<p>Hello everyone,</p>
<p>My name is Gene and I am currently a freshman international student in Occidental College. For a variety of reasons, I feel as though I would be much better off at a "better" institution such as Harvard or the like, and I was just wondering if any of you knew anything about the international transfer admission process. Here's some background information about me, btw:</p>
<p>GPA: 3.98uw / 5.40w in HS
SAT: MRW = 790 / 750 / 710
SATII MIIC, CHEM, Modern Hebrew = 800 x 3.
I played varsity basketball, was the captain of my school's varsity quiz team, volunteered at the hospital, and participated in research about refrigerators :o.
Although I am only a 20 day-old veteran of college life, I hope I'll be able to get a 4.0 GPA here this year and 2 good recommendations. I am also participating in chemistry research and was elected to be the student chair at the board of trustees' budget and finance committee.</p>
<p>I am aware that many (in fact most) American schools are not too welcoming of internationals who need approximately $40,000 in aid / scholarship, but I was wondering if you guys knew anything about the following schools' policies:
Harvard, Yale, Stanford (still my dreams... :( )
Middlebury, Smith (I heard they were good with internationals, but didn't apply there last year)
Columbia, UPenn, Duke, WashU, Northwestern
and schools that you think I should know about.</p>
<p>feedback would be [very] appreciated</p>
<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Gene</p>
<p>Gene, getting a "priceless" education is difficult for ALL, not just international students. If you are getting a free ride now, I suspect you stand a good chance to transfer to higher-ranked LACs, perhaps at some or no aids. I do know for a fact Harvard has an excellent aid policy for families whose income < $60K. See <a href="http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/financial_aid/hfai/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/prospective/financial_aid/hfai/index.html</a></p>
<p>that family situation is only for US/ green card holders I beleive, also some of the schools you have listed dose not take in international transfers (columbia)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the responses!</p>
<p>That link really is interesting, because I can't quite figure out Harvard and Yale's admission policies with respect to internationals: I think that they're officially need blind but need to abide by certain quotas. </p>
<p>Still, what other top schools would you recommend for me to apply to as an international seeking financial aid. And are you guys in a similar situation as I am in, or just good Samaritans trying to help an intl out :) ?</p>
<p>Thanks a lot,</p>
<p>Gene</p>
<p>I am not sure about similar tuition-is-waived-for-income-under-xyz policy in other places. But, at Harvard, the same policy applies across the board as I was told. </p>
<p>The HFAI site strongly suggests that:</p>
<p>"There is no separate application process for the HFAI (Harvard Financial Aid Initiative). Interested students, including transfers and <em>international students</em>, should instead apply to Harvard through the regular application process by the established deadlines, filling out all applicable financial aid forms. ..."</p>