- you apply to a low profile university relative to your profile
- Or you are something exuberant and awesome!(which in general we can't expect)
Let me say you got 1200 Gre score, which i believe is an decent but not a great score and you apply to an university whose stand out performer has just 990! here you get an chance of getting aid!
or the other wise is that, you have an excellent UG and intermediate (say about 80 % or very high GRE or Very high TOEFL). So i ask you not to hope for getting an aid in the first semester if you aim for a very good university! Yes it is true, don't blame me for being rude.