International student requesting aid -- am I doomed?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>I know that UChicago has incredibly limited aid for international students, and that the pool is crazily competitive; do I have a shot in at all, or should I not bother getting my hopes up?</p>

<p>British citizen living in India; female, non-traditional age (I'm currently fifteen, and will turn sixteen at the end of August, but am graduating from high school in a couple of weeks).</p>

<p>SAT I: 800 CR, 770 M, 750 W (79/80 multiple-choice, 8 essay due to miscalculation/not finishing in time) -- total 2320.</p>

<p>SAT II (are these even considered?): 800 Math IIC, 800 Physics, 790 Chemistry.</p>

<p>GPA/Rank: 82, which sounds horribly low but which is actually an A (ah, the joys of the Indian marking system). Second in (admittedly small -- 32 students) class; highest is 84. My school's small, selective, and private, though, so an 80ish GPA here is worth a fair bit. (I think.) CBSE curriculum, for what it's worth -- the classes are reasonably advanced; calculus-based physics, some multivariable calculus in maths; what amounts to college-level organic chemistry. </p>

<p>Essays: I personally think they're rather good, although I have no idea whether anyone will agree with me on that. At the very least, they're unusual; I do write for fun, so they're probably fairly well-written. Insofar as I can actually comment on my own writing, that is. </p>

<p>Long essay's more or less a love-song to Mathematics (not an actual 'song', I hasten to add!), and involves, among other things, a comparison of geometry to a shady street detective from a 1950s B-movie, and a ridiculous amount of mathematical metaphor.</p>

<p>Recs: Will be fairly glowing, though the one from my counselor (well, actually the headmistress, here) mightn't be incredibly literate.</p>

<p>ECs: Debate throughout high-school (regional stuff, mostly); MUN; creative writing; math team; a cryptography team, which was short-lived but brilliant fun; graphic design in spare time. </p>

<p>Academic things: National medal in English; NTSE scholarship, which is government-sponsored and a reasonably big deal in India; science and math olympiad honours. </p>

<p>Intended major: Mathematics/Computer Science.</p>

<p>So, er. Could I make it in despite the fact that I do need aid, or ought I stop hoping?</p>

2

<p>I think you're very strong applicant. It depends on much aid you're requesting and how strong the rest of the international pool is, but you're a stellar candidate, imho.</p>

3

<p>You have a great shot. Note that you aren't allowed to apply EA.</p>

4

<p>Depends how much aid you need. If you need 5000 a year, you're fine. But Chicago is a reach for every international that requires a full ride or something close to it.</p>

5

<p>You are definately a <em>very</em> strong applicant - but its really hard to guess chances for internationals that require aid (darn crystal ball won't boot today). Where else did you apply?</p>

6

<p>Thanks to everyone who replied -- I'm rather pleased that I might have some sort of shot. :)</p>

<p>To None -- I can afford to pay a maximum of ~$15000/year (with a bit of a finance-stretch and a whole bunch of extra jobs), which probably puts me in the 'needs a whole lot of aid' category, I'm afraid. :/ (Parents earn ~$40000 combined, and a lot of that goes into rent and my private school.)</p>

<p>To ohio_mom -- I applied to reach-y schools (MIT, Stanford, Princeton, and the like, though I'd almost definitely take Chicago over the Ivies if it came to that); I can afford to gamble a little on the admissions front, though, since I'll probably make it in somewhere in India (and I do have the option of taking a year off and re-applying, since I won't lose time due to the age situation).</p>

7

<p>As another international student needing aid (Swedish citizen living in the US), I can only say this: based on what you posted here, you have a better chance than me, for sure. :p</p>

8

<p>Noldo, it wasn't too much of a gamble. MIT and Princeton are need-blind for internationals, and you're a strong applicant.</p>

9

<p>That's good news about MIT and Princeton. MIT's admit rate for qualified women is not all that depressing - a fat envelope from them wouldn't surprise me.</p>

10

<p>im international too</p>

<p>if it came down to you and me, and then chicago looked at SAT's, I would be kicked out ....</p>

<p>but if they dont focus as much on SAT's for internatioal students (WHICH I HAVE NO IDEA ABOUT, I JUST HOPE THEY DONT, HAHA!), then you have an equal chance compared to probably all the other international applicants, because they're all probably as strong as you in every other aspect (and some in SAT's too) of the application</p>

<p>hopefully your essays were good</p>

<p>good luck</p>

11

<p>anyone here know how many international students who NEED AID apply?</p>

<p>i know that only about 16 get accepted, but 16 out of how many?</p>

<p>thanks</p>

12

<p>isnt chicago need blind?</p>

13

<p>Not for internationals.</p>

14

<p>International without aid is judged on the same criteria as domestic students, so we can expect the acceptance rate at 40% for international w/o/ aid. So if U Chicago offered admissions to 236 international students, and only 16 got aid, then 220 were admitted without aid. 220/.4 = 510 applicants without financial aid.</p>

<p>Therefore, since 1127 applied and 510 was without aid, then about 617 applied with aid. 16/617 comes up to a 2.5% acceptance rate.</p>

<p>If we assume that the number 16 comes from the number of people who decided to attend U Chicago with the financial aid, the the acceptance rate comes out to be 2.5/x, where x is the yield rate, written as a decimal.</p>

<p>The international pool is super competitive. My numbers could be off if international without aid acceptance is lower, but that still makes a really competitive pool. Sorry if this sounds depressing. It really sucks for people who live and pay taxes in the US, including to federal student aid programs, but cannot qualify for aid because they didn't get their Green Cards yet.</p>

15

<p>I think your number are off a bit, None. From the admissions website:</p>

<p>"In the last three years, Chicago has offered a total of $2.8 million dollars to 75 needy students around the world who have demonstrated unusual unusual academic and extracurricular excellence. "</p>

<p>I have no idea if the 40% rate is right for internationals/no aid - my guess is that its a bit high. </p>

<p>Regardless, its VERY competitive.</p>

16

<p>Here is a really stupid question that I apologize for in advance: why is the aid policy different for internationals?</p>

17

<p>well from what i've heard from friends, chicago accepts internationals, but ends up giving them very little aid, less than the amount they ask for apparently.</p>

18

<p>

My parents pay taxes in Sweden because they work in the foreign service, but I've lived in the US for nearly six years now, and that just makes the whole thing ten times more discouraging. It'd be easier to stomach if I were applying from Europe, but now I have to see my friends at my American high school (most of whom don't even need aid in the first place) get into all of the best US colleges, knowing that if the aid doesn't come through, I'll be as good as deported come September. :(</p>

19

<p>"In the last three years, Chicago has offered a total of $2.8 million dollars to 75 needy students around the world who have demonstrated unusual academic and extracurricular excellence. "</p>

<p>75 is the total number of international students receiving aid in the past 3 years. In the past 3 years, there are 6 different graduating classes (class of 2004-09). I checked the FAQ page on</p>

<p><a href="http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=350%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level3.asp?id=350&lt;/a> </p>

<p>16*6 = 96, which makes sense if Chicago offered less students financial aid in years past.</p>

<p>The reason most colleges do not offer aid to internationals is that internationals do not qualify for federal student aid. Federal student aid gives at least 5000 to every student with financial need in stafford loans and work-study, and may give more for people who qualify for Perkins Loan and Pell Grant. This makes it harder for all but the richest colleges (Harvard, Yale, Princeton) be need-blind and meet full need to international students.</p>

<p>Don't think you guys do not have the worst of all. Imagine a smart and hard-working student (not good enough to HYP) who came to the US during elementary school and has since more or less forgotten his/her "native" language. Parents are low-income and do not have a Green Card yet so the student does not qualify for financial aid. Worst of all, their home state require citizenship or permanent residency for in-state tuition. This student cannot attend a college in his/her home country because of language problems and cannot afford anything beyond community college. I think all of these applies to a person at my school, so her only hope is to get into one of the elite schools that can afford to give out financial aid to internationals.</p>

20

<p>None,
ok, I see, wish I didn't, though. For the international juniors reading this column ... you have to pretty savvy about applications. A couple of years ago, when I was following these boards a lot closer because my son was applying, the internationals who didn't make it into Chicago tended to do very well at schools such as Brandeis and U of Rochester. Not Chicago, but still excellent schools. </p>

<p>I believe that most of the posters applying to Chicago have a pretty reasonable list, and will be going somewhere wonderful in the fall. None of us can really offer more than a guess as to how the offers will fall. However they do - remember that you are all fine students and people - and something is going to work out as long as don't give up when option a, or b, or even c don't work out.</p>