Will this increase or decrease my chances?

<p>Do you guys know the chances of an International student who has lived in the US half her life and who is NOT applying for financial aid at schools such as Columbia, Brown, Duke, Northwestern and Tufts?
Like would i have it harder just because Im international or easier because Im not applying for aid?
(SAT: 2350, GPA: 3.875 UW, 4.125 W, good not great EC's, pretty good essays and really good recs, I believe)</p>

<p>You get an automatic boost from being able to pay. It’s only super competitive when you’re an international AND can’t pay full tuition.</p>

<p>not true.
most internationals do not apply for aid
if you do apply for aid, your chances will drop significantly
if you don’t apply for aid, your chances are still slim</p>

<p>more slim than non internationals?</p>

<p>DEFINTELY yes</p>

<p>eeeek :
I did not know that… thats definitely discouraging…
Im hoping that a few of my ECs are interesting and different and will give me an advantage…</p>

<p>Rumjhum: the fact is many selective US colleges have many, many qualified internationals applying. Invariably, there’s an unstated quota for allotted spots. For instance, let’s say top school X has a class of 1400 freshmen. They might aim towards only having 5% of them being internationals or 70 slots. But if there are 4000 applicants who are international – well, you get the picture.</p>

<p>Then, if it’s one of those schools who give generous financial aid to internationals (like Yale), you can imagine the competition for those slots…</p>

<p>However, if you search – there are many many US colleges that would welcome you – great stats and not needing FA. In those, the competition is much lower but the students still get great educations.</p>

<p>yes, I can imagine, I was rejected from Yale EA…</p>

<p>As an international, your chances are significantly worse, even w/o aid. Your GPA is a bit low, but your excellent test scores should put you into some good school. Which country are you applying from as an international? It matters sometimes.</p>

<p>Im an Indian citizen, which makes things even worse…</p>

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<p>3.875 low? 0.o Is anyone else reminded of that commercial where the Indian parents visit their child and she says, “I have a 3.75 from Wharton!” and her father says, “My child has learning disability!”?</p>

<p>hahaha its cc, ofcourse 3.875 is low (:
although im getting all A’s this semester, so Im thinking it will go up to maybe a 3.9 or maybe even more?
I dunno, im too lazy to calculate!</p>