<p>MYSO1634 They all international students (F1 visas). I don’t think they have any national awards but I expect they scored highly in national and international examinations.</p>
<p>i have nationals award finalist in 4 national level competitions among thousands of students…
i scored 100/100 in 10th grade at board exam</p>
<p>There are stellar schools outside the Ivies. If you’re applying to the top 15 American schools in the QS-CS rankings, you should be able to get in to some of them. Bigger question, though: can you afford to pay full tuition, room, and board?</p>
<p>My friend went to Harvard and he was international without any Olympiad record.</p>
<p>Therefore, “You must have olympiad record to get into IVY as an international” is a total hogwash.
My another friend got in Bryn mawr without Olympiad(it’s not ivy but a great school)</p>
<p>While it’s a major boost, it’s not a requirement. Seriously people need to stop making myth based on some few observation…so don’t worry. Do the best you can. In my country, people think that Ivy leagues are the only best schools and others are trashes, and that playing music+SAT 2400+GPA is formula for Ivy league…which are not true at all.</p>
<p>Please look for colleges that are not Ivy leagues as well. Just because you go to Ivy doesn’t mean you will be happy go lucky. There are SOOOO many colleges that are as good as Ivy.</p>
<p>
The face that you just mentioned two specific cases really makes you less credible.</p>
<p>Honestly, in my opinion, the only way for internationals to get into HYPMS + Caltech is if you have some hook. International medals are a big thing (with the IMO being a MUCH bigger hook than the other Olympiads. I know IOI/iPHO medalists who were rejected from HYMPSC). I will outright say this that nothing is guaranteed; only a gold IMO medal has near auto-admit status (probably 98%+) for probably any US college.</p>
<p>In my opinion, athletic recruit is a bigger hook for Ivies, though. I’d say for schools like MIT, medals (or recruit) of some kind is pretty much required for international students. I’d wager that 90% + of MIT’s incoming class has some sort of international medal (or is an athletic recruit).</p>
<p>Of course, it also depends on what country you come from. If you come from China, India, or South Korea, medals are pretty much a requirement for HYMPSC. If you come from Jamaica or Nigeria, you’ll obviously have an easier chance, even without a medal.</p>
<p>The other Ivies are not as selective; its not a terribly long shot for internationals to get into without a medal, any many do in fact get in.</p>
<p>My friend went to harvard and he was an Korean international with middle class income. He didn’t do Olympiad stuff because our school don’t support such opportunities. </p>
<p>However, he took loads of APs, and he got All As. He was also a great writer(took AP English) and did a chairman in MUN and won numerous medals in Speech and Debate. Saying that I am less credible without substantial reason is just rude. </p>
<p>^ No, I merely suggested the irony in your original statement.</p>
<p>I really seriously doubt a korean international got into Harvard without either an Olympiad medal or athletic hook. What was his hook, if I may ask?</p>
<p>Your description basically described a plethora of applicants, really nothing special. </p>
<p>^okay. Honestly I don’t know much about him. Maybe he had some hooks I’m not aware at all because I know as you said, being a good writer, winning medals in competitions are pretty normal for many Harvard applicant…in fact in our school, people don’t really talk much about what they did or the school is too lazy to recognize people. It’s impossible for him to do olympiad because no one does it in our school…(I did, chem olympiad, 1st person in last 20 years to have a qualified score in our school). It’s a big irony because our school is 2nd in state. But i am pretty sure that he didn’t do biology or physics olympiad. </p>
<p>So, maybe he achieved some big stuff and didn’t feel like telling people. But I know he goes to Harvard because my counselor, who was his counselor, told me. </p>
<p>So, only thing I know is that he studied and was very very active in his jobs…and he had financial hardship, which was definitely a driving force, and he was 4.0 GPA unweighted…I really wonder what he did to get in harvard, 100% sure he didn’t lie. Why would he? </p>
<p>No, I’m just surprised, because at any given time there are around ~300 Korean students at Harvard, with the majority being graduate students.</p>
<p>There’s around 30-40 Korean undergrad students at Harvard at any given time. So if your friend is the 9 or 10 students in his year that got in from Korea, then he must be truly exceptional.</p>
<p>Same numbers for other top schools. I think MIT has around 4-7 undergraduate Indian students every year.</p>
<p>I really hope the difference between international and domestic students is not great as many made it out to seem…</p>
<p>It is, unfortunately, at least for aid-seekers. Case in point: Wesleyan’s general acceptance rate hovers around 22%. For internationals seeking aid, it’s 4%, and for internationals not seeking aid, it’s 16%.</p>
<p>It seems unfair that a private university still accepts less international students who don’t seek aid…</p>
<p>Nothing unfair about it. It’s a private institution which can decide for itself the composition of its student body. </p>
<p>That’s why there are a ton of both Chinese and Korean nationals studying CS and engineering at schools like Cal and UIUC.</p>
<p>The thing is (and many internationals seem to be unaware of this), a CS degree from Illinois will be just as good as a CS degree from an Ivy in the US in most instances (other than Wall Street or MBB consulting, though Goldman hires from quantitative disciplines from UIUC as well).</p>
<p>I am From India and I wanna major in economics. So, what r my chances if I say i have taken hist, geography, economics, polsci? </p>
<p>^^ How do you compare to other students in India? Are you considered an extraordinarily accomplished student? What are your SAT, SATII scores? What are your extracurricular activities like? Will you need financial aid?</p>
<p>No one has a “good” chance for the Ivies - they’re very, very difficult to get into for everyone, unless your parents are mulit-billionaires and/or head of the country 
</p>
<p>It is very competitive for international students, especially if you’re applying for financial aid. If you make yourself stand out, then you have a better chance.</p>