International Applicants 2014-15 Forum

[Hand]

Poll added. Cherrypicked some of the better timezones because the poll only allows for 10 options.

As to getting a high LSAT score, I don't know, it was just easy for me, despite being a non-native speaker.

ETA: also, errybody, please update the spreadsheet when you get a decision!

[Brady199]

Who else is from Mumbai? Pls pm

[altf4]

Took me a few tries to get my score. But there's always going to be people with a higher score than you (unless you get that 180) which I realize (with a cringe) every time I check that spreadsheet!


I really like the poll. I'm a night owl by nature, and it only gets worse without classes or a job to anchor me. So, I'm pretty much on TLS at almost all times except 4am-9am my time. But even that's been cut short recently as I've enabled email pushes for my LS applications address (and disabled notifications for all other useless things like texting or chats) so I wake up whenever I hear a buzz. Usually it's useless spam and it annoys me, but once I'm up, I'm up, so I'm probably getting far too little sleep these days Anyhoo, I get the feeling I'm going to see quite a few more UTC+9s once morning rolls around... ^^

[pylon]

I've enabled email pushes for my LS applications address (and disabled notifications for all other useless things like texting or chats) so I wake up whenever I hear a buzz. Usually it's useless spam and it annoys me, but once I'm up, I'm up, so I'm probably getting far too little sleep these days

This is smart! I need to figure out how to do this for specific e-mail addresses on my phone, but in a way that I won't be woken up by the spam, just by the general e-mail addresses of schools I've applied to...

[musedreverie]

Poll added. Cherrypicked some of the better timezones because the poll only allows for 10 options.

As to getting a high LSAT score, I don't know, it was just easy for me, despite being a non-native speaker.

ETA: also, errybody, please update the spreadsheet when you get a decision!

Thanks for the poll!

[Picosaurus]

Post Removed.

[adeel]

Ppl full ride WUSTL or $$ Michigan? My final decision, perhaps, boils down to this. As far as I know, internationals have nothing else to rely on other than merit scholarships and their father's pockets. Is there any other way of financing one's education? Tell me there is, tell me that I can go to Michigan.

[blueberrycrumble]

Ppl full ride WUSTL or $$ Michigan? My final decision, perhaps, boils down to this. As far as I know, internationals have nothing else to rely on other than merit scholarships and their father's pockets. Is there any other way of financing one's education? Tell me there is, tell me that I can go to Michigan.

Here are my thoughts (take it with a grain of salt, I'm a 0L just like you!):

- You can also finance through a private loan at a US institution by finding a US citizen co-signer (not sure if this is an option for you) or you can also finance through a private loan with your home country's financial institution (could be by yourself if you have some type of collateral and depending on the country, but usually with a co-signer from your home country - could be your parents or relatives)
- How much money is $$ at Michigan? Do you mind saying?
- I would caution WUSTL even on a full ride just because we have zero ties to anywhere in the area. A full-ride is great if you know you plan on staying in St Louis or the Northwest AND you have ties, but WUSTL doesn't place very outside of that area. If you scroll through some WUSTL employment threads, you'll notice how much firms in the Northwest (STL and Seattle) demand ties.

[pylon]

Ppl full ride WUSTL or $$ Michigan? My final decision, perhaps, boils down to this. As far as I know, internationals have nothing else to rely on other than merit scholarships and their father's pockets. Is there any other way of financing one's education? Tell me there is, tell me that I can go to Michigan.

- How much money is $$ at Michigan? Do you mind saying?

Also I would imagine you could get loans from your home country, like blueberry mentioned.

[taptaptop]

Ppl full ride WUSTL or $$ Michigan? My final decision, perhaps, boils down to this. As far as I know, internationals have nothing else to rely on other than merit scholarships and their father's pockets. Is there any other way of financing one's education? Tell me there is, tell me that I can go to Michigan.

Here are some options you might have, some of which are highly implausible, but still...

1) as blueberry mentioned, try to get loans. You can always find a way to get loans from your home country, if not, check out if you have any possible co-signers in the U.S. to get you private loan.

2) Try to negotiate with Michigan, tell them that you really really want to attend UMich and that you have received full ride from WUSTL, and that the only thing that is standing in the way is money issue. I'm not quite sure how they will react, but always worth a shot.

3) this is what I said about "highly implausible" Take the money from Michigan, and work your ass off to get great grades, then transfer to YHS who offer institutional loans. I have to say it again, it's a consensus that DO NOT go to a school you are unhappy to graduate from. I'm just pointing out there is a possibility, don't count on this.

4) If you are planning on staying in the U.S. after graduation, I would probably take $$ from Michigan and run no matter whether they are willing to offer some more money or not. Blueberry has made a clear point that WUSTL doesn't really give us what we might need to work in the U.S.

[musedreverie]

Yeah I agree with all the above.

I think WUSTL with full ride is an excellent option for US citizens; but not so much for foreign students (assuming that you don't have US citizenship/permanent residency). We have to think about our career (especially because we don't have anything but biglaw) after we graduate, meaning you should look into job placements in large law firms in big cities.

Also even if you want to go back to your country and practice law there, I think it can only be conducive to your career to graduate from a university with good lay reputation such as Michigan.

This isn't to say you should completely ignore your full ride, but I would still tread softly and weigh all the potential risks of going to WUSTL before indulging too heavily on the financial risks of going to Michigan

[adeel]

Thank you people, makes sense.

[keepsmiling1230]

Hi!! GUYS

I just submitted my app a couple days ago (I am so .... lazy and so many things going on).

Anyway, I am so happy that there is a thread for us international students ...

I am from China, anybody here?

[adeel]

People, whats the deal with Need Access Form. Do we fill that in? Or is it specifically for the US folks? As in, I have never heard of international people getting need based financial aid. So do I go through the motions? Or is it effort and time wasted?

Plus I went through it, most of it makes sense only for the US people. Like US tax returns and all. Enlighten me fellow brethren!

[blueberrycrumble]

People, whats the deal with Need Access Form. Do we fill that in? Or is it specifically for the US folks? As in, I have never heard of international people getting need based financial aid. So do I go through the motions? Or is it effort and time wasted?

Plus I went through it, most of it makes sense only for the US people. Like US tax returns and all. Enlighten me fellow brethren!

I'm going to be doing my needaccess (soon!). To answer all your questions: it's up to you if you want to complete needaccess, it is not just for those from the US, it's not that international people don't get much need based aid - neither do the domestic applicants (it's mostly merit aid), go through the motions if you feel like it.

If you know you or your parents have had quite high income in 2014 or if you or your parents net wealth is quite high, it might not be worth trying to figure out how to fill in all the forms. However, for myself, I know that while need based aid is usually quite small, it's still worth filling it out because I'll probably get something.

As for US tax returns, they will sometimes reference it but it's not necessary. You can use the equivalents from your home country's tax returns. It will also ask if the majority of your income is from non-US sources. If you check yes, the forms are slightly different.

Hope that answers everything.

[adeel]

Thank you berry. Yupp, it answers all my questions. You are awesome!

[NutellaDipity]

checking in

[altf4]

People, whats the deal with Need Access Form. Do we fill that in? Or is it specifically for the US folks? As in, I have never heard of international people getting need based financial aid. So do I go through the motions? Or is it effort and time wasted?

Plus I went through it, most of it makes sense only for the US people. Like US tax returns and all. Enlighten me fellow brethren!

I'm going to be doing my needaccess (soon!). To answer all your questions: it's up to you if you want to complete needaccess, it is not just for those from the US, it's not that international people don't get much need based aid - neither do the domestic applicants (it's mostly merit aid), go through the motions if you feel like it.

If you know you or your parents have had quite high income in 2014 or if you or your parents net wealth is quite high, it might not be worth trying to figure out how to fill in all the forms. However, for myself, I know that while need based aid is usually quite small, it's still worth filling it out because I'll probably get something.

As for US tax returns, they will sometimes reference it but it's not necessary. You can use the equivalents from your home country's tax returns. It will also ask if the majority of your income is from non-US sources. If you check yes, the forms are slightly different.

Hope that answers everything.

My big question regarding this is... Well, what's the cut-off for "quite high" in terms of income or net wealth? For example, owning an apartment in a major city in East Asia easily puts one's net wealth in the 7-figure range (depending on the city). This may be higher compared to, say, the national average, but nothing on those really affluent people who would hardly bat an eyelid when faced with a 300k LS bill. Some friends and I were trying to figure this out and was wondering if any int'l TLSers had any input or experience.

[blythe92]

172, 4.1/4.5 Superior, South Korea! I sent my applications to Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, Columbia, Berkeley, Virginia, UPEN, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Cornell! App for schools except for Harvard finished on mid December, and due to app fee missing problems (don't understand why this happened till today) Harvard app completed on Jan 4th!

I have to say, it's agony to wait for all the results... I hope they just spit it out on me all together.

I got rejected from Berkeley, waitlisted on Virginia.
Having interviews with Georgetown (Alumni interview) and Chicago (Admin committee) next week! :

As days pass I'm just realizing more and more on how difficult entering law school as a non-resident & non-US undergraduate. I guess high GPAs from non US undergraduates is almost meaningless to the admin committees, and without amazing personal stories it';s difficult to get attention. maybe...

Kinda depressed, but keeping my thumbs up for upcoming interviews! I wish all intnl applicants my best luck!!!!!

[musedreverie]

172, 4.1/4.5 Superior, South Korea! I sent my applications to Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, Columbia, Berkeley, Virginia, UPEN, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Cornell! App for schools except for Harvard finished on mid December, and due to app fee missing problems (don't understand why this happened till today) Harvard app completed on Jan 4th!

I have to say, it's agony to wait for all the results... I hope they just spit it out on me all together.

I got rejected from Berkeley, waitlisted on Virginia.
Having interviews with Georgetown (Alumni interview) and Chicago (Admin committee) next week! :

As days pass I'm just realizing more and more on how difficult entering law school as a non-resident & non-US undergraduate. I guess high GPAs from non US undergraduates is almost meaningless to the admin committees, and without amazing personal stories it';s difficult to get attention. maybe...

Kinda depressed, but keeping my thumbs up for upcoming interviews! I wish all intnl applicants my best luck!!!!!

Hello there fellow Korean! I'm from Seoul myself

I know the application processes can be really slow (fyi, I applied in late September for NYU, and it's still cricket silence for me! Upsetting on so many levels, but what can I do ) and frustrating (waitlists are just the worst), but you already have very good interviews lined up, and I think with your great scores, you'll have some very good options on your hands this year!

The best to do is let out the stress in a non-profaning way; maybe knitting?

[blythe92]

172, 4.1/4.5 Superior, South Korea! I sent my applications to Harvard, Stanford, Chicago, NYU, Columbia, Berkeley, Virginia, UPEN, Georgetown, Northwestern, and Cornell! App for schools except for Harvard finished on mid December, and due to app fee missing problems (don't understand why this happened till today) Harvard app completed on Jan 4th!

I have to say, it's agony to wait for all the results... I hope they just spit it out on me all together.

I got rejected from Berkeley, waitlisted on Virginia.
Having interviews with Georgetown (Alumni interview) and Chicago (Admin committee) next week! :

As days pass I'm just realizing more and more on how difficult entering law school as a non-resident & non-US undergraduate. I guess high GPAs from non US undergraduates is almost meaningless to the admin committees, and without amazing personal stories it';s difficult to get attention. maybe...

Kinda depressed, but keeping my thumbs up for upcoming interviews! I wish all intnl applicants my best luck!!!!!

Hello there fellow Korean! I'm from Seoul myself

I know the application processes can be really slow (fyi, I applied in late September for NYU, and it's still cricket silence for me! Upsetting on so many levels, but what can I do ) and frustrating (waitlists are just the worst), but you already have very good interviews lined up, and I think with your great scores, you'll have some very good options on your hands this year!

The best to do is let out the stress in a non-profaning way; maybe knitting?

Knitting seems fairly nice! Nice to see lots of Koreans in here! Yeap its really frustrating especially when you hear from other friends in the states who get admitted only few weeks after they submitted. But I guess the schools obviously have to be cautious about foreign applicants when they have so many US citizens to decide for.

Just hoping Ill get into one of the applied schools!

You finished applying?

[musedreverie]

Knitting seems fairly nice! Nice to see lots of Koreans in here! Yeap its really frustrating especially when you hear from other friends in the states who get admitted only few weeks after they submitted. But I guess the schools obviously have to be cautious about foreign applicants when they have so many US citizens to decide for.

Just hoping Ill get into one of the applied schools!

You finished applying?

Yeah, I finished applying months ago (in Sept/October) because I'm neurotic like that. But it really hasn't paid off as much as it might have in previous cycles, what with the 'rolling basis' emphasis

And I'm still waiting on decisions from my last two schools, but I'm not very optimistic on the outcome for either of them so I think I'll just call it quits now and wrap up the cycle. It was a monstrous 4-5 month journey!

And let's make a knitting club haha

[Leo_kay]

Checking in. Greetings from China!
Applied to most of T10s, went complete in late November. Got accepted at Columbia, NYU, and Berkeley, but haven't heard of most others yet
I've had my interviews with Harvard, Chicago and Columbia. So if you've any questions regarding these I'd be happy to help!
Good luck to you all!

[musedreverie]

Hello there starshine, the Earth says hello! (Sorry, I'm just really bored at work)

It's nice to see new faces late on in the cycle! Congrats on your acceptances Leo!

Oh yeah and you guys, make sure to fill out the spreadsheet for the benefit of future applicants!

[EvergreenStateLady]

Hello there starshine, the Earth says hello! (Sorry, I'm just really bored at work)

It's nice to see new faces late on in the cycle! Congrats on your acceptances Leo!

Oh yeah and you guys, make sure to fill out the spreadsheet for the benefit of future applicants!

Random but I love Hair, I assume you are a fan of the musical Hair since you just quoted it - technically its good morning starshine but whatever close enough. I'm usually terrible at quoting things.