[MirandaPanda]

(Original post by NYU2012)
I have no idea where you've been getting your information, but it's very clearly misinformed

Its not a UK type student loan though (which is what I meant and assume the OP asked about); the US citizen who is counter-signing that loan will need to put up actual collateral (in the form of a home for example) in order to be granted acceptance of the loan from the authorities. If there is late payment for example at anytime therefore, the home could be at risk of foreclosure itself, which is a hell of a risk to take. And this doesn't even begin to take into consideration the huge interest which is charged on such loans (i.e. its not the low rate the student finance use here in the UK).

Moreover, you can also get this type of commercial loans from banks in the US too; again, with a US citizen putting up collateral.

(Original post by MarshmallowJunkie)
Okay - I was referring to NYU2012's comment about counter-signing loans if a family member is a US citizen. Now I'm confused

See above.

[NYU2012]

(Original post by MarshmallowJunkie)
THANK YOU!

You may be single-handedly responsible for me not bursting into tears right now over university/college/whatever you wish to call it.

Not a problem. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me about anything.

Just remember with US Government loans though that your aunt has to be credit worthy and that her "debt" (and by debt, I really mean your student loans) cannot greatly exceed her income.

Which means if you plan on attending a US school, it may be financially difficult. I.e. if your aunt's income isn't particularly high you may not be able to finish college right away because she may not qualify for any more loans until other loans are paid off.

E.g. Suppose you go through freshmen and sophomore year without any problems. Your aunt will have co-signed, at that point, for a potentially very large sum of money. This shows up on her credit report. And, if her income isn't high enough, she may not have any more "borrowing power". Which would mean you would have to potentially take some time off, go back to the UK, and try to pay off some of your loans from your freshmen and sophomore year so that your aunt could qualify for new loans.

I'm not familiar with your financial situation, so I'm simply listing worst-case scenario here so that you can understand the options you have and what costs and benefits are associated with each.

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by MirandaPanda)
Its not a UK type student loan though (which is what I meant and assume the OP asked about); the US citizen who is counter-signing that loan will need to put up actual collateral (in the form of a home for example) in order to be granted acceptance of the loan from the authorities. If there is late payment for example at anytime therefore, the home could be at risk of foreclosure itself, which is a hell of a risk to take. And this doesn't even begin to take into consideration the huge interest which is charged on such loans (i.e. its not the low rate the student finance use here in the UK).

Moreover, you can also get this type of commercial loans from banks in the US too; again, with a US citizen putting up collateral.

Hmm. I'm hoping my US relatives are feeling generous... Thanks for clearing that up!

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by NYU2012)
Not a problem. If you have any further questions, feel free to PM me about anything.

Just remember with US Government loans though that your aunt has to be credit worthy and that her "debt" (and by debt, I really mean your student loans) cannot greatly exceed her income.

Which means if you plan on attending a US school, it may be financially difficult. I.e. if your aunt's income isn't particularly high you may not be able to finish college right away because she may not qualify for any more loans until other loans are paid off.

E.g. Suppose you go through freshmen and sophomore year without any problems. Your aunt will have co-signed, at that point, for a potentially very large sum of money. This shows up on her credit report. And, if her income isn't high enough, she may not have any more "borrowing power". Which would mean you would have to potentially take some time off, go back to the UK, and try to pay off some of your loans from your freshmen and sophomore year so that your aunt could qualify for new loans.

I'm not familiar with your financial situation, so I'm simply listing worst-case scenario here so that you can understand the options you have and what costs and benefits are associated with each.

Right, thanks for the info! I'll have to ask her what her income is, but her husband (who is not a blood relation to me) does have a substantial income I believe, so would that help? I don't know if it has to be blood relatives or if their income can be combined in order to help with loans.

[NYU2012]

(Original post by MirandaPanda)
Its not a UK type student loan though (which is what I meant and assume the OP asked about); the US citizen who is counter-signing that loan will need to put up actual collateral (in the form of a home for example) in order to be granted acceptance of the loan from the authorities. If there is late payment for example at anytime therefore, the home could be at risk of foreclosure itself, which is a hell of a risk to take. And this doesn't even begin to take into consideration the huge interest which is charged on such loans (i.e. its not the low rate the student finance use here in the UK).

Moreover, you can also get this type of commercial loans from banks in the US too; again, with a US citizen putting up collateral.

What gives you the notion that they have to put up collateral?

Here are the terms and conditions of the loan:

https://www1.salliemae.com/internati...l-students.htm

Nowhere does it say that the co-signer must provide any type of collateral. No US citizen must provide collateral either (when signing for another U.S. citizen), and since it's from the same organization, and not stated anywhere, I'm going to assume it works in the same way. It's based on credit, not collateral.

[FinanceStudent28]

If you're a UK student trying to study in US and not applying to the obvious Heavyweights (Harvard, Yale, etc.) I would choose a region of the country you would like to live for four years and then apply based on that.

It gives you somewhere to start and the US is so big your experience can really differ.

Another difference is between Universities in cities or more rural college town areas.

Alot of this can be hard to learn at first, especially if you have no contacts or knowledge about USA.

Good luck!!!!

[devil09]

(Original post by NYU2012)
That's not true. If you have someone who will co-sign the loan for you and is a US citizen, then you can get loans from the US government.

https://www1.salliemae.com/internati...n_us_students/

"Smart Option Sallie Mae Student Loan" is one of the ones which Sallie Mae offers.

I have no idea where you've been getting your information, but it's very clearly misinformed

I am not sure it matters much, to be honest. Loans from US sources are unlikely to be a viable source of funding. International students are not eligible for subsidized loans, and a reasonable amount of debt for a degree (20-25,000 USD) is a drop in the bucket at many colleges.

[Lilium]

You can use the CollegeBoard search engine to find colleges and filter them out by criteria of your choice, whether that be size or cost. Colleges in the Minnesota area, such as Minnesota State U Moorhead and Bemidji State charge the same fees for everyone. In the case of MSUM, one has to do ~6 hours of service work per semester and attend "freshman orientation" (or something!) for a week or so to qualify for this. At Bemidji, you get to pay the same fees, without doing any community service. I believe it's much cheaper as well, with room and board, it gets you to about 15000 USD, which is about 9000 GBP! Same deal as with UK universities except with room and board. From what I gather, it's not particularly hard (Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, CalTech, etc = lots of randomness, therefore, hard) to get into either college but I may be wrong...

http://www.bemidjistate.edu/admissio...costs/tuition/

If you'd like to live in New York, there's State University of New York and City University of New York who are fairly cheap, by US standards. You definitely won't be paying 60k USD to study and live there. I'm not certain on the prices but tuition + room and board amounts, iirc, to 20k at Plattsburgh.

The other thing is that funding (scholarships or financial aid) IS scarce for international students and more often than not, they are not very easy to get. That is not to say that you shouldn't try and look for them. Who knows, things might just work out for you. I saw a thread on CollegeConfidential where some Bangladeshi dude said he got into UChicago with about 50k dollars' worth of aid...
While it is quite unlikely that you will get into an Ivy League - because it is unlikely for most applicants - in the event you do get in, your financial aid will be met. (again, things could get a little tricky because the aid you're awarded is based on what *they* think you can afford to pay...)

It's also the beginning of the year, meaning you have a fair bit of time to prepare. You should note that extra curricular activities and essays play an important role in the admissions process. Indeed, it can seem less stressful when all your offers are unconditional, you should also consider that there are other things besides your grades which can contribute to you getting an offer or not!

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by FinanceStudent28)
If you're a UK student trying to study in US and not applying to the obvious Heavyweights (Harvard, Yale, etc.) I would choose a region of the country you would like to live for four years and then apply based on that.

It gives you somewhere to start and the US is so big your experience can really differ.

Another difference is between Universities in cities or more rural college town areas.

Alot of this can be hard to learn at first, especially if you have no contacts or knowledge about USA.

Good luck!!!!

Thank you! Yeah I'm avoiding the Ivies... :P And cities :P

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by Lilium)
You can use the CollegeBoard search engine to find colleges and filter them out by criteria of your choice, whether that be size or cost. Colleges in the Minnesota area, such as Minnesota State U Moorhead and Bemidji State charge the same fees for everyone. In the case of MSUM, one has to do ~6 hours of service work per semester and attend "freshman orientation" (or something!) for a week or so to qualify for this. At Bemidji, you get to pay the same fees, without doing any community service. I believe it's much cheaper as well, with room and board, it gets you to about 15000 USD, which is about 9000 GBP! Same deal as with UK universities except with room and board. From what I gather, it's not particularly hard (Ivy League, MIT, Stanford, CalTech, etc = lots of randomness, therefore, hard) to get into either college but I may be wrong...

http://www.bemidjistate.edu/admissio...costs/tuition/

If you'd like to live in New York, there's State University of New York and City University of New York who are fairly cheap, by US standards. You definitely won't be paying 60k USD to study and live there. I'm not certain on the prices but tuition + room and board amounts, iirc, to 20k at Plattsburgh.

The other thing is that funding (scholarships or financial aid) IS scarce for international students and more often than not, they are not very easy to get. That is not to say that you shouldn't try and look for them. Who knows, things might just work out for you. I saw a thread on CollegeConfidential where some Bangladeshi dude said he got into UChicago with about 50k dollars' worth of aid...
While it is quite unlikely that you will get into an Ivy League - because it is unlikely for most applicants - in the event you do get in, your financial aid will be met. (again, things could get a little tricky because the aid you're awarded is based on what *they* think you can afford to pay...)

It's also the beginning of the year, meaning you have a fair bit of time to prepare. You should note that extra curricular activities and essays play an important role in the admissions process. Indeed, it can seem less stressful when all your offers are unconditional, you should also consider that there are other things besides your grades which can contribute to you getting an offer or not!

Thanks for all your help Yeah I'm definitely leaning towards the general area of Minnesota/surrounding states so this is really helpful!

[Lilium]

(Original post by MarshmallowJunkie)
Thanks for all your help Yeah I'm definitely leaning towards the general area of Minnesota/surrounding states so this is really helpful!

Glad to be of use. Seriously!

I spent the past year reading up on everything that I could, although more than half of that was more related to "soul searching and subject choice" rather than "college in the USA".

Again, good luck with everything. It's a very tedious process. I think I'd literally (I do mean literally!) cream my pants if I were to get in a good LAC with 100% need met, whether with grants or work-study.

Remember to apply to range of schools! You should also think of what kind of essays you will write about. Your extra curricular activities do matter a lot as well!

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by Lilium)
Glad to be of use. Seriously!

I spent the past year reading up on everything that I could, although more than half of that was more related to "soul searching and subject choice" rather than "college in the USA".

Again, good luck with everything. It's a very tedious process. I think I'd literally (I do mean literally!) cream my pants if I were to get in a good LAC with 100% need met, whether with grants or work-study.

Remember to apply to range of schools! You should also think of what kind of essays you will write about. Your extra curricular activities do matter a lot as well!

Aha, ooh the good ol' hobby of soul-searching... :P Yeah there just seem so much more to DO than with the UCAS app Aha, god getting into a good LAC needs-met would pretty much make my entire year. Yeah I'm worried about the essays and ECs, just cos the UK doesn't really care about ECs and the essays are so different to the PS Yay. :P

[Lilium]

(Original post by MarshmallowJunkie)
Aha, ooh the good ol' hobby of soul-searching... :P Yeah there just seem so much more to DO than with the UCAS app Aha, god getting into a good LAC needs-met would pretty much make my entire year. Yeah I'm worried about the essays and ECs, just cos the UK doesn't really care about ECs and the essays are so different to the PS Yay. :P

Now you actually have to do work outside of your A-Levels to get into uni!

[MarshmallowJunkie]

(Original post by Lilium)
Now you actually have to do work outside of your A-Levels to get into uni!

Joy.
:P

[dufus]

Sorry, but your GPA does not necessarily "translate" to a 2:1. It depends on your university. Places like LSE receive literally thousands of American applications and are very picky. A 3.5 GPA from a non-first tier American university is not going to impress them. Especially not in politics.

I'm also intrigued as to why you are applying to a British postgrad course. With your grades, you are not going to get financial aid. It is going to cost you a lot. You won't be able to work, or stay after you graduate. Not to be rude, but you also don't seem to know anything about British universities other than their names. That is not a good basis on which to work.

Another question is what you want to do afterwards. If you are intending to work in the USA, I'd recommend you go to grad school there. Imperial College isn't particularly difficult to get into for your course, so the signs are unfortunately not that good. Just trying to avoid heartache.

[annagetaway]

Hi!

I'm in the UK and have taken the SAT test but have no idea how to apply to Uni's. In the UK, we have something called "UCAS" which directly sends your personal statement and exam scores to universities you choose, but in USA how does uni application work?

[NYU2012]

(Original post by dufus)
Sorry, but your GPA does not necessarily "translate" to a 2:1. It depends on your university. Places like LSE receive literally thousands of American applications and are very picky. A 3.5 GPA from a non-first tier American university is not going to impress them. Especially not in politics.

I'm also intrigued as to why you are applying to a British postgrad course. With your grades, you are not going to get financial aid. It is going to cost you a lot. You won't be able to work, or stay after you graduate. Not to be rude, but you also don't seem to know anything about British universities other than their names. That is not a good basis on which to work.

Another question is what you want to do afterwards. If you are intending to work in the USA, I'd recommend you go to grad school there. Imperial College isn't particularly difficult to get into for your course, so the signs are unfortunately not that good. Just trying to avoid heartache.

Who are you even directing this comment at, considering that in all of this thread, no one has mentioned postgrad courses, LSE, Imperial or anything of that nature.

[Obscenedilemma]

(Original post by NYU2012)
As an international student:

I would personally recommend staying in the UK for education, as it's far cheaper and much easier financially. For many US students, it's cheaper to go over to the UK and pay international fees than it is for stay in the US.

Who would agree with this sentiment?

You could apply for scholarships? I've got a friend who got a full scholarship to Harvard though so I dunno

[NYU2012]

(Original post by Obscenedilemma)
Who would agree with this sentiment?

You could apply for scholarships? I've got a friend who got a full scholarship to Harvard though so I dunno

Harvard does not give scholarships; they give 'need-based financial aid'.

Did your friend get Harvard to cover the roughly $40,000 tuition? Or are they covering the other expenses such as room and board ($12,000-$15,000), fees ($5,000), books, etc.?

Harvard is the most generous school in the world for need-based financial aid, as it is the richest school. The amount of tuition one has to pay to proportional their family income and expected family contribution.

You would need a substantial amount of scholarships, if you're a foreign student, to make it reasonable to attend University in the US. Most schools do not offer scholarships or financial aid to International students and many of the schools can run as high as $60,000 USD per year for four years.

[Obscenedilemma]

(Original post by NYU2012)
Harvard does not give scholarships; they give 'need-based financial aid'.

Did your friend get Harvard to cover the roughly $40,000 tuition? Or are they covering the other expenses such as room and board ($12,000-$15,000), fees ($5,000), books, etc.?

Harvard is the most generous school in the world for need-based financial aid, as it is the richest school. The amount of tuition one has to pay to proportional their family income and expected family contribution.

You would need a substantial amount of scholarships, if you're a foreign student, to make it reasonable to attend University in the US. Most schools do not offer scholarships or financial aid to International students and many of the schools can run as high as $60,000 USD per year for four years.

Can't you take your British grants and loans over to the US with http://www.slc.co.uk/

With need based aid for an international, can you get it down to roughly what you'd pay in the UK. Is this the case with NYU/ uni. Maryland for example.

And I'm not about what he got, all I remember him saying is that it'd be cheaper for him to go there than to the UK