College Application

Should I admit my immigration status to any of the private colleges
I am applying to? Some of the universities include Duke, Harvard, Brown,
Stanford, Princeton?
Any help is welcome.

From what I remember reading around the forum, some of those schools do sympathize with our situation. It is my understanding that if you get accepted into the top private universities in the country, the means are there to fund your education.

This is from what I remember reading, and I believe there is no concrete answer available online.

I would recommend doing some private research. For sure, Harvard has an active Dream Act group (a few months ago they got their school president to publicly declare their support of the Dream Act). If it was me, I would look up the names of their members and befriend them on Facebook.

All up to you man!

They dont really care too much about your status because you will be applying as an INTERNATIONAL student...who just goes to school here. On the VISA stuff you can leave that blank (i did when i applied though i do have an SS which i used), but nonetheless you can call the admissions office....and ofcourse, if you use the common app it asks for your status. Never lie.

My question is...how do you plan to get to those states =] ?
Also realize that they may want you to sign affidavits and stuff, also show them statements on where the money will come from (only some, other schools are need-blind).

Blueheart,
Admitting my status and writing one of my essays on this harsh situation opened up the gates to some Ivy Leagues. It can go either way for anyone though. I think that if you feel that you've done a lot to show that you've "overcame" your situation/obstacles as an immigrant, then you should write a very, very strong essay on your status. If you don't want to do this, don't lie about your status on the application. If accepted, they'll figure it out when you ask for fin. aid. Let me know if you need anything. Remember that most applications for the Ivies and Tier 1's are due today, tomorrow, or early January.

Btw, I have some of the Harvard Dream Act people as friends on facebook. I don't know what advantage it would be for you to talk to them, though.

Just came by something about a dreamie who got accepted to Duke, but couldn't attend, due to lack of financial aid:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/us...er=rss&emc=rss
Everyone has a different story and you shouldn't assume anything. Remember, we lead some of the shadiest lives. The reasons behind the things we do are not always in accordance with the obvious.

If you have the means of applying, do it.

Blueheart, for those schools since they are some of the best i think you would be better off telling them. They are looking for unique people, different people. Infact the admissions officer at Stanford told me "Make sure you are direct and upfront about your situation...Because we have a holistic evaluation process...We are looking for the best and the brightest". Show them who you are.

On one hand: yes, you should, just like what Abyssion said.

If you look at MIT admission page, "uniqueness" is the most frequent word.
Yes, if you want to apply to these prestigious colleges, you surely want to be a match. You should have decent scores on your standardized exams, and very good GPA. Most applicants have strong resumes, replete with internship, community service and competition experiences.

Yet, ,many of my friends at MIT (including myself) do not. We definitely have great SAT (or ACT) scores and are top 10% of our class. But what MIT and many great colleges want is the potential contributions that one can bring to the community.

MIT wants smart people, for sure. The school is heavily run by their patents profits, copyrighted materials, and also alumni contribution. Show them what you can bring to the school. They do not expect everyone to be the next founder of Google.

You just need to figure out your "uniqueness". It could be your immigration status. Now try to expand on this and convince them how you struggle and get through problems.

My last advice on picking colleges:

Do not apply to all of them, pick the one you actually want to go. School like Standford is on the West coast, so you need to take plane to get there. If you are a dreamer, you probably can't go there (I don't remember how the latest flying policy works).

Brown, Duke, Harvard and others are all East coasts. Yet, choose the 3 most wanted. You pay fee for each of the applications, between $50 - 90. Save those extra bucks for other things.

Here is the other hand: No. But I am more convince with the first hand, because these great schools have a large review committee. So announcing your undocumented status does not give any disadvantage.

Make sure you tell them why it is a special thing to you.