1. Having worked at the Stanford's Admission Office, can you tell us something about the way they 'categorize' applicants, say for example, Vnese students in Vietnam, Vnese students in Sing or Sing students in Sing, Vnese students in the US? This is because I have heard many different things about this issue but none of them appear valid enough.

To the best of my knowledge, there is NO 'categorizing' process here! Every applicant is treated the same way. The Vnese students in Vietnam may have the advantage of staying in an interesting environment and may have interesting stories to tell. However, their English is usually not as strong compared to students in Singapore or in the U.S. Students in the U.S and in Singapore are generally more active and dynamic, thanks to the wider range of opportunities.

Really??? I thought the admissions officers are aware of the fact that there are not as many opportunities in VN as in America and take that into consideration. For example, a Vnese student may have scored lower on the SAT (obviously, English is not his second language) and taken part in fewer ECs (less activities available) than an American student, it doesn't necessarily mean he has less chance of acceptance, does it?

Yup, the admission officers will take applicants' backgrounds into consideration. However, there is NO official 'categorizing' process. Your OVERALL profile will reflect your background, your achievements, and your potential to excel. In addition, test scores are NOT as important as many applicants think. According to my experience so far, test scores contribute about 40% toward your overall profile. The other factors are your performance in school (consistency, improvement...), extracurricular activities, public service, leadership, potential to grow and how you present yourself in the applications.

I learned from my school's Adcom that applying ED will actually make it HARDER for an international student who is in need of finaid to get accepted. Why do you encourage Vnese students to apply ED? Is it because Stanford has a different ED policy/attitude? or Is there another reason? This is quite important since it is one of the biggest (mis)perception for Vnese students.

Following is an excerpt from my conversation with Bates Adcom. 

Some people said that if international students with financial need apply through Early Decision (ED) program, that means they have committed 'admission suicide'. To what extent do you think that claim is valid, particularly at Bates?

That is quite true, at least at Bates right now. Think about it: we have very limited amount of international financial aid and the pool of Regular int'l students is much much larger than the 'ED pool'. Thus, if we are to live up to our promise of admitting the best students from around the world, we can only admit an extremely small number (I personally think this means one or two) of students for ED program. In other words, if we use up our resources for ED students, then we may get into an awkward situation: some Regular students applying to Bates are probably brighter and 'better' than ED ones, but we are unable to meet their financial needs and thus lose them to other rival colleges. Hence, for ED program, we admit only few well-qualified int'l students to minimize our 'gamble risk'.

Applying ED would significantly decrease your chance? This sounds odd since so many think ED helps them slip through the narrow door of college. It is important to notice that while ED is a brilliant idea for American students, int'l kids might have to think twice about this.

This is such a GREAT question to discuss. Yes, school with limited funding for international students prefer int'l students to apply RD. The reason is explained above on your conversation with Bates Adcom. However, at richer institutions with need-blind policy, ED is slightly different.
ED MAY NOT increase your chance of getting admitted because the application pool is usually stronger. Better students in the U.S tend to apply ED to their favourite schools. However, if you choose to apply to a not-so-outstanding college, the chance hence will be higher. Does that make sense?
It's always helpful to apply ED to show your commitment to a college that you like best AND that fits your standards. ED will be extremely helpful this way. Your commitment to a particular college may create good impression in the Adcom, hence increases your chance of getting admitted.

Even if you don't get in, you always have RDs!

--From Vietabroader