Official Foreign Applicants Thread 2011-2012 Forum

[junaman]

Hi and thank you!

I won't be waiting a year: will either drop out at UMelb soon and go to Columbia or stick with the degree at Melb.

NYU told me I wasn't eligible to apply because my Australian Ugrad (3 years) wasn't equivalent to an American (4 years). Has anyone else heard this?

[fingerscrossedxx]

Hi and thank you!

I won't be waiting a year: will either drop out at UMelb soon and go to Columbia or stick with the degree at Melb.

NYU told me I wasn't eligible to apply because my Australian Ugrad (3 years) wasn't equivalent to an American (4 years). Has anyone else heard this?

Thats interesting because I applied to NYU with a 3 year undergrad from Canada and wasn't told anything about this. That being said, I havent heard back from them since I submitted in October soooo...

[JosephusMyer]

Hi and thank you!

I won't be waiting a year: will either drop out at UMelb soon and go to Columbia or stick with the degree at Melb.

NYU told me I wasn't eligible to apply because my Australian Ugrad (3 years) wasn't equivalent to an American (4 years). Has anyone else heard this?

Thats interesting because I applied to NYU with a 3 year undergrad from Canada and wasn't told anything about this. That being said, I havent heard back from them since I submitted in October soooo...

AACRAO, which does the transcript conversions for LSAC, considers a 3 year UK/Commonwealth-style degree plus A-Levels (or equivalent) to be equivalent to a US bachelor's degree. I understand that USCIS, for the purposes of deciding bachelor's equivalency for certain visas, uses the same test (which excludes certain 3 year Indian degrees which apparently do not require A-Levels as a prerequisite for entry). NYU is obviously free to choose stricter standards.

Anecdotally, however, one of the staff at a non-profit where I did an internship this summer did an LLM at NYU after a 3-year undergraduate law degree at Oxford. So it seems that for at least some purposes, they will accept Commonwealth 3-year degrees.

My advice, however, would be that if a place says they impose some illogical restriction, believe them and save yourself the application fee...

[junaman]

So, what's the deal with aid at Columbia? Do they give out any money at all. How do we apply for it?
Are we allowed to send the financial questionnaire by email, because I don't think that it'll get there by March 1 if I mail it?
Can we ask them directly about scholarships? Who would I write to?

[curiouscat]

So, what's the deal with aid at Columbia? Do they give out any money at all. How do we apply for it?
Are we allowed to send the financial questionnaire by email, because I don't think that it'll get there by March 1 if I mail it?
Can we ask them directly about scholarships? Who would I write to?

You can send the questionnaire by email (or fax it) if you need to. Scholarship decisions (other than Hamiltons/Butlers) come out a little later, I think.

[AntipodeanPhil]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

[junaman]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats!!

[bk641]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

wow!!!!! congrats phil!

[Nulli Secundus]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats! Merp, y'all are making me regret my decision of not applying to Yale. (Not meant to insinuate that I am at same or close caliber with any of you as applicants, but simply pointing out the fact that we hear about internationals in Yale this cycle)

[AntipodeanPhil]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats! Merp, y'all are making me regret my decision of not applying to Yale. (Not meant to insinuate that I am at same or close caliber with any of you as applicants, but simply pointing out the fact that we hear about internationals in Yale this cycle)

Well, both of us who have heard from Yale have yet to hear from Harvard. Although, I'm confident that Harvard is just holding internationals to look at us all as a group at some point within the next few weeks.

[Nulli Secundus]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats! Merp, y'all are making me regret my decision of not applying to Yale. (Not meant to insinuate that I am at same or close caliber with any of you as applicants, but simply pointing out the fact that we hear about internationals in Yale this cycle)

Well, both of us who have heard from Yale have yet to hear from Harvard. Although, I'm confident that Harvard is just holding internationals to look at us all as a group at some point within the next few weeks.

Yeah, just withdraw and make their jobs easier! Teheee.

[JosephusMyer]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats (and the scary thing about the Facebook group is being able to guess who the actual people are behind the TLS accounts...)

[AntipodeanPhil]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats (and the scary thing about the Facebook group is being able to guess who the actual people are behind the TLS accounts...)

Yeah, I know who you are .

[Nulli Secundus]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats (and the scary thing about the Facebook group is being able to guess who the actual people are behind the TLS accounts...)

Yeah, I know who you are .

Omg stalker

[madvillain]

Huge congrats! I myself received my expected Yale reject a few days ago, haha. It's comforting to know that quite a few outstanding applicants have been held by H as well, perhaps there is a trend in the fact that we are international. Good luck to all of you.

[JosephusMyer]

I got the call from Yale earlier today! I didn't quite believe it until the email came. That's two of us, and I noticed a few more internationals on the YLS admitted students' facebook group.

Congrats (and the scary thing about the Facebook group is being able to guess who the actual people are behind the TLS accounts...)

Yeah, I know who you are .

Omg stalker

I haven't had a stalker before. This is exciting.

[AntipodeanPhil]

I haven't had a stalker before. This is exciting.

I'm afraid you may be dissapointed. Although, I might send you a facebook message at some point - that could be stalkerish, if I do it right.

[MaffyG]

Hey,

I'm kind of new here so do forgive me if I've missed anything, but I have a few questions in respect to to law school....

In short, am a UK citizen and I have recently been offered a place at law school starting August 2012. I know this may sound a little stupid but what now?

Given that I am an international applicant I am under the impression that I don't qualify for federal student aid, so where is the best place to find a loan to fund this? In addition, I will have to apply for an F1 Student Visa and I have looked around online but can't seem to find any illuminating information concerning this (that is, whether it would be best to use a company to help me, whether I should do it alone, where I apply etc.) I have plenty of other questions but these are my most pressing concerns. Perhaps there has been a similar thread that I could be referred to?

Thanks for the help guys

[AntipodeanPhil]

I'm kind of new here so do forgive me if I've missed anything, but I have a few questions in respect to to law school....

In short, am a UK citizen and I have recently been offered a place at law school starting August 2012. I know this may sound a little stupid but what now?

Given that I am an international applicant I am under the impression that I don't qualify for federal student aid, so where is the best place to find a loan to fund this? In addition, I will have to apply for an F1 Student Visa and I have looked around online but can't seem to find any illuminating information concerning this (that is, whether it would be best to use a company to help me, whether I should do it alone, where I apply etc.) I have plenty of other questions but these are my most pressing concerns. Perhaps there has been a similar thread that I could be referred to?

For internationals, getting funding is often the most difficult part. Some possibilities.

1. Have you talked to the school? They might be able to offer you scholarship money. Also, how many schools did you apply to? The more you apply to, the greater chance you will get scholarship money.

2. The school that accepted you wasn't Harvard or Yale, was it? They will lend you the money themselves. The funding issue is so difficult for internationals that a number of people on this thread have only applied to Harvard + Yale.

3. Have you lived in the US at all? If so, you might have established a credit history, which would allow you to get private loans.

4. Do you know anyone with a credit history in the US who would be willing to co-sign on loans?

5. Have you explored all possibilities for funding in th UK?

If none of those will work, you should try talking to US banks anyway. But, in a worst-case scenario, you might need to wait a year, retake the LSAT, and apply more widely in the hope of getting significant scholarship money - although scholarship money generally only covers tuition and you would still need to find a way to pay for living costs.

Once you have secured funding, the F-1 visa should be easier. I got one a few years ago and don't recall the process being very difficult. You need to prove that you can pay for tuition + living costs before you can get a visa, though.

[MaffyG]

I'm kind of new here so do forgive me if I've missed anything, but I have a few questions in respect to to law school....

In short, am a UK citizen and I have recently been offered a place at law school starting August 2012. I know this may sound a little stupid but what now?

Given that I am an international applicant I am under the impression that I don't qualify for federal student aid, so where is the best place to find a loan to fund this? In addition, I will have to apply for an F1 Student Visa and I have looked around online but can't seem to find any illuminating information concerning this (that is, whether it would be best to use a company to help me, whether I should do it alone, where I apply etc.) I have plenty of other questions but these are my most pressing concerns. Perhaps there has been a similar thread that I could be referred to?

For internationals, getting funding is often the most difficult part. Some possibilities.

1. Have you talked to the school? They might be able to offer you scholarship money. Also, how many schools did you apply to? The more you apply to, the greater chance you will get scholarship money.

2. The school that accepted you wasn't Harvard or Yale, was it? They will lend you the money themselves. The funding issue is so difficult for internationals that a number of people on this thread have only applied to Harvard + Yale.

3. Have you lived in the US at all? If so, you might have established a credit history, which would allow you to get private loans.

4. Do you know anyone with a credit history in the US who would be willing to co-sign on loans?

5. Have you explored all possibilities for funding in th UK?

If none of those will work, you should try talking to US banks anyway. But, in a worst-case scenario, you might need to wait a year, retake the LSAT, and apply more widely in the hope of getting significant scholarship money - although scholarship money generally only covers tuition and you would still need to find a way to pay for living costs.

Once you have secured funding, the F-1 visa should be easier. I got one a few years ago and don't recall the process being very difficult. You need to prove that you can pay for tuition + living costs before you can get a visa, though.

Thank you for your reply....

1) Yes, the school does not offer any financial aid to international students. As far as a scholarship goes, I wasn't an outstanding applicant so I don't think I'll be getting anything. I asked for a list of recommended private lenders but they were quite unhelpful and said that they don't provide any names.

2) I'm afraid the school isn't Harvard or Yale although I now appreciate the difficulty of applying elsewhere.

3) I haven't lived in the US, but (4) I think I know someone who will be willing to co-sign for loans - does this help me? I read somewhere that by having a co-signer the interest rates offered to you decrease - is this true?

5) I didn't realise funding was available from UK firms - what would be the incentive for them do so?

Sorry for all the questions, I'm doing a fair bit of research online but there isn't much information available (at least in respect to international students.)

Thank you so much for your help

[AntipodeanPhil]

As far as a scholarship goes, I wasn't an outstanding applicant so I don't think I'll be getting anything.

Most decent US law schools - as well as a lot of the bad ones - give a high proportion of applicants some amount of scholarship money. Usually, you don't have to be outstanding. It is also often possible to negotiate scholarship money if the school doesn't volunteer it.

(4) I think I know someone who will be willing to co-sign for loans - does this help me? I read somewhere that by having a co-signer the interest rates offered to you decrease - is this true?

Certainly, but - from what I've read in this forum in past years - without a US co-signer you might not even be able to get a loan from a US bank. With a US co-signer, US banks would be willing to loan the money, because even if you left the country, they could get the money from your co-signer (since he or she would be legally obligated to pay the debt also). If he/she has a decent credit history, you should be able to get a good rate.

(5) I didn't realise funding was available from UK firms - what would be the incentive for them do so?

Perhaps we are using words in different senses here. My point was that you might be able to find some scholarship money or private loans in the UK, depending on your circumstances.

[AntipodeanPhil]

I asked for a list of recommended private lenders but they were quite unhelpful and said that they don't provide any names.

Here's some helpful information on private loans from the University of Chicago (they call them "alternative loans"):

--LinkRemoved--

And a list of private lenders they recommend:

--LinkRemoved--

The lenders they recommend all require a US co-signer - they wouldn't even offer you a loan without one.

[JosephusMyer]

I asked for a list of recommended private lenders but they were quite unhelpful and said that they don't provide any names.

Here's some helpful information on private loans from the University of Chicago (they call them "alternative loans"):

--LinkRemoved--

And a list of private lenders they recommend:

--LinkRemoved--

The lenders they recommend all require a US co-signer - they wouldn't even offer you a loan without one.

If you can't find a US co-signer outright, you might want to try a little creative lawyering. The reason that US co-signers might be hard to come by is that they are on the hook for the whole debt if you default; you might be able to reassure them by finding British relatives to guarantee to indemnify the co-signer for any liability they incur. Or something like that.

[mjitbswyd]

JS1. 174/Superior/strong soft. They are getting to held internationals!

[bk641]

yes, i got one too! i have mine tomorrow