Where did you apply? (@ those already attending/graduated from college)

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>Especially those of you who required a lot of financial aid.</p>

<p>I'm not too keen on most of the Ivy League. I was wondering what other schools I could look to. There is that document compiled by infousa with information on schools offering aid but I'm under the impression that it's quite limited and there are other schools one could look into. I'd like to major in physics or math (pure/applied/stats) but would also like to take courses in philosophy, politics and history. </p>

<p>Anyway, how did things work out for you? Where did you apply? Did you get lots of rejections and chose the one school you got into? Any words of advice you have for current applicants?</p>

<p>Cheers</p>

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<p>This was a pretty bad year for internationals requiring financial aid.</p>

<p>Of the four internationals I remember chance-ing on CC, three were either rejected or waitlisted at all the colleges they applied to and the last only got into state schools.</p>

<p>My friend was also rejected or waitlisted by the 6 or 7 colleges she applied to. All were top 20 universities or LACs.</p>

<p>The only people I know who received financial aid were those who applied early to HYP, which of course is hard to get into.</p>

<p>Advice: work hard on your app, but be prepared for many rejections.</p>

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<p>When I saw that you replied, I was like “Hey, she applied ED! Wut!”. Perhaps this was funnier in my head.</p>

<p>Yeah, things look bleak. I don’t think the numbers change too much from year to year, though. I think it’s more a matter of persons who received positive responses not being on CC at all or not posting about it because they might have been active for brief periods only. When you think about it, it makes sense, seeing as this place (like any forum, for that matter) can be a huge time sink! </p>

<p>Yeah, I’ll have to. I actually 2-3 escape routes in case things don’t work out. One of them, while an ideal choice for me, is not a certainty because it requires a hard entrance exam. </p>

<p>What is your friend doing then? UK? Gap year? What about other people at your school? I can recall you mentioning being at an international school.</p>

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<p>I’m a freshman and I know about 6 internationals at ivies (very few people from my school applied outside the UK). I myself am at a top 20 LAC on significant financial aid. Not trying to slather on the salt, but js, it’s possible. I find with the US and Oxbridge, what matters most is whether you’re a good ‘fit’ with the institution, rather than five pages of ECs</p>

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<p>^
Excellent. Where else did you apply in the States? Did you have to choose between Smith and other schools?</p>

<p>With regards to your application, did you spend a lot of time on your essays? </p>

<p>I don’t have any “inside knowledge” on the application process but I do think that having so called “good ECs” or “five pages of ECs” as you say is a load of bull. As is trying to get perfect scores everywhere. Even for A-Levels, I think 3 As is good enough to “qualify” academically. Standing due to academic reasons, in my opinion, can achieved when one has performed brilliantly in some nation wide competition. In the case of IB or A-Levels, achieving the highest scores in the nation/world would indeed be impressive but sweating over getting AAB instead of A<em>A</em>A* is a little futile. Of course, that’s just my opinion and come this time next year, I may find out I was dead wrong…</p>

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<p>@sombre</p>

<p>Harvard xD. I was mainly applying for kicks, since I spent 200 usd on the sat, so when it came down to it, I had to choose between Smith and the London universities. What finally swayed me was the moolah, and the fact that Smith felt like an experience, whereas UCL seemed perfunctory and LSE is a bloody trade school.</p>

<p>A lot of what you say rings true. I wouldn’t dismiss getting a B/6 at HL quite so lightly, unless it’s maths, but AAA versus all stars really is marginal, especially if that leaves you without a social life. I wish I had better ECs, not more; I literally had one unimpressive
EC on my transcript, plus I had won an essay contest once. Whether or not I spent much time on the essay is debatable: I spent a lot of time thinking about it, but not writing it. I didn’t give it to a second reader. I mean, looking back, Smith was a winning accident that I literally got because of one line in the supplement and the first five minutes at the interview. So, for me, in order of influence, the decision factors were (keeping in mind the Harvard process too): </p>

<ul>
<li>interview</li>
<li>essay</li>
<li>recs</li>
<li>everything else</li>
</ul>

<p>Basically, you have to have a story. You have to be able to coherently explain why you want to go where you’re going and you have to believe it. You see all these amazing kids with amazing credentials (there was a documentary on youtube methinks) fail the admissions process because they’re completely vapid, and then you have kids with 1-2 serious (sometimes not even acknowledged) interests that look like they own their ****, and they come through. Cohesion and memorability counts for a lot:)</p>

<p>That said, school selection plays a role. I wish I did more research, because the issue of fit is really paramount.</p>

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<p>Sure, doing some research on a school is great but there’s only so much one can learn when they’re so far away. To really know what a school is like, one has to live there for a couple of days and that’s just not feasible when one is:
a) overseas
b) applying to some twenty schools</p>

<p>All I can do from where I am is read on the school’s websites, watch YouTube videos and read what people have to say on forums. So far, I got a very bad vibe from most of the Ivy League. I guess that’s sort of enough to deter me from even applying. Besides, ivies are a long shot and I’d rather spend my $75 on a school I like better and is perhaps a little less selective. Arguably, when one is asking for lots of aid, every college is insanely selective…but if one genuinely wants to attend, I guess that will reflect on their app, as you said.</p>

<p>Cohesion is something that I take for granted when I write. I half-assume that if it’s fluid to me, it will be for everyone. I should work on that.</p>

<p>Out of curiosity, did your high school term grades reflect your A-Level grades? Mine did for GCSEs (actual ones were better, in fact) but post GCSEs, they’re all over the place. I understand that transcripts are actually more important because they represent (part of) one’s attitude towards classes. I hope my recommendation letters can overcome that!</p>

<p>What happened in that interview? Sounds cool.</p>

<p>Owning their ****? Yep, that’s a great way to go about it. The caveat, in my opinion, is that no matter how happy something makes one or how passionate one is about it, they can’t possibly maintain that “zeal” or “flow” at all times. The essays should just show the good parts. Or how one could take the good out of something absolutely dark. There’s a few things that rings alarm bells, I think. One of those is definitely people who sound like the kind who might kill themselves or self harm. Not saying that people can get completely crossed off the list for that but it certainly doesn’t do them any favours. An applicant on here, who looked pretty good on paper, wrote his essay on how Hitler influenced him (or something). Guess how that turned out…</p>

<p>“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made.” I’m not really the kind of person who’d do that kind of thing and I seriously considered not applying at all and going somewhere in Europe because the whole process made me feel like I was that plain girl who, in an attempt to get a date to prom, desperately tried on every outfit in her closet with various different combinations of those and make up. That’s the way the game works I guess.</p>

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<p>I got in at Williams College, with a full ride, and I’m definitely going there.</p>

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<p>I did the IB.</p>

<p>You sound like you’re trying too hard. Chill out. You’ll have a good time wherever you go.</p>

<p>And yeah, it’s defs hard to gauge the US system from overseas. Although, I don’t quite agree that you have to live at a school to get the atmosphere. I met a couple of Wellesley people last weekend and I knew immediately what the school was like. SO MUCH PURLZ</p>

<p>@molectron congrats! The area’s a bit quiet, but williams is an amazing college:)</p>

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<p>I’m not. I just think a lot, which is not necessarily a good thing. I like it though.</p>

<p>Hmm. Maybe they also have actual women, with functioning brains and all, there - you just haven’t met them. I think just visiting for an hour or meeting a few people isn’t enough. If I could do it, I’d sit in 2-3 classes that I’d like to take if I were there, get to know the people there and also go to a few parties on different parts of campus and see how everyone is like and whether I’d like it there.</p>

<p>I haven’t been to MIT but I had a great time talking to my EC, discussing with an alumni on another forum who sounds a lot like me, and according to both of them, there’s enough of everyone for any person who was admitted to find his place. Based on that and the admissions blog, I think it’s my kind of place. It’s the kind of vibe I didn’t get from any Ivy League college, save for Brown.</p>

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<p>There are people everywhere that you will like. Hence my comment that you will be happy anywhere. By all means, if you feel like MIT is right for you (btw friends at Brown say it’s totally crazy, but the education is good), veni, vedi, vici. If, however, you don’t go, please don’t feel like you’re down and out. By all means, cast your net, prepare your essays, ace your interviews and live in sweet anticipation your last year of high school, but don’t overthink so much that the experience of applying ceases to be fun. You’ll be fine.</p>

<p>Seriously, my roommate hated it here the first semester, applied for a transfer, and now she doesn’t want to leave! This isn’t because she loves the ambience though, more because she found some value in the things the plae offers. The vibe of a school is like the climate of a country: it won’t kill you, but it will colour your experience.</p>

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<p>With admissions being so competitive and unpredictable, if I get into even one of the schools I apply to, I’d be happy. It’s not like I can attend five places at once, yeah? (haha)</p>

<p>One thing I’ve observed, and not just on College Confidential but with people I’ve talked to in real life or other forums, is that they are usually willing to hear/asking about your own college stuff (SATs, where you applied, etc) but tend to avoid their own. On here, outside of chance threads, one rarely sees fellow applicants sharing that kind of stuff. It’s understandable on some level but I didn’t realise circumstances (it’s just uni) could make people that competitive.</p>

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<p>Coming from someone who asked for a full ride, I second 082349. This was an awful year for international applicants needing a ton of aid. I would advice you to seek as much help in building an apposite application to give yourself an edge. Think of your application as a jigsaw puzzle. You require to fit in all the pieces to the puzzle to give yourself any hope of getting accepted. This means devils in the details. Don’t take anything for granted; even the seemingly unimportant short supplement question can go a long way towards helping you get accepted.</p>

<p>I have, however, found that most of the useful application tips and general advice I got came from cc so following these threads religiously and getting some people to citique your essays or look at your common app. will positively impact your chances.</p>