<p>I am 12th grade student who will apply to the US this fall(so i'll be taking a year off). I applied to 4 colleges last year. got into 2 of them(Boston University and Binghamton) and waitlisted at one. However, i am not going because I cannot afford them and they don't give any money). So this year, I want to apply to the US with a better set of credentials and more organized planning(in terms of meeting deadlines because that was a problem for me this time) and apply for intl financial aid and/or scholarships.</p>
<p>SAT:
CR-680
M-730
W-780</p>
<p>SAT 2:
MATH LEVEL 2: 720
BIO E: 650(will retake it)
I will take a Chemistry subject test this year too</p>
<p>activities:
interact club
head of environmental organization
classical dance for 5 years
community services in various organizations throughout high school
internship at a financial consultants organization</p>
<p>gpa: 3.7</p>
<p>I will be doing constructive work in my gap year.</p>
<p>This is my college list(feel free to edit and comment on it) and i will be applying for aid/scholarships:</p>
<ol>
<li>Indiana University Bloomington</li>
<li>Brandeis University(a high target)</li>
<li>Mount Holyoke College</li>
<li>Bryn Mawr College</li>
<li>Brigham Young University </li>
<li>Emory University(a reach)</li>
<li>UMich</li>
<li>UVA</li>
<li>Northwestern University</li>
<li>Smith College</li>
<li>Vassar College(a reach)</li>
<li>Cornell University(a reach)</li>
<li>some other ivies as well although they are extremely high reaches)</li>
</ol>
<p>I think your list is definitely feasible. You definitely could get into BYU…I have a friend who get in there who wasn’t that smart. You have really good scores as well, and good extra curricular activities. </p>
<p>How is your class rank?</p>
<p>You could read this:
[How</a> to get a scholarship with the SATs | So You Want To Be Homesick](<a href=“http://wannabehomesick.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-get-scholarship-with-sats.html]How”>http://wannabehomesick.blogspot.com/2010/05/how-to-get-scholarship-with-sats.html)</p>
<p>UMich/UVa/Indiana/Emory don’t give financial aid.</p>
<p>Approx. how much aid do you need?</p>
<p>I know for a fact that Cornell and Northwestern are EXTREMELY stingy with aid, not to mention competitive. Both are high reaches I would say.</p>
<p>hi:)
i actually need A LOT of aid/scholarships. i can pay about $20000-$25000 :(((. I had this problem this year too: Boston University didn’t give me any money hence i couldn’t go.
my class rank is top 10%(our school doesn’t give any ranks)</p>
<p>well then i guess i shouldn’t apply to Umich/Northwestern/Emory/Indiana/Cornell then.</p>
<p>i really am in a tight corner, huh?</p>
<p>Well binghamton is **** cheap, well probably the cheapest of the lot. BYU, you would not want to go, first it is in Utah, second it is a deeply religious (mormon) school, third you have to take some abstinence pledge and not to drink or have fun like for 4 years. So what are you gonna major in? That is the important question.</p>
<p>^ ^
I totally agree . . .</p>
<p>i know ppl at BYU and there is nothing wrong with that school. one doesn’t have to drink to have fun. Provo is a beautiful place and u can have lots of fun indulging in outdoor activities. u can always find group of ppl who share ur interests and faith.</p>
<p>actually i have heard all that stuff about BYU too but since it’s a lot cheaper than most schools, I am definitely applying there.
my top choices are Brandeis University, Bryn Mawr, Vassar(I know how highly selective they are). do you think i should apply to them?
and Nortwestern University and Smith too…
For Indiana University, I am opting for the business economics program with the Kelley School of Business. How hard will it be for me to get into?
oh i want to major in biological sciences or economics. either one but i’m leaning towards biological sciences
Binghamton- I applied there this year and got in but my mom was totally against it since she(and the rest of my family) considers it a party school</p>
<p>@Tippu- well BYU drinking is not the biggest problem, that is why i listed it as my third point. First it is UTAH, who wants to go there anyway? well there is not a big financial sector close by as OP wants to be econ or biology major. And also I dont wanna go into details of mormonism. Just say it is a highly intolerant religion and considers Jesus to be AMERICAN. </p>
<p>@Sammy-Well, I wont tell you to apply to Kelley School, as a matter of fact I am a Bus Econ and Bus Law major at the school. But at most you cannot get higher than USD 10,000 scholarship here. So I wont count that in. Brandeis, I wont recommend because it is not a school with international recognition which is very important as an international student. Except that all your schools are extremly good. Well I go to historical party school and I can tell you that you dont have to party if you are in a party schools and also party schools are the places to be. If you are concept of fun is not stealing liquid nitrogen from the chem lab at night?</p>
<p>@dibbasatya, i think BYU is very well known and has a very strong alumni network which more than makes up for the fact that Provo is not a happening place. Most mormons are not like what you think. They are very friendly people. Our neighbors are mormons, some of my best friends are mormons. They are not at all like how you have characterized. They don’t try to impose their religious views on me, far from it. I have no problem with their views on drinking. OTOH, certain evangelicals are a different story and you run into them in every state.</p>
<p>@Tippu: Well I never said BYU is not well known. It is the place where every mormon wants to be, so it should have a strong alumni. It is a good school and has a very good accounting program. Well, the religion has been historically highly intolerant, ( read joseph smith, if you don’t believe me) and I did not say anything about the people. Well it is fruitless for me to argue with you as it does not help the OP. Also, Evangelicals are a protestant christian not related to mormonism. You are personalizing the situation by stating that you don’t have problems with their views. It is the decision of the OP and not ours. I merely stated the facts of the situation. It entirely depends on the OP to deduce and make the decision. </p>
<p>@Sammy & Tippu- Well college is not only a path to a good job. It is best 4 years of your life where you will form ideas, notions and deal with the questions of right or wrong. It is highly imperative that people (applying to colleges) understand that. Or else you might land up in a college where you will be highly disappointed. College should be a place where you can flourish as a person and not only a place where you study and then after 4 years get a job. My main argument against BYU is that it is a faith-based school (I am not against that) and certainly OP is not from that particular faith and thus it might be tough for the OP to conform in the enviroment. And also it is a school which lacks in diversity in huge proportion. I just merely stated the facts, ultimately it is the OP’s decision.</p>
<p>@ TippuSultan : i agree that Provo’s a beautiful place =) and yes, there are definitely many activities. and i understand your perspective: just because a person is of a different faith shouldn’t mean that they can be categorized in that way.</p>
<p>@Dibbasatya: Hahahaa stealing liquid nitrogen from the chem lab! You’re absolutely right. College is a place where I want to rediscover myself(as cliched as it may sound) and find my niche as well as continue to learn which is why i have handpicked my favorite schools out of the ones in my list because they’re the ones I really want to go to despite the money and all.</p>
<p>I would suggest you look into University of Richmond. It gives out a lot of aid and is a good school.</p>
<p>Sammy:</p>
<p>Northwestern(Extrememly, and this is my DREAM School so believe me I have done my research!),UMich(Somewhat!) and Emory are very stringent when it comes to giving aid to international students! I am unsure about Smith’s stance on international aid! The others I have no clue of!</p>
<p>I’d suggest if Financial Aid is something that plays an integral part in your decision then apply to a few need blind colleges!!</p>
<p>NEED BLIND SCHOOLS:
- MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Massachusetts
- Harvard University in Massachusetts
- Princeton University in New Jersey
- Yale University in Connecticut
- Williams College in Massachusetts
- Middlebury College in Vermont
- Dartmouth College in New Hampshire
- Amherst College in Massachusetts</p>
<p>For other schools check out this site, helps a lot!:
[eduPASS</a> | Financial Aid for International Students | Schools with Aid for Undergraduates](<a href=“http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml]eduPASS”>http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml)</p>
<p>Hope I helped!</p>
<p>Take out Williams and Middlebury from the above list. They are no longer need blind to internationals.</p>
<p>The OP does not have the credentials for colleges like HYP and should not waste money applying to them.</p>
<p>there are no defined credentials or set combinations to get you into HYP… I would say that if you want to apply you should go forward and do it.</p>
<p>Indiana U, Umich, UVA are public univs, and will not give aid.</p>
<p>Brigham Young is cheap, but going there will be the biggest mistake you’ll ever make. Even if they pay you to attend, don’t go.</p>
<p>The ivies are a no-go, unfortunately, because you’re not among the top international applicants (looking at your ECs, SAT1, SAT2). I don’t see how you’ll be able to compete against the overqualified international applicants who apply to the ivies. (I suppose you could try for Cornell… they’re less competitive than other ivies, and are need blind for Indians with the Tata scholarship and possibly other internationals)</p>
<p>Northwestern won’t give aid either.</p>
<p>I’ll suggest a list of schools tomorrow, slightly sleepy right now.</p>
<p>DONT GO TO BYU.</p>
<p>@ Akshay M: Thanks! You make me feel a lot better! Yes I was planning to apply to Cornell and maybe Princeton or Dartmouth or UChicago(i know it sounds far-fetched, especially with my credentials but i still want to give it a shot)</p>
<p>I checked up Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and Smith College and it turns out they do offer aid to internationals but they haven’t specified whether it’s need-blind or need-aware which is starting to worry me. I am also considering Barnard College, Wesleyan University, Johns Hopkins University, Rice University and USC. What do you think about those? </p>
<p>This may sound crazy but the main reasons why I’m applying to Indiana University Bloomington is because I have this crazy notion that if I apply well before November 1st I might actually get one of their automatic scholarships and also it has a pretty high acceptance rate so I can feel good about myself if I get rejected from all my other schools.</p>
<p>Those 3 aren’t need blind for international students. Need blind colleges are always insanely competitive because most international students decide to apply there.</p>