<p>Hey</p>
<p>I am a Canadian student and many have told me that due to the increasing numbers of internationals asking for aid and limited university funds, some colleges jump at an opportunity to accept a decent/good stats international who does not require aid. I am aiming for top 25 schools and i have around 2100-2150 SAT. Am i under the right impression or is this false. I hear colleges do this to increase their diversity while not having to pay for the international. Please inform me if i am correct!</p>
<p>well most private schools here have jacked up tuition so high and brag about giving out so much financial aid, that you might be at a disadvantage that you do no require aid</p>
<p>At need-blind schools, it likely won't make a difference. At other schools, it could be a slight advantage - I disagree with swimguy in that sense.</p>
<p>Yeah, I'm just being obnoxious right now. Most of the time, it won't make a difference either way.</p>
<p>Haha okay, I thought that statement was a little outlandish. ;)</p>
<p>Haha okay, I thought that first statement was a little outlandish. ;)</p>
<p>I think not requiring financial aid will be a plus at need-aware schools, even at schools that claim to be mostly need-blind. You'll see some schools claim they're "95% need-blind," for example. It's always been a little unclear to me exactly what that means: that they first fill up 95% of the class on a need-blind basis, then accept only full-pays for the last 5%? If so, that's enough to give a big boost to full-pays who are otherwise borderline for admissions. Suppose their entering class is 1000, half their applicants are potential full-pays, and their yield is 25%. Then to fill up that last 5% (50 students) with full-pays, they'd need to make offers to 200 full-pay applicants, which they'd need to go through 400 borderline applications to find. Meanwhile, 200 similarly-qualified financial need candidates would be rejected. That's a huge edge for full-pays.</p>
<p>I wouldn't expect "international" status to help you all that much as a Canadian, however. Yes, many schools want geographic diversity, both within the U.S. and internationally. But while they consider state-by-state diversity within the U.S., they generally don't consider province-by-province diversity within Canada. Look at their admitted student or student body profiles. Very often they list the number of U.S. states represented, along with the percentages of students from broad geographic regions (New England, Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, South, etc). But for internationals, they generally list just the number of countries (and perhaps the number of continents), as well as the total percentage of international students. Canadian students are the easiest to find, and once they've got a few Canadians, that's enough; you count toward their international total, but you don't give them another country (or another continent). So being Canadian won't help you as much as being from, say Cameroon. And it might not even help you as much as being from Montana or North Dakota or some other low-population state that sends relatively few HS grads to elite colleges. Many schools are more likely to have at least one Canadian, allowing them to check the box for Canada in their list of countries represented, than they are to have that Montanan or North Dakotan they need to be able to check of the box for those states in their quest for all 50.</p>
<p>^ Also note that very few schools provide financial aid for international students. So even if a school says it's "need blind," it's probably not need-blind for internationals. In that sense, not needing financial aid is a plus, but only because it puts you in the pool of international applicants they'll seriously consider.</p>
<p>bclintonk... excellent post. Some good highlights. However , one thing to disagree.. most schools do not have a quota on countries.. 20 amazing applicants from Canada will get in to that college... i am pretty sure.</p>
<p>^ Not saying they have a quota, just that when they're looking for diversity, 1 each from 20 countries counts as better than 20 from 1 country. So being Canadian is not as strong an advantage as being from some other places that produce fewer applicants. But agreed, if the 20 Canadians have stronger credentials than the 19 from other countries, a larger share of the Canadians will get in. Not all of them, though, I'd be willing to bet.</p>
<p>Because most schools are need aware for international applicants, yes, it could be an advantage for you at such schools.</p>