Type of high school (current college for transfers): public magnet school
Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): asian lol
Other special factors (first generation to college, legacy, athlete, etc.): none
Intended Major(s)
public policy / political science / international relations
i’d also be happy with econ
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 9.3/10
Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): n/a
Class Rank: n/a
ACT/SAT Scores: 1600 SAT
Awards
2x national merit (top 15%)
2x regional merit (top 5%)
Extracurriculars
honours classes for national merit comps (30hrs/week, since sophomore; don’t know if this counts as ec but it’s technically outside of my school’s normal curriculum)
model un: attended 7 national & intl conferences, won 3 best delegates, and chaired 6 conferences + leadership position in a local model un org (20hrs/week; since freshman)
debate: went to 10+ national comps, made to semis and champed once (6hrs/week; since sophomore) (my school didn’t have a debate team so i went independently)
founder of local law organisation (6hrs/week; since junior)
leadership positions at student-led social advocacy orgs on gender equality, the un, etc (4hrs/week; since sophomore)
member at english camp for secondary students (4hrs/week; freshmen → sophomore)
Essays/LORs/Other
personal statement: counsellor says it’s good.
Cost Constraints / Budget
efc is 23k, family is middle-class with 3 children
Schools
Safety (certain admission and affordability)
Likely (would be possible, but very unlikely or surprising, for it not to admit or be affordable): depauw, college of wooster
Match: beloit, whitman, wake forest
Reach: yale, georgetown, bowdoin, davidson, bates, middlebury, northwestern, american university
Additional Info: school preferences
size: medium-sized, but not a dealbreaker at all if small/large
affordability: this is a big deal :(, merit scholarships or commitment to demonstrated need is strongly preferred.
academics: really like cooperative academic environment, intellectually curious is fine but don’t really like preppy / competitive vibe; i’d be fine with a core curriculum as long as there’s enough flexibility for taking on a lot of classes (i really like northwestern’s quarter system) and exploring interests.
socials: don’t need crazy party / greek life but at least half-decent student life / people are sociable & not too depressed; cliqueyness not preferred; strong preference for vibrant extracurriculars / community service, anything students get involved in.
other: i’d really like a supportive administration / faculty, as well as practical / research experiences if possible.
You have a great profile, but as an international student that needs financial aid you are going to have to review your list and eliminate any schools that don’t offer aid to international students (many do not). Merit aid (to the extent it is available to internationals) at most of these schools won’t get you to a $23k budget.
Are you open to any location here? Check University of New Mexico and University of Alabama. IIRC, both offer guaranteed merit aid and give to international students.
It’s good that you have some of the need blind/meets need schools (but not all).
There was a student recently who had a $35-40K budget and whose kid was rejected by Rollins but they told him - if you can pay this, we’ll undo our rejection - and you have similar schools on the list. So you might have that discussion with them up front - wooster (where this student is), depauw, beloit, whitman.
I don’t see AU as possible.
Alabama - you’d make budget with auto merit. You’d get $28K off and COA is low 50s but when you move off campus, it’s less.
If your 9.3 was seen as a 4.0, you’d be well under. You’d get 4 years free tuition, one year housing, $2K one time and $1500 ($1K + $500 for bookstore) each year.
See the auto merit and the Presidential elite if they determine you have a 4.0.
Northwestern University & Dartmouth College are, arguably, the two best schools for debate in the USA. (Northwestern has won the most national championships.) Northwestern offers 2 debate scholarships per year.
For International Relations / Foreign Policy consider these schools:
You will need to research each school’s financial aid & merit scholarship policies regarding international students.
thank you for the advice! i just shot an email to au’s scholarship department about the gpa and presidential elite scholarship. besides U Alabama and U New Mexico which others recommended, do you have any other recoms? i’m also thinking of applying to dickinson, gettysburg college, fordham u, loyola marmount, earlham, syracuse, kalamazoo, and willamette if there’s anything you’d like to add about those.
My guess is not a single one will take you at your $$ level but you’d have to ask.
Because they are not just - can you get in - but will they admit you at the price you want to pay. I think Kalamzaoo wanted like $35K or so from the other poster.
Your credentials qualify you for admission anywhere, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get in, or that they’ll give you money. You should apply to every school that is need-blind for int’l students (there are several threads on here that list them), including small liberal arts colleges. You don’t have to worry about whether they have IR or debate or any particular major - every single one of these top colleges that are need blind for int’l students would be fine, with a major in English, poli sci, IR, whatever. You’re heading to law school and int’l law, looks like.
With OP’s strong credentials it’s also worth applying to need aware schools that meet full need for international students. Reachy, of course, but worth a shot.
is there usually a large gap between what the efc i put on my application is and the demonstrated need that schools calculate? using some school’s net price calculator, i’ve gotten the after-aid COA in about $6,000 - $24,000. is this realistic?
As an international student, what EFC are you putting on your app?
NPCs aren’t always accurate for international families. But, yes, it is common, even for domestic students that there is a range of results across colleges…each college calculates need in their own way.
do you or anyone here have any particular suggestions for such schools? i’ve been scouring the T200 ranking and even regional rankings but it’s been time consuming trying to sound out if they meet full need / are generous or not :(.
thanks for the insight! will defs look into need-blind schoos. i’m actually more interested in policymaking / public policy instead of strictly political science or law school.