, but something close like 80 percent. Do Northwestern and Johns Hopkins offer aid generously to internationals?</p>

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<p>Id say apply williams ED</p>

<p>you have a much better chance to get accepted there than yale, and they give great financial aid compared to many liberal arts colleges</p>

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<p>Middlebury-Safety
Northwestern-Safety
Johns Hopkins-Match
Cornell-Match
Williams-Match
Harvard (applying for the hell of it)-Reach
Yale (SCEA, first-choice school)-Reach</p>

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<p>Mid/NU have had higher SAT averages than JHU/Cornell; I'd put them all in the same category. According to two articles I read, NU's avg SAT is now 1423 for the enrolled students (1463 for admitted ones).</p>

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<p>Agreed ^. All the same SAT score almost or at least in the same ballpark.</p>

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<p>mayiplzgovertigo: Thanks for the advice. How much does ED affect my chances with Williams, compared to if I applied via RD? I know there was a site which shows the ED acceptance rates vs. the RD acceptance rate; does anyone has the link?</p>

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<p>Bump? Anyone can help me out here? :)</p>

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<p>Bump again...</p>

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<p>i think ur competitive for all, meaning you would gain admission.. but as an international, i think you would have trouble getting fin. aid. Sad but true.</p>

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<p>Wow, you have a great resume, clearly very well rounded. As good a chance as anyone to get into the elite schools on your list. </p>

<p>Middlebury-Safety
Northwestern-Safety
Johns Hopkins-Match/Safety
Cornell-Safety
Williams-Match
Harvard (applying for the hell of it)-Reach
Yale (SCEA, first-choice school)-Reach</p>

<p>As for the SAT retake, it depends on your score distribution and whether you felt that you scored far lower than usual for a particular section of the test.</p>

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<p>apply for yale and harvard you do stand a chance. In for everywhere else. With your scores (these top schools understand what those scores actually mean considering you got them at RJ) you don't need to have much ECs to be a competitive applicant, even at yale/harvard. you may do well to explain why you don't take the most competitive workload though.</p>

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<p>warden: thanks for your input.</p>

<p>What do you mean by most competitive workload, like two H3s? I have one H3, but it won't be reflected in my prelim results, and anyway I have maxed out my academic units with four H2s and one H3.</p>

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<p>oh no problem then. you're probably as competitive as any yale applicant can be, with a niche in academic rigor. go yale, harvard but apply to safeties too, which means almost any other school outside HYPM.</p>

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<p>Are you from Hwa Chong?</p>

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<p>Go to the college board site to look for the average amount of aid awarded to internationals.. Johns hopkins gives little.. They shortlist qualified int students.. Then cut off those who need more than 2ok, read this from somewhere<br>
i actually have the same dilemma between yale and williams.. Tho i'm not as qualified as you.. Hehe..</p>