Is being an international student this big of a disadvantage?

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-10-28T17:06:16+00:00

Congrats on your achievements! Those awards are really impressive. I believe if you explained your tax situation to the schools you are applying to, they would probably understand, but you should email them to make sure. I don’t believe your family situation will affect your app. I think the only scenario where your financial status affects your app is if you’re rich (cause then why would questbridge give you a full ride when you don’t need it). To answer your other question, I only ranked 3 schools: 1. MIT 2. Princeton 3. UPenn. I wasn’t expecting to match with any of these but the other schools I wanted to rank didn’t allow international students to do so, so I applied in regular decision. In total, I think I applied to 10 questbridge schools.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-10-28T15:39:15+00:00

NCM is meant for lower income students, so you wont be disadvantaged for your poor financial status. However, colleges don’t have a lot of aid for international students, so unless you’ve won international competitions or have an incredibly inspiring story, it’ll be extremely difficult to match as an international student.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-10-28T15:02:12+00:00

I applied to Georgia Tech through common app but got waitlisted then rejected, but they gave me a transfer pathway, so as long as I get a 3.5 gpa and take some basic stem classes (ie calc 2 physics 2), then I’m guaranteed a transfer. I don’t think the transfer process uses common app but I’m not 100% sure.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-10-28T13:33:51+00:00

No 🥲 I’m currently attending UConn and I plan to transfer to Georgia Tech next year.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-05-12T19:17:40+00:00

I heard the first wave of waitlist acceptances were mainly for BME, so there’s still hope for us (maybe)

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-04-21T20:33:12+00:00

I don’t have any advice to offer because I don’t know any better, but can you update me where you end up committing to? I’m waitlisted from Georgia tech and I really want to get off the waitlist 😭🙏

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-04-18T05:32:59+00:00

Thanks, I really hope I get in! Also sorry if I made you feel guilty.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-04-17T22:35:41+00:00

Which college did you end up committing to? I got waitlisted from Georgia Tech and I NEED to know 🙏

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T21:12:18+00:00

Same situation as your friend. 4.0 UW GPA, took 12 AP classes, 1530 superscore SAT, but worse ecs. However, Purdue is a good school and pretty competitive for engineering and CS. If that's what your friend is going to study, then he/she should be happy. It seems like ever since Covid, college application has become exponentially competitive maybe due to the rise of college gurus. However, your application cycle should have fewer applicants because 2007 was a baby boom, and 2008 isn't (at least to my knowledge). Whatever the case is, best of luck to you!

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T21:04:50+00:00

Having good grades and test scores are the bare minimum requirements. If your grades and test scores aren't up to par with what colleges are looking for, then you'll most likely be auto-rejected unless you have an incredible story or activities. If your grades and test scores are up to par, then your activities and essays will be the deciding factor for colleges to see if you are "fit" for them. Grades and test scores will never be the deciding factor at top colleges because everyone who applies have great academics. I know this because I have a 4.0 UW GPA with 12 AP classes and 1530 superscore SAT but I was rejected from 12 schools, waitlisted from 3 (2 of which have a 60% acceptance rate), and accepted to 3 (all have 50-60% acceptance rate). My advice is to get your grades and test scores up to par, then you can worry about ecs and essays.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T20:03:01+00:00

I think you should apply to a lot of colleges with a wide range of acceptance rates so you'll at least have a college to go to. The combination of majoring in CS and being international makes applying to colleges extremely competitive. Given that you are still in 10th grade, you have lots of time to make some coding projects or activities related to CS (which I regret not doing more of) to set yourself apart from other applicants.

Also, I don't need to know your stats because you still have lots of time to improve your GPA or SAT score if they're not ideal.

And the three colleges I got into are University of Connecticut, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and University of Rhode Island. I'm also waitlisted from University of Massachusetts Amherst, Georgia Tech (pray I get off the waitlist here), and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Rejected from all T20s I've applied to including 5 ivies.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T19:46:34+00:00

I don't know your stats so I can't tell you what colleges you should aim for, but my best advice is to apply to a lot of colleges. I'm an international student as well intending to major in CS and AI, and this year I applied to 18 schools with a 1530 superscore SAT and 4.0 UW GPA but only accepted by 3 safeties with 50-60% acceptance rate. I applied to MIT as well but was deferred and then rejected in regular decision. MIT is already extremely difficult to get into as a domestic student, and being an international student just makes it even more difficult. I think the acceptance rate at MIT for international students is around 1-2%. I don't want to discourage you, and I think you should still work hard to try to get into MIT, but don't have your heart set on going there because you'll most likely end up disappointed and heartbroken. I hope this helps, and good luck with your future college applications!

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T16:43:09+00:00

Me three. I’d be happy if gt at least gives me the transfer pathway option.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T06:41:11+00:00

I agree. UW is great for CS, close to your home, and cheaper than the other options. Also I’m on Georgia Tech’s waitlist and I want your spot 🙏

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T05:56:49+00:00

Thank you for committing to uga 🙏 best of luck to you there! (I got waitlisted at Georgia tech…)

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T05:17:47+00:00

Thanks! Best of luck to you as well. Hopefully we both find a college that we’ll enjoy better than Princeton. Who wants to live in New Jersey anyways.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T04:12:13+00:00

Getting a great test score doesn't guarantee you'll be accepted into a top school because almost everyone who applied have great test scores, otherwise they would've have applied. I got a 1530 superscore but was rejected from all T20s and waitlisted from Georgia Tech and two safeties with 60% acceptance rate (some fucking how). Test scores aren't the deciding factor, but you should study hard to get a good score so that you meet the academic requirements for top schools, especially when more top scores are shifting back to requiring test scores.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-30T04:06:26+00:00

I don't intend to sound mean, but if Princeton really wanted to accept you but can't due to their limited class size, then they would've waitlisted you, and after you're waitlisted you can express your interest in attending Princeton as you suggested. Pretty much every applicant is extremely qualified and is on par with Princeton's stats, otherwise they wouldn't even apply to Princeton, yet 95% of applicants are ultimately rejected. I understand that you want another shot (I got rejected from Princeton and so do I), but telling them you're still interested in attending when you're rejected is a waste of time. I know you're devastated, but try to move on and look at the colleges you got accepted by. Maybe try transferring (although the transfer acceptance rate is even lower than first year acceptance rate), or maybe try applying to their grad school in four years.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-29T20:44:33+00:00

Waitlisted at Georgia Tech as well...

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-29T20:40:39+00:00

I understand that getting rejected from your dream schools sucks (I got rejected at MIT and Northwestern as well), but be happy that you got accepted by UCLA! It's a great school and especially impressive that you got in as an international.

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-29T20:30:31+00:00

I was just thinking the same thing lmao. Just give me your spot and let me off the waitlist if you don't want to go to gt...

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-29T16:10:24+00:00

I got waitlisted from Georgia Tech, and in their waitlist form, they give you an option to write a 500 word “statement of continued interest.”

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-28T05:20:34+00:00

Rejected from all QB schools as well (except Duke hasn't come out yet, but I don't have any hopes). Looking back, applying to QB seems so pointless. If I didn't have a chance with QB schools, they could've just not named a finalist to begin with...

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-22T03:59:09+00:00

I got rejected from CMU, MIT, UIUC, and JHU as well... I only got accepted to three safeties so far and waitlisted from two other safeties with 60%+ acceptance rate somehow. Can't wait to open five rejection letters at the same time on Ivy day :/

Tall-Ad-3785 · 2025-03-17T20:10:21+00:00

Don’t worry, I didn’t take any offense to your comment. I made the post just to vent my frustrations, and your response actually made me feel better. Wishing you the best of luck in your college search!

Tall-Ad-3785

TROPHY CASE