<p>Hi everyone! I have a quite interesting question.</p>
<p>Being from an Indonesian non-international private high school, does it have any thing to do with chances to get into Ivies/Elite Private Liberal Arts? Moreover, for long as I know there hasn't been any one from my school who made it through there for college/undergrad.
Most of the alumni go to "Indonesian Ivies", and those who go abroad attended colleges in Australia or Japan. Rarely one go to US (few do, but they go through the 2-year CC first before taking a shot to a univ)</p>
<p>I am taking a really long shot here.</p>
<p>Because from what I heard, the officers handling international applicants do favor candidates from International schools since they are a lot more familiar (IB or O-Level/A-Level tests, english as language of instruction, and other stuffs....)</p>
<p>Does the known reputation, or even, the anonimity of the HS have an effect on how the Admission Officer evaluates you?
Thanks!</p>
<p>No, the rigor of HS may be a minor, minor factor but just because the school is famous, it doesn’t really increase your chances of getting in Ivy leauge. </p>
<p>Before anything, why Elite schools? What is your interest? Can you pay?</p>
<p>The most critical factor in admissions is the ability to do the work. If your high school is “unknown” in that it seldom sends students to US colleges and its teachers and counselors are unaccustomed to writing recommendations, admissions has less of a benchmark to go by. Standardized tests can provide helpful comparisons, but admissions do understand that students from other cultures with other languages often underperform on US/English based tests, so relatively weak scores are not necessarily a deal breaker.</p>
<p>The responsibility of “convincing” admissions that you’re up to the challenge really falls on the applicant’s shoulders. You can do this through your essays and through the content of your recommendation letters. (I don’t mean you need to write the letters, just that you should make sure they cover the points you want to communicate.)</p>
<p>Small liberal arts colleges tend to be more holistic in their admissions review and don’t mind extra materials (up to a reasonable point) that help them evaluate the applicant. These would include additional recommendations from a mentor or leader, expository writing examples, art and performance supplements. </p>
<p>You should take advantage of the services offered by the US Embassy to help high achieving international students learn about their options for study in America.
<a href=“http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/study/study-advising.html”>http://jakarta.usembassy.gov/study/study-advising.html</a></p>
<p>As @paul2752 notes, tackle the money first.</p>
<p>@paul2752 @momrath Thank you for the answers! </p>
<p>Frankly, I do consider a career path at Intl’ Financial-Development institutions (IMF/WB/ADB) interesting. So logically a good major in Economics/Politics + chance to work in Development/Financial institution after graduating would help.</p>
<p>Considering the money, in reality I am really hoping to get a substantial amount of aid. Which is why also I am aiming at the ivies / LACs.
From what I heard, international students (who had never studied in US) have a better chance to get substantial amount of grants there, rather than in good State Univs.
This I got from my classmate who also got an AFS exchange scholarship last year with me - though I went to Czech Rep., and she to Denver. <em>she is offered scholarships by some colleges at CO and currently considering it</em>
And yeah, she mentioned about the art supplements too - I am now collecting my traditional dance documentations from events I performed at, although it’s quite hard, people are not used to do proper documentations here except in National events (not even State events do!)</p>
<p>And also my father’s good friend - he is a business professor in NUS Singapore, had his BA at Oberlin full-grant and his PhD from Harvard (once he was an Admission Officer too). He told me the same things, and also that I do have a better chance (although it still doesn’t make any big difference! Haha 
) to go to ivies / LACs based on diversity cause, since:
- Admission Officers there have a separate division for Asia-Pacific region
- The fact that I am not a CKIA (Chinese/Korean/Indian/Arab) citizen.
- Amount of native Indonesian (non-CKIA heritage) applicants is still very low if not non-existent.
- The fact that most enrolled CKIAs (most CKAs, some Indians) pay a lot of tuition - only some go with substantial aid, may leave a bigger aid quota for other Asians, thus, slightly better chance.</p>
<p>His story was quite parallel to me, being a native Bangladeshi. Although definitely things have changed - it was back then 25 years ago.</p>
<p>I am also currently applying to good European Social Sciences Univs where I can get substantial scholarship - Erasmus Rotterdam, Sciences Po, Amsterdam… Good thing their admission deadlines come later compared to US, so I am now fully focusing on my US applications first.</p>
<p>I’m gauging my expectations too… I think Wesleyan is the most realistic target for me in US. Yet it will still depends on the aid too; lets say I get admitted into an Ivy and a European, if the Ivy doesn’t give our needed amount of grant while the European does (although the Ivy gives a bigger amount), I will definitely choose the European one.</p>
<p>You answered the most important question – can you pay – last! But that’s the FIRST thing schools will want to know. It sounds like you will need significant financial aid. So you need to apply to a wide variety of schools – not just “elite” ones, Ivies or LACs in the northeast. All these schools are HIGHLY COMPETITIVE, your competition will be other outstanding Asian students with outstanding stats/grades/CVs. To increase your chances, consider schools in less-popular parts of the US: the middle states (often called mid-west), mountain states, and the south. In order to be considered for financial aid, you must have very high test scores (SAT or ACT, SATII), a great essay and interesting ECs which show your interests and accomplishments outside the classroom. Schools will be asking themselves, what can this candidate contribute to our campus? What can she/he DO FOR US? </p>
<p>My impression is that high achieving Indonesian students are people of interest at a lot of schools these days. The problem will not so much be getting into a good college as paying for it.</p>
<p>The first thing you need to do is run a few net price calculators to find out the maximum amount of need based aid you might be eligible for. The NPC’s are geared toward U.S. students and except for a few cases (those schools that guarantee to meet full need) the actual aid granted will be less than the NPC indicates. </p>
<p>The point of this exercise is to determine if your estimated family contribution is workable (plus travel expense). If the EFC is unaffordable, then you cannot apply to schools that are need only. All of the Ivy League and most of the most selective universities and colleges (including Wesleyan) fall into this category.</p>
<p>If need based aid doesn’t work you have to look to schools that offer merit aid. Merit aid for any one is unpredictable and for internationals it is scarce. </p>
<p>So run a few net price calculators and see how that works out. If you qualify for some need based aid you’ll be able to put together a wider list. I’m a fan of small LACs too, but in order to secure “substantial” financial aid you’ll need a knockout application and a wide and creative list.</p>