<p>OK, I am an international student applying from India to Huntsman. And I am applying for financial aid (SO there goes my chances by 95%). And already 3 people have been accepted from my city (maybe even 4-5) on ED. No one from my school. </p>
<p>My SAT scores were 2240 (CR-750, Math-780, Writing-710: yes I bombed writing big time).
I am in an I.B. school on full scholarship (worth more than $40000- its a exclusive school), after topping my old school in the national boards exams (national rank 30 out of around 300,000 students). Took the most challenging curriculum possible:English, Economics, Business, Maths are Higher Level, while Hindi and Chem are Standard Level. My predicted Grades for May IB Diploma exams are 42/42, while semester grades were 38, 39 and 41 respectively (so there is an upward trend).</p>
<p>Extracurriculars:No sports, but great at MUN, debate, General Knowledge, etc. chaired and organised 3 M.U.N.s Also Asst director and scriptwriter of cinema club, sub- editor of school magazine. And I founded an NGO to spread AIDS awareness which raised a lot of awareness, cash and has 80 active members right now.
My teacher recommendations should be excellent, I have sent 4: Principal's, Counsellor's, Math and Economics professor. I expect them all to be outstanding.</p>
<p>Give me your honest appraisal. And sorry for the hurried disorganised way in which I have written. Thanks a lot.</p>
<p>Predicted 42/42? That's ambitious considering how insane those HL tests can be for IB, especially English HL.</p>
<p>Anyways, applying for financial aid will hurt you by quite a bit. A staggering percentage of international students here are paying the full price tag, and I'd assume that those who aren't have outstanding stats. I can think of at least ten international friends off the top of my head and they all come from pretty wealthy backgrounds and don't receive financial aid. However, you seem to be a solid student so I'd go ahead and apply anyway -- your chances go up by sending the application :) Just keep in mind that it's going to be insanely hard when you're applying for aid. Expect rejection but hope for the best, I guess. Just my opinion.</p>
<p>If you read this site here, you'll find that on average, 50 admitted international students are offered an aid package. There are many more who Penn would have liked to admit, but couldn't due to limited fund availability.</p>
<p>yeah well, I am good at IB. At least till now. And the teachers gave me the predicteds (OK i am not supposed to know, but I do. Dont ask how).
And I am from a seriously disadvantaged background: dad unemployed, and I work after school for 2-3 hours. Will that help in their consideration? I am going to get interviewed by local alumni commitee in about couple of weeks, I shall make it all clear to them.
Is it possible that , rather than rejecting me outright, they give me an option: little or no aid and admission, aid and rejection, that kind of thing? Is negotiation possible? I dont mind going under debt for 5 years if i get to go to wharton.
Anyways, thanks a lot for the feedback, legendofmax.</p>
<p>Also stated on the website, the information you send is the information they base the decision on. Either they decide to accept you (knowing you need aid) and they have the budget to meet your financial aid, or they will reject you outright because they have either rejected your profile (as in, even if you did not ask for aid, they would reject) or rejected you due to financial aid (budget runs out). </p>
<p>Long story short, if you absolutely need need the aid and can't fund it externally by loans or out-of-pocket funds, you should apply for it, because if you end up at Penn and you suddenly request aid, it's going to be impossible. However, keep in mind that asking for aid will decrease your chances substantially.</p>
<p>Negotiation <em>is</em> possible... I've done it myself, but it's a very tiring process and they usually can't squeeze out a whole lot. I don't know what it'd be like for internationals, but if you're needing a substantial amount of aid, you're not going to be able to negotiate a huge sum of aid out of nothing.</p>
<p>If you were absolutely hell-bent on getting into Wharton, you could not apply for aid and fund your education by alternate means (such as outside student loans).</p>
<p>It is incredibly hard to get in from India without being able to pay. Almost impossible if you can't pay at least half. Given that they have taken others from your city lowers chances even more. So get safeties!</p>
<p>I hope you're not trying to use Hindi for Huntsman, they do not usually accept native language. A language like Arabic would help, but you're score in CR and writing hurt you for the joint program.</p>
<p>So honestly, with no business experience and the above, I think you have a slim chance. Sorry.</p>
<p>Even if you don't get into Huntsman, on your application you can still indicate you would like to be considered for either SAS or Wharton, both of which would give you a better chance of admission. I recommend SAS simply because of the immense value of a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>My future employer (Mahindra) says right on their website that they would like a liberal arts degree</p>
<p>Do you live in Bangalore? That's where I'm headed when I start this summer</p>
<p>Ceebrown, I have business experience, sorry forgot to mention it. two internships over the summer, at a stockbroker's and a automobile manufacturer's. They have given me mindblowing references. Also involved in planning an entrepreneurial venture in clothes import right now, with an adult friend whose father lives in China, hopefully should earn a 3-4 thousand dollars by the end of May: enough to cover airfare in any case. Does that help? And how should I put this experience across, besides the activities/ internships page (which doesnt do justice to the whole thing)?
I live in Mumbai. Are you not an Indian by any chance, Ilovebagels?</p>
<p>My experience has been more on the administrative side, phillySASer08, since in the past two years I have always been roped in to chair commitees (mostly Security Council). But yeah, I hope I get in too ;)</p>
<p>the administrative side is more important, Penn holds two conferences of well over 1000 delegates each every year. the team that goes to away conferences is more for fun, though generally it does very well too</p>
<p>It's our own; most of the big college conferences (harvard, g'town, yale, penn, berkeley) have their own parli variations, they're pretty subtle though (for example, we don't do that infuriating thing harvard does where you can only pass one resolution per committee)</p>
<p>Hmmm sounds fun though... I really wish my MUN experience counted for UPenn, but its like every applicant has done it. Its really hard out here in India to be successful, since applicants are many but there are so few MUNS... being chair here really is a big deal.</p>
<p>hey abhimanyuk, did u apply ED..and those kids who got accepted form your city ED, did they ask for financial aid, and how were their stats compares to yours? btw im indian too, applyin as international</p>
<p>no... I was ED but changed to regualr. None asked for aid, in fact they all belong to the very rich bracket (almost billionaires in dollars), with high contacts. Their stats are slightly worse than mine in academics (around 2100-2150 SAT, 40/42 in IB) but they were excellent at sports. One had been a national level swimmer.
There is no chance in hell that internationals like us, with my kind os stats, will get into UPenn. I have retracted my financial aid application and amapplying as a "regular" non-aid student. I had a very long conversation with a person who was in Wharton and sent his kids there about this. Bottom line is, unless you have 2400 in SAT, play national level cricket, one the international Science Olympiad or something, you are not getting in. Heck, even with my stats, its a 25 % chance at best (because, even though i am not asking for aid, I dont have any "pull" in the admissions dept)</p>
<p>this sure paints a gloomy picture. I'm applying to UPenn too, with fin. aid, and my app is not as good as yours. </p>
<p>Bottomline : Ivy is meant to be a reach usually; I hope you have applied to other, lower down 'safeties' coz with your stats I think you could get in with a bit of aid elsewhere; not as great as wharton but still pretty good. But you know that.
Just send in your app, and hope for the best. We can't really tell what goes on in the adcom, so depending upon your essays etc. they might see some point in taking you in. Plus, you have a tough background which you say you can mention in the interview, and I think with that in perspective, you're pretty outstanding. In fact, there's a guy on CC who got into UPenn with sat 2 scores that weren't even ivy-standard...around 450-550...then again he is local, but he didn't expect to either. Apparently they saw something in his essays, and I THINK he's full ride.</p>
<p>Yes I know he's local, but what the hell? If you can 'resend' your finaid, do it, and forget about the whole thing.</p>
<p>dude, you dont get it. 4 -5 ppl have already been selected from mumbai. they are all paying. UPenn wants money, period. They are the most commercial school in th eUS (heck, they have Wharton, what do you expect, charity?)
bro, dont compare urself with locals, and certainly not past. This year is different.Record number of intl applicants.
I will sell my soul for Wharton, which is why I dont mind taking up 80 lakh debt on my shoulders and applying to Wharton without asking for aid. Its almost sure-shot rejection my friend.
My backup is Bentley, but I dunno if they will give me full ride.</p>
<p>Ok look, I understand, but its not like you can do much now. You've given it your best, and sent everything in, and after withdrawing your fin. aid application you stand a much better (even if still slim) chance. Now you're a COMPETETIVE international applicant in their books, and you have as much a chance as the guys who got in. </p>
<p>Ivy league is always going to be tough. All this stuff about how bad you want to get in, save it up for the interview. Don't rant, but be prepared. Just read up on what you want to do there, so that you can answer any questions.</p>
<p>Yeah, its all probably stuff you know anyway, and you're probably wondering why I'm telling you all of this, but the interview is where you can really make a difference. Worrying won't get you anywhere...</p>