Hi! I’m an international student living outside of the US. I’ve applied this yeas as a freshmen to several universities and got rejected by most of them (the others didn’t offer me enough Financial Aid.)
I feel that I’ve learn a lot in this past year and I’m ready to start all over again with the application process (basically taking a gap year).
Does it look bad to reapply to the same universities? Do they still keep my old applications? Should I mention in my application that I’ve applied before?
I really need some advice in order to decide if I am going to apply or not.
Unless you do something fantastic over the gap year you are unlikely to get any different answers with the same schools - they’ve already weighed your record and found it wanting. Your best bet is to develop a new list. Make sure you target merit aid schools since aid is important.
^^^Agreed. If you send in basically the same application next year to the same schools you should expect the same decision. If you take a gap year and reapply be sure to 1) do something valuable with your gap year and 2) apply to colleges where you will have a higher chance of success (which includes getting the merit aid you need).
@happy1 @“Erin’s Dad”
I’m certainly not going to send in the same application because I will re-write all my of my essays using new ideas. Maybe I’ll even ask new teachers to write me recommendations.
Do you have any suggestions about what something valuable I should do in my gap year? Should it be something more academically like research or can it be a job or an internship (related to my chosen field of study)?
I agree that new essays, recommendations are unlikely to make a material change in your outcome. Short of winning a Nobel prize, an Olympic medal or something along those lines during your gap year, I stand by my comments made in post #2 that your best course is to apply to a new less competitive group of schools. You should also apply to schools in your home country. Sure you can reapply to an Ivy or two but chances are slim and you need more options. In terms of what to do with a gap year, you will have to figure that out based on your interests, what choices are available to you etc.
Also, I don’t know what about your FA picture would change. I believe you got into Cornell which I believe meets full need yet it was un-affordable. How will that situation change next year? In short, don’t do the same thing and expect different results.
It looks like Cornell is not need blind towards internationals. But still, you would need a compelling change, not just a new essay/recommendations, to expect different results.
@happy1 I can still apply to some universities in my home country. However, the best of them offers a 3 years Bachelor degree program. Will that affect my chances of applying for a Masters Degree in US?