<p>I'm an international and I would like to study in the US. I would need financial aid, because my parents will not be able to afford much more than 10.000$. So I'm looking into need-blind colleges who meet 100%of demonstrated financial need, even for internationals. I will be applying to MIT, Harvard and Princeton but I can't seem to choose between dartmouth and yale. My SAT score will probably be somewhere around a 21/2200. My GPA is rather high in my country, but it might not seem like this to Americans.
Would I have a better chance of getting in Yale or Dartmouth, or do you think I should just apply to both? I would love to study at Columbia, but they are need-sensitive for internationals so I thought my chances of being accepted were virtually non-existent. However they still seem to award a lot of financial aid to internationals, if anyone has experience with this I would also appreciate advice. </p>
<p>I have read that Dartmouth has more of a "drinking culture" than other colleges, but was do people mean when they say this? I live in Holland and everybody in college drinks here, so I'm not sure what to think of this drinking culture at Dartmouth. (Legal drinking age was raised from 16 to 18 last year where I live) </p>
<p>I think living in the Netherlands could be a 'hook' because it is probably an underrepresented region. Education here is very loose and basically nobody is competitive. (The education system is famous, well infamous, for its 'sixes-culture'. Everybody here strives to get a 6/10 as that is the lowest passing grade)</p>
<p>Lastly, I would like to say that studying in the US is just sort of a dream and not an expectation or necessity. We have some very good colleges in Holland as well and admissions is guaranteed for most majors. (The educational system here is entirely different).</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>tl;dr</p>
<p>Should I apply to Yale or Dartmouth or possibly Columbia, or all three, considering I am an international needing FA?</p>
<p>EDIT:
I am interested in either an engineering major or an economics/business major, perhaps a double major if I can attain to that level. For Columbia I would apply to SEAS, if I applied.</p>
<p>Come back when you get your SAT score. I think that getting a 2200+ would change the game a bit with what colleges to apply to. I don’t think being an international with financial need is particularly good for your chances either. I think that you may want to consider going to a college that you’d either qualify for a lot of merit aid or that you could go to in the Netherlands and than trying to pursue a higher level degree in the US. It also depends what you want to study. I’m assuming since you’re applying to MIT, you’re looking for some kind of engineering? I’d say that you’d probably be better off applying to Columbia/Cornell than applying to Yale or Dartmouth, if you want to do engineering. Just my opinion though.</p>
<p>For a lot of reasons, the ivy league is going to be very hard to get into. I would spend very little time thinking about schools of that caliber and a lot of time considering a) other schools that give aid to internationals, b) writing excellent essays, and c) scoring closer to 2300 on your SAT. Accomplish these things and you have a chance at an american school. Here are three websites that list schools that offer international students any financial aid at all:</p>
<p>Realize that going to school in the US as an international needing a great deal of aid is a pipe dream. You need to have a Plan B that you can fall back on if you don’t get into a US school (the ivies are next to impossible for you).</p>
<p>@micmatt513I took the November SAT, so I have until sunday to send my score to 4 universities for free, that’s one of the reasons I’m asking this . I looked into Cornell but it doesn’t guarantee to meet full financial need of internationals. If I stay here, I would have to choose my major before applying to university, and I would choose either some Engineering major or econometrics.
Thank you for replying so fast </p>
<p>@jkeil911 You are absolutely correct, it is indeed a dream and I do have a very good plan B, both of which I listed in my first post. I am spending quite some time on my essays as well and I think they’ll be pretty good. I took the November SAT and I will not take it again. I am taking the SAT 2’s in december. When you say the ivies are next to impossible for me, do you mean they are extremely difficult to get in for anyone, including me, or that I have some disadvantage compared to other international applicants?</p>
<p>I have already spent hours and hours searching colleges and I only want to make a decision between the three I mentioned; Yale, Dartmouth and Columbia. </p>
<p>I would go for Columbia, Dartmouth, and then Yale. I think Yale is honestly pretty overrated for STEM majors (which is what you’re looking for), but I’m pretty biased against it haha.</p>
<p>Columbia is a great school, although not quite as amazing for engineering. It makes up for that by being in New York City, and I would put it above Dartmouth in terms of schools that I’d go to. Honestly, it depends what you want. If you want a suburban school, Yale is better for you. If you want an urban school, definitely go for Columbia. If you want a rural school with a heavier party atmosphere that’s isolated, I’d say go for Dartmouth (the winters shouldn’t scare you too much; you are from the Netherlands lol).</p>
<p>None of the schools are bad, and you can’t go wrong with any of them. I’d personally recommend Columbia, but it’s pretty individual.</p>
<p>you have a disadvantage that many applicants from your country do not have: in addition to desiring admission, you want the schools to invest 210K in you when you get here. In return, you’ll have to give them something unique. Extraordinary scores would help, but even more important is an EC that no one else has and that shows some kind of leadership. </p>
<p>There are other schools in the US you could get into and maybe get some money from, and they could give you just as good an education as one of these ivies. I think you should be investing your time looking for them.</p>
<p>@micmatt513 It’s so hard to make a decision, I’ll ask my parents if they would be willing to pay the application fee for all three universities though, that would make it a whole lot easier. I think I will put Dartmouth and Columbia over Yale if I have to choose. (Dartmouths heavier party atmosphere will remind me of Holland as well haha heavy drinking is probably the one thing almost all students here have in common) I see you’re also applying to college this year, good luck!</p>
<p>@jkeil911 These schools are need-blind, even for internationals, so the fact that I’m asking them to invest in them doesn’t play a factor, right? And where did you get the info that many applicants from my country don’t need aid? I have been searching a lot trying to find some data about Dutch students studying in America and I can’t seem to find anything. Taxes here are pretty high(income tax is more than 50% for high incomes), and the cost of living is also quite high. Could you suggest to me any of the colleges I “could get into and maybe get some money from”?</p>
<p>you are correct about those schools being need blind/meet 100% need, OP. I was sleeping when I wrote that response. I can’t help you with the information about Dutch citizens studying in America, but I wonder if the Netherlands’ equivalent of our “State Department” might have some statistics. </p>
<p>If your goal is to study in the US at a school that would provide you with all but $10K of the cost of attendance, your options are slim. You were smart to choose those five schools, and you might add Amherst. Apply to all six. What do you have to lose? Frankly, however, your information about your GPA and SAT score suggests that they will be too low for these schools. Since you do not mention an extracurricular “hook,” I can only assume that there isn’t one–and these schools will want one. For discussion of an “ivy” hook, see northstarmom’s post on this page:</p>
<p>However, there are a few schools on those webpages I gave you in #2 who don’t promise to meet 100% need to internationals but will offer aid to internationals with a 2100-2200. The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa offers a full tuition scholarship to students with a 1400 CR+M and a 3.5 GPA and they’re good in engineering. Engineering awardees receive an additional $2500 each year. If you would go to schools other than the very best, you can research whether the schools that offer a lot of merit also offer it to international students. See the threads here for more info on large scholarship schools:</p>
<p>There are about 2000 Dutch citizens studying in the US, but this includes students studying abroad for a semester, graduate students, students getting a PhD and students at community colleges. So I don’t think there are many Dutch people applying to ivies.</p>
<p>I would like to study in the US; but there are also very good universities in Holland where I’m guaranteed admission, so I only want to go to the US if the level of the education is equal to or higher than the universities here. I realize this makes my chances really slim but like you said, what do I have to lose. I will apply to these six schools.</p>
<p>High schools here do not offer EC’s like in America, and we do not have varsity teams. I have been playing tennis for ~7 years at a club and I have been team captain for the last few years. I have won the clubs youth championships for the last two years. I have also competed in a two technical competitions the first two years of high school and reached the national finals of one. I volunteered at the police here for one week and I’ve worked at a local restaurant for about six months. My family has also raised two guide dogs, in which I was very involved.
I think these EC’s are not as good as the ones in your post, but considering my situation I think they’re not too bad.</p>
<p>Also, if I attend a US university I want to start a team for the World Solar Challenge, a contest for Solar powered cars, and I plan on writing about this in the additional info section of the MIT app. I think this might set me apart from the rest?</p>
<p>Anyway, thank you very much, I will just apply and hope for the best! I can always try again for graduate school.</p>
. I looked into Cornell but it doesn’t guarantee to meet full financial need of internationals. If I stay here, I would have to choose my major before applying to university, and I would choose either some Engineering major or econometrics.
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