26' International Need help to both narrow and add

[limber crest]

what's your actual budget

[limber crest]

ok, if you can pay 30ish you def have options. Lots of lac that meet full demo need

Look at like Union

great STEM at a traditional LAC

really great environment

but yeah, if you bring 30k, need aware schools are generally way more happy to make up the difference

Lafayette College too

What were her issues?

[still gyro]

She said its not academically strong enough and the student body isnt very focused, its more a way for academically weaker students to get a degree according to her

[limber crest]

odd thing to say

you also can't apply only to reaches

what has she suggsted for you?

looking at what you have I would get rid of BU, UNC, W&L, USC, GW

[still gyro]

My school has gotten a bunch of full rides/full tution/high amount scholarships to emory, richmond, BU, vanderbilt and USC recently so shes keen on those

[limber crest]

BU and USC are not places I would ever suggest a student looking for aid

[still gyro]

Oh okay

[limber crest]

i'm really curious what "not academically strong enough means"

like it isn't CalTech, but it is a great shcool

[still gyro]

Not sure exactly, but id assume that the average stats of the students are considerably lower than other schools im looking at. I also removed mccalester, kenyon, fordham also because she told me to for the same reasons

[limber crest]

you need targets and likelies

i would probably drop those if you want to do physics, none of them really jump out at me for that

the stats of admitted students don't really say much about the stduents

like with that attitude you're gonna shut yourself off on a lot of great schools

[sturdy ibex]

if politics is a big deal for you cut vanderbilt

tennessee is a “very red state”

[still gyro]

I def need some more targets, the ones i have now are like GW and Richmond mainly maybe BU. As for safetys id like 1-2 in the US for sure, but im also applying to 2 in the netherlands which i like and are much lower cost than in US so thats also an option

[limber crest]

BU isn't a target

[limber crest]

ah, good to know about NL

[still gyro]

Oh shit i didnt know that, need to cut that then. Thank you

[sturdy ibex]

and debatably notre dame because it’s indiana but also close to chicago

[still gyro]

Making this change on my list, thanks

[still gyro]

Oh okay

[limber crest]

Oh, def add Swarthmore

great STEM, definitely rigorous

just outside of philly

Williams too, but that is gonna be more rural than you probably want

[still gyro]

Oh yeah great school great place, adding to the list. Thank you

[still gyro]

Yeah thats an issue with a lot of schools i like including middlebury, williams, grinnel even dartmouth

[limber crest]

Pomona could be a good option too

What is your owrry about smaller towns?

[still gyro]

Love the school and place and the consortium with harvey mudd and cmc is also great, but need aware and very selective reduces my chances a lot. Its on my list though may ED 2 there

[limber crest]

like I said, most wealthy need aware schools will be fine if you're bringing 30k

[still gyro]

I dont mind them, if its 2-3 hours from a big city thats great too

[limber crest]

like your whole list is very selective and need aware

[limber crest]

so then Dartmouth works, Weslyan works, Williams works, Amherst works\

[real storm]

cmc's aid in my experience was kind of mediocre. pomona generally appears to be more generous

tufts could also work

[still gyro]

I tried to keep it as need blind and merit based as i could, but a few of my favourite need aware schools are on there

[still gyro]

Williams is too rural for me even though its not too far from the city. Amherst yeah fs, will look at dartmouth and weslyan again

[still gyro]

Oh will look at it, thank you

[limber crest]

always happy to answer Dartmouth questions

[real storm]

Also I know that columbia has a dual program with science po

Oh wait

nvm ur not french

i got you confused

[still gyro]

Oh 1 question i had was were you able to get away from campus often and was there stuff to do around? Cause as someone coming from a city with around 20 million people moving to place with less than 50k people will be tough for me

[limber crest]

Getting to Boston and NYC is easy (esp Boston), but I never really felt the need to get away

I was busy, and the term is short

I would be in Boston periodically for club soccer, but that was really jus to play

[still gyro]

Thats great to know, thank you so much for everything. Ill sit with my parents and school counselor and rediscuss my list soon. This was extremely helpful

[limber crest]

If you're open to 2-3 hours from a city you have a LOT of options

and if you can bring $30k, need aware won't hurt much

[still gyro]

Yeah, gotta check the public transport systems also in the places im looking

[limber crest]

most will have a bus option I would guess

[still gyro]

Yeah should be

[azure spindle]

BRO THATS BECAUSE OF US CITIZENS AND ATHLETES

i assure you that you arent probably getting into most of those "not academically strong enough" schools

[azure spindle]

bro, i think you are underestimating these schools because of the stats you are seeing online, alot of these are highly diluted by athletes and us citizen, you are intl, asking for aid at need aware schools. 😭

youd need to be harvard level to get amherst and williams as an intl

with aid

[azure spindle]

tufts rarely gives intl aid, and you are european, he is asian

[real storm]

i dont think being european helps much in terms of money. i am a dual citizen tho which makes me domestic so my experience is not representative. but i also have 2 international friends from my country that got an efc of 7k with good stats no crazy achievements

maybe it was luck? idk

[azure spindle]

being european in any form is a far better demographic than being asian

so the difficulty levels between the both of you is very vast

[azure spindle]

this is mainly because a lot of europeans would rather opt for attending college for free in their home country than apply to the us, compared to asians who have a vast pool applying

[real storm]

ohhh

true uni is tuition free where im at. but strictly in financial aid terms i dont see how it could count. in admissions i can see ur point

[azure spindle]

im not disqualifying your achievements, im sure you and your friends and great but i dont want the other guy to get delusion and shit

[real storm]

yeah the next cycle is gonna be weird especially with whats happening

[azure spindle]

yeah fin aid doesnt really count, also asia has a fair amount of full pay people compared to europe

and most europeans would be applying with close to full aid anyways so there isnt much of a competition disparity between fullpay and full aid that asians usually have

[azure spindle]

bro fr, i hope more people dont wanna come to US so i can make it out

[real storm]

your european?

[azure spindle]

i wish

im african

and im from the most competitive african country 😭

i just got cursed atp

[real storm]

most of us are in the 0-20k range with a few rich outliers that are full pay so its like that

[real storm]

rip. at least tho ur not from one of the visa ban ones hopefully

you can try your best and if that doesnt work out look into EU unis. we tend to look down on our unis sometime but they are good in their own way

some even are tuition free and u can get a scholarship for living expenses

[azure spindle]

yeah im not

but we almost got visa banned but they gave us conditions

and my country is too cowardly to go against them so thats good for me ig

[azure spindle]

bro im not looking down on anything, id go anywhere that gives me a full ride

EU unis are also very goated

[real storm]

when i see we i mean our own people, but then again im not the best example. cause greek unis are kind of run down to say the least.. but I know that for weird financial situations, unis in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, and maybe austria can be good choices

Denmark has a work study program where if u do part time work as a student, u get paid by the work, and u also get an additional stipend from the government

[azure spindle]

oh damn

[still gyro]

I mean i wouldnt want to go to academically weak anyway i dont mind schools with lower stats like GW or richmond or something, but the educational atmosphere matters to me which is why im trynna get in contact with a student from all of the schools im applying to. Ill only apply places where i actually want to end up going, i dont see the point otherwise even if i get a full ride. Worst case, i dont get in and i'll choose one of my options in another country

[azure spindle]

apply to cooper union

most rigorous school in the US in terms of academics

[real storm]

if u plan on applying to cornell and have any questions lmk. ill try to help out

[still gyro]

I wish, i love everything i know about the school, but its not need blind which would significantly reduce my chances so i dont think ill be applying there unfortunately 😭

Thanks so much though

One of my cloest friends will probably be applying there, double legacy and good stats she should get it imo

[still gyro]

Reading about it, thanks

[real storm]

i can only wish good luck

[real storm]

if you end up going to the RD round it wouldnt hurt to drop an applicatiojn

[still gyro]

My school has an application limit

[real storm]

oh

[azure spindle]

try to get eveyrthing ed

i posted stats on reddit and someone said im getting ivy lmao

[real storm]

i dont like the chanceme posts

[still gyro]

but if i have a spot after need blind and merit ones ill try in regular

[real storm]

because its a crapshoot with any school in the 20% acceptance rate and below

just focus on fit

the person that read my application and vouched in committee invited me to a call after i got admitted

and told me about how the essays really helped

[still gyro]

yeah same, I think best way is to know just talk to the AO about your profile and chances

[azure spindle]

ngl its a crapshoot with any lac asking for aid, acceptance rates dont reflect anything for an aid seeker

20% can easily be the same as 60% when askinig for aid

[still gyro]

Thats for the need aware ones, but need blind helps with that a lot

[real storm]

my best friend had no national awards, had a 38/42 average IB grade, full aid, international, but had passion and excellent fit and got into dartmouth. meanwhile my full pay friend with better stats, activities, and also fit did not get into columbia ED

[azure spindle]

need blind is kinda fake

[real storm]

moral of the story is

shoot your shot

[azure spindle]

they do give good aid but they know who is fullpay and can admit more of them

[real storm]

dont let anyone tell you otherwise

[azure spindle]

dartmouth ED is far more beneficial than columbia

if both applied penn ed, itd be a different story'

but then again, you can predict admission

its get more unpredictable the more aid you need and being intl too

[still gyro]

There are so many good ED options thats another challenge to decide 😭

[real storm]

honestly man follow your gut. I did ED and got deferred. my counsellor advised me to do ED 2

but i said i dont want to commit

i want choices

[azure spindle]

bro

as an intl asking for aid, ED/EA is basically your only shot out

RD is 1000% pure luck

[still gyro]

Thats great, sticking your ground is always good

[real storm]

and I ended up doing 20 RDs, got 7 acceptances out of those. again i know my situation isnt as bad, but i would never settle for something that would make me misrable unless it was a life/death situation

and you sound like you have some options

[azure spindle]

what US school would make you miserable tho 😭

with a fullride

[real storm]

also given that employment in the us after studies is even more murky now, some of the "benefits" that you might have thought of might not exist

[still gyro]

Cant say that in general, depends on a lot of stuff including stats, ecs, essays, relationship with ao, how much aid and all

[azure spindle]

i can say that 100%, RD is pure luck

[still gyro]

yeah for sure, thats why im not applying to schools i wont be happy in, even if theres a good chance at high scholarships or aid

[azure spindle]

unless you are from a big feeder like UWC that Lacs love

[real storm]

idk its hard to say

but ill use cornell as an example again

if you applied lets say to the hotel school

cuz it has a "higher admit rate" and u ended up getting in

but dont like hotel administration at all

and u ended up going

u would prob be misrable

[azure spindle]

just switch majors?

[still gyro]

I know id be unhappy in any massive uni, or schools in heavily conservative places

[real storm]

not that easy lol

its a selective proccess

unlike LACs u apply to switch majors

[azure spindle]

if you apply toa less competitive major in the same school you want to switch to liek lets say applyign to environmental engineirna dn you want to do electrical

its very easy to switch

but switching across departments is hard yes

[real storm]

idk in other schools but in cornell there are GPA reqs, essays, etc

[still gyro]

yeah also shouldnt go to an LAC if youre sure you wanna do like engineering, or shouldnt go to schools that dont offer double major if thats what you wanna do

[azure spindle]

only if you want to switch between schools like switching form school of arts and science to school of engineering

[real storm]

yeah

[azure spindle]

you obviously can

alot of lacs have double majros with top schools

and you can always get an MA

[real storm]

u want to do polisci and physics right?

[azure spindle]

and also fair amount of lacs have abet accredited engineering

[still gyro]

Yeah

[azure spindle]

most common major combination ever

[real storm]

its a crazy crapshoot but I would apply to MIT. Their political science program is surprisingly strong and its a great opportunity to distinguish yourself from the avg 100% stem applicant

[azure spindle]

science major + public policy or polisci

[real storm]

• need blind

[azure spindle]

i see that so many times

[azure spindle]

if he doesnt have oly, he shouldnt bother

[still gyro]

Oh i hadn't considered it cause its more known as an engineering school, but ill definately discuss the possibility, thank you

[still gyro]

I mean ill study what im interested in, doesnt concern me if others are also interested in a similar type thing

[azure spindle]

lacs are very easy to swithc, imo apply for something less competitive because youll get accepted as undeclared anyways

if you are doing lacs

[real storm]

i would be cautious about the whole "awards are required" thing. another example last year from my school is a kid that got into princeton for STEM. no olympiads, all other schools rejected him (even way lower ranked ones), but his passion was the lab. when everyone would go home, he would be in the lab.

he did a lot of community involvement

[azure spindle]

yeah tahts princeont but MIT intl has to have oly

like im being deadass

basically a prerequisite atp

[still gyro]

I am, but my essays and ECs tell a story connected to these 2 fields, if i apply with something else it'll be really out of place

[azure spindle]

same thing i thought too, imo, send your app to some people and ask them aside for physics, what major your profile fits into

thats what i did, and i wasnt expeciting the answer at all but i eventually realized it was true

[real storm]

also im just gonna drop this in case its of interest. I applied to colby as one of my RD schools, which is need aware for all, and I ended up getting waitlisted. WHen i got off the waitlist, they gave me the best aid. Colby wanted me to pay 2k per year, whereas now im paying around 12k. So if u want generous aid thats a good school.

[azure spindle]

then again, phy and public policy is somewhat unique

[azure spindle]

yeah colby is goat of aid

basically all intls there are on full ride mostly

[real storm]

but ive heard there is a bit of a toxic culture

regarding keeping up with the lifestyle of the new england kids

and difficulty making friends

outside the low income circles

[still gyro]

Oh will check it out, thank you

[azure spindle]

what do you expect, colby liek to admit the very studious, cracked type, like a mini version of MIT

in terms of intl applicants

also has alot of rich asian kids too cuz its a lac and asian american doing humanities and apply to college are usually rich

so there's a big disparity between rich kids and low income with 0 middle ground

[still gyro]

Oh also i gotta pick one out of the big 3 to apply (Harvard Yale Princeton). I love them all, any idea how to pick one of them?

[limber crest]

Research them

Not sure why you're limiting to those though

[still gyro]

Im allowed a max of 15 colleges, (all 5 uk count as 1). So I have UK +2 in netherlands +1 in India +1 in Canada leaving me with only 10 permitted applications to the US

[limber crest]

None of those merit aid schools give a ton of merit in my experience

They're also super expensive

So even if you get $40k you'll still need $50k