<p>I'm an international student and try to be awarded with financial aid..
I am planing to apply to the university on early decision or early action...
My SAT score is: critical reading 650, math 760, writing 690.
I have a pretty good EC:
GPA 4.0
Rank 1st of 830 at my school
3rd place at national studying olympiad
winner of many contests, such as olympiad in bussiness, mathematical competition, etc.
honor diplomas for researches
graduated from musical school with honor diploma(play the piano)
graduated from the studio of national dances(dance pretty well)
volunteer job approximately 150 hours
have a really good recommendations from teachers and a counselor...
think will write down an impressive essay as a motivation(I'm always at top 30 students in my country, who are excellent in writing essays)
family income 5000$ per year
have old parents, both of them are pensioners
Please, estimate my chances, or advise me where to apply on an early decision to be awarded with full-ride financial aid.
Thank you in advance...</p>
<p>Kurt PLEASE don’t think I’m being a pessimist…but…you have two obstacles to consider. ONE…is whether the school meets full need fo ALL international students and TWO…whether the school is need blind for admissions (meaning your financial status is NOT considered when you apply for admission).</p>
<p>There are only a small…very small (less than ten, I believe) schools that are BOTH need blind for admissions AND guarantee to meet full need for ALL accepted students. These schools are amongst the MOST competitive for admissions in the U.S. accepting a VERY small %age of students overall (some less than 10%). Some speculate that the admissions of international students is an even smaller %age. Your stats are ok…but not superior, and you accomplishments are very similar to many other international students who will be applying…and with whom you will be competing for admissions.</p>
<p>There are many schools in the U.S. that don’t provide ANY financial aid to international students, many others that provide limited aid…and a some that provide the same aid to internationals as to others (but some of these do NOT meet full need…which apparently you need to have to study here).</p>
<p>I hope Happymomof1 sees your thread. She can direct you to the resources to gain information regarding applying to U.S. colleges and attending.</p>
<p>In the meantime, your query is really a wide open one. There are 3000 colleges in the U.S. and so far all you’ve told the folks here is that you need full funding. What do you want to study, do you have a geographic preference, climate preference, college size preference, etc?</p>
<p>I personally will not advise you to apply early decision as it seems to me you will need to look for the BEST bottom line cost to your family. If you apply ED, you will not be able to compare offers. If that offer is a full freebie, you would be fine…but if not, you would have no way of knowing if that ED financial aid offer was the best…or the worst to consider.</p>
<p>Thanks for your answer thumpers…
If I do not bother you, I have a question:
If I’m admitted by the university on early decision, can I deny it and send my application on regular decision to other universities?</p>
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<p>If you are accepted ED you are SUPPOSED to matriculate at that university if accepted. However, most schools will allow you to not accept the admission offer if the money doesn’t work out. You have to turn down the ED offer WELL before you will have any other financial aid offers to consider.</p>
<p>BUT I have to ask…WHY would you put yourself in that situation? Apply regular decision to all of your schools. You will have all of your acceptances AND financial aid offers to COMPARE when you make the decision whether or not to matriculate.</p>
<p>Many people told me that if I apply to the college on ED, I will have more chances to get in. Is not that right? Also, they said to me that if I am rejected on ED, I am still able to send my application to universities on RD… Besides this, if I am accepted on ED with financial aid I would like to be given, I can agree and matriculate at that university…
You see my big problem is money; although I’m more than motivated to study in the university, my family income does not give me an opportunity to pay for my tution. This is why I’m frequently feel myself bad and try somehow to find the college which will make my dream come true, I mean to be given a good knowledge in a good school.
Thank for your help… If you are able to advise me something, please, do that… You are very hekpful… thank you again thumper1…</p>
<p>Your “edge” applying early decision as an international student is NOT very significant. To be honest, if you have the “credentials” to be accepted ED, you would have them to be accepted RD. BUT what I am trying to say (nicely)…acceptances into these tippy top schools that are need blind for admissions AND meet full need for all accepted students is not a guarantee for you regardless of when you apply. It’s not a guarantee for ANY student who applies. Every one of these schools DENIES acceptance to a very significant number of VERY well qualified applicants in both the ED and RD rounds.</p>
<p>Please read this again. If you apply ED…and say you get accepted…you will have that ONE FINANCIAL AID OFFER to look at…and you will need to very quickly make a decision about whether you are able to accept this offer. Here is the rub…you might THINK it’s a poor offer…but really it could be the very BEST one you will receive. You will NOT have any other financial aid offers for comparison purposes.</p>
<p>You need significant financial aid to attend a college in the U.S. Wouldn’t you want to be able to compare multiple offers and take the very best one for your family? That seems to be the wisest way for someone who needs very significant aid to proceed, in my opinion.</p>
<p>And to be very honest, your stats are good but they are not perfect. There are many who will be applying who will have SAT scores that are equal to or better than yours…and the international students (with whom you will be competing for admission) will likely have great stats too. </p>
<p>I think you need to look at a much broader picture than the one you are looking at. You need to explore options such as guaranteed merit aid (some schools do provide this…even to international students…but NO these are not the Ivy League schools). That way you might very well secure the funding you need for your schooling.</p>
<p>Also, please do explore options in your own country as they may be the least expensive options available to you.</p>
<p>You may not like this bit either: we are in a horrific economic mess – and it doesn’t look like things will get better any time soon. Universities across the country are suffering huge budget cuts. There just isn’t the money for international students that there used to be. We don’t have the money for our own students. Why should there be money for you? (even if you are terrific kid). </p>
<p>By all means, do try. Macalester College has always had a strong group of internationals. Also look at Dartmouth and Yale. Oddly enough, the state of North Dakota has done well economically and a North Dakota college might have a spot for you (but it is really, really cold in the winter there!). </p>
<p>So, do your best – but also be smart and come up with a backup plan. Can your government pay for your college? What are your other options? Having several ideas going should help make a workable path evolve. </p>
<p>Please know that these hard times mean that many excellent students (including thousands and thousands of American kids) are wanting to go to college and are working instead – or taking on line courses – or combining local instruction with work to find a path forward. Good luck!</p>
<p>Do the North Dakota schools give aid to int’ls???</p>
<p>This student needs to test again.</p>
<p>His stats are good, but not high enough to be really competitive in an extremely competitive field of int’l applicants who need lots of aid.</p>
<p>And, again, many schools do not include int’l travel costs, so if the family only earns $5k per year, how would they pay for int’l travel for their child?</p>
<p>Also, most schools require a “student summer contribution” …even from int’l students…would you be able to earn about $2k over the summer in your country? </p>
<p>It is almost impossible for an int’l student to study in the US without some family contribution.</p>
<p>U North Dakota does offer a tuition waiver to international students, however, there is a catch. It is only available after the first 2 years. A student has to pay full costs for their first two years before being eligible to apply.</p>
<p>The school does offer some kind of loan to students from India that allows them to have a co-signer in their own country rather than a US citizen.</p>
<p>It sounds like this student wouldn’t have the funds (or qualified co-signer) to cover a relatively low-cost COA…instate or non-resident. </p>
<p>It sounds like his family can contribute little or nothing…their earnings are only $5k per year.</p>
<p>Do we know what country the OP is from?</p>
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<p>These were posted by the OP on another thread…if these are the SAT scores, they are not competitive for the schools that offer full need based awards to international students…and might not be competitive for merit awards either.</p>
<p>OP…which scores are accurate??? The ones on THIS thread or the ones you posted…in these quotes. It sounds like you are HOPING to get the higher scores on a later testing date (maybe December). That being the case…do NOT apply ED…or EA. Your SAT scores as they stand now will not help you.</p>