Hi I am an international applicants (from south asia). I am looking for universities to apply to for biomedical engineering. I need universities which give full aid and are good. If anyone could please drop in some unis for regular decision.
I have a 1440 sat and an olevel of 7A* and 1A
You have a couple of things you need to know.
- There are only 7 colleges that meet full need AND are need blind for admissions.
- Amherst College.
- Bowdoin College.
- Dartmouth College.
- Harvard University.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Princeton University.
- Yale University.
What this means is that for all other colleges, either they don’t guarantee to meet full need for all international students And/or they are need aware which means your level of financial need could be considered when your application for admission is considered.
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You need to check each website for their policies on awarding their institutional aid to international students. Some schools fully fund, some have limited funding, and some provide $0 in aid for international students.
What does “and are good” mean? Are you only going to consider colleges with high rankings, because that’s a poor way to choose colleges, in my opinion.
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You need to also be searching for affordable colleges in your home country in case you don’t get what you need here.
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The net price calculators on the college websites are NOT reliable for international students.
@MYOS1634 do you have any suggestions for this student?
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Ahh by good i meant that since im going for a biology degree so the biology as subject ranking for the uni counts thats what it was about. And thnku vm
Ivys are need blind but the question here is abt getting in and keeping acceptance rates in mind. Ig i should have made it more clear.
In the Ivy athletic league, only Harvard, Dartmouth, Yale, and Princeton are need blind for international students, the others are need aware. They all do meet full need for all students. International acceptance rates are in the low single digits. Are you one of the top students in your country?
What can your family pay per year for college? Remember there will be additional costs beyond tuition, room, and board such as travel, incidentals, and mandatory health insurance.
Do you have affordable safeties in your home country, or elsewhere? Have you been accepted/deferred/denied anywhere yet?
I applied to denison for ed1 and got rejected 
I dont really think being the topp student counts that much. One of my classfellows has one of the top applications of the whole country yet was rejected by stanford
No one said being a top student provides guaranteed admission. But the schools you’re targeting (that provide a full ride to international applicants) do pick from amongst the top students.
Your classmate could have been rejected for a variety of reasons, not known with certainty to anyone outside the Stanford admissions office.
It’s hard to chance you without knowing your entire profile. But it’s going to be very low single digits as mentioned above. You really should build a solid backup plan to attend college in your own country. Then maybe apply to graduate school in the U.S. later.
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Yeah thats what i planned. I have a few unis planned here for my undergrad but i do want to apply to safe schools too in the us. I was planning for colleges like bucknell, pitzer etc. Anyways thanks alot for ur help
My opinion…there is no such thing as a “safe school” which will provide you with significant need based aid in this country. The schools that are most generous are also the most competitive for admissions for international students.
How much aid do you need? A full ride? Or what?
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Yeah i need a full ride scholarship
Your chances of receiving a completely free and full ride here are not high…but go for it.
Re: biology…you can major in biology at just about every college in this country. Plus your first post says “biomedical engineering”, not biology. Which is it??
What do you hope to do after you get this bachelors degree (understanding that this could very well change once you start college).
You already got an admission denial from Denison which is less competitive than the schools I listed above. Please be realistic in the other applications you send. I’m glad you have some affordable options in your own country!
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I plan for a masters degree in biomed engineering but yeah as u mention my choice might change after i enter college. Anyways thnku vm for ur help
I have planned out some unis for RD if u could just tell em if they r a good choice
I’ll share some of my stats btw
SAT: 760 maths 680 maths (1430) ( i will apply to some of the unis w/o sat tho)
Olevels result: 7A* and 1A* (gpa ig is 4)
Extra curriculars
- Head Girl
- editor in chief school magazine
- research on Methanotrophy and its application
- Interniship as a medical volunteer in a clinic
- founder ngo
- president of the STEM council in school
- Internship at a pharmaceuticals company
- varsity basketball
- interniship at wwf
Honours
- Award of excellence O’Levels Result
- A-levels merit scholarship
- distinction physics subject 2019
- distinction chemistry subject 2019
- STEM Award 2021
Alevels subjects
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Biology
- Mathematics
Unis i am plpanning to appply for RD
Amherst
Bucknell
Pitzer
Skidmore
Washington and Lee
Princeton
Wellesley
Seton hall
Yale
Casewestern
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This^^.
It is good that you are asking for input now though. 
I think you have a couple of typos with your stats… Did you mean 760 math, 680 EWR? 7A*, 1A?
Overall you appear to be a strong student with solid ECs. Since you say you have affordable options in your own country, then reaching for unis in the US is fine. I don’t believe I saw your budget, just that you need a full ride. Realize that there will be expenses that are not covered by financial aid (travel, health insurance, personal expenses, etc.) and work options are extremely limited (perhaps earning $2k per semester).
I suggest looking at Univ of Rochester in addition to your current list. UR provides need aid to internationals and has about 25% internationals in the student population.
All of these schools are reaches for admissions and for affordability. But as long as you have your Plan B, go for it! You won’t know if you do not try. Good luck!
** For other international applicants reading this thread, it is best to apply as early as possible, including your RD applications, because a lot of merit applications have early deadlines and need-aid may be distributed early in the application process at the need aware schools (especially applies to schools with smaller endowments). Request application fee waivers so the cost is not a barrier to putting yourself in the best position for financial aid.
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thankyou for the uni recommendation
ah yeah 680 for english
maths is 760
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I can see you getting into Seton Hall but they are not a meets need school.
You might try Franklin & Marshall as they meet need but like Dennison are aware.
In theory, no one rejected to Dennison ED is getting into an Ivy or similar but you don’t know why you were rejected. It may be all finance related.
Best of luck.
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Would you consider a HBCU (Historically Black College Uni)? If so, there is a thread discussing ones that may be good for internationals needing aid. I will look for it and come back to add the link to this post.
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I am not knowledgeable about how much need-based aid an international student is likely to get, but the following schools say they meet 100% of demonstrated need for international students:
- Women’s colleges, such as Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, Smith, and Scripps.
- Co-ed schools like University of Richmond, Bard, and Clark.
When you say “need full aid” does that mean your parents cannot pay anything but plane tix and some spending money? Do you have a budget per year?
I am sorry but BME is a very competitive major and I don’t think being South Asian will help. Most ECs from certain countries that sound too good to be true are treated just as such by AOs unless you can back it up with good evidence.
If you can come up with say $10-15K per year then yes, there are schools that can be recommended as safeties/matches but they are not the ones you have listed.