US College selection help?

Hi

I am currently attempting to find some US Uni/colleges to attend to and I'm not having much luck.

Could you please list a few that offer financial aid for international students or are relatively cheap?

I haven't decided on my a levels just yet so I'm not looking for a specific course yet but am predicted A/B in my GCSES. I've also already looked into Ivy league and know the standards and know I'm not a possible candidate.

THANKS BRUH :smile:

(PS. Another option is to study in Canada but them winters are damn frosty)

Reply 1

American_student

There are many, many, many universities in the United States. You're gonna have to be specific with what you want to study.

Financial Aid- It's hardly given to international students
Relatively Cheap- State schools are much cheaper than private schools.

Reply 2

zman028

I currently attend the University of Texas at Dallas and it's great University for international students and very accommodating to them! You can find information for international students at http://www.utdallas.edu/isso/new/.

As for fees, they have something few Universities here do, which is called The Guaranteed Tuition Plan,which basically states that the fees you are charged your first year at the University is the same fees you will be charged for every other year at the University. This is a great plan because the fees does rise quite a bit here each year, so you become locked into a substantially lower tuition rate in your later years.

UT Dallas offers quite a bit of financial aid. They are very big on scholarships since it is a quickly rising University and will soon be in competition with major Universities around the United States, so if you have good academic scores, you should receive a scholarship! Housing is very reasonable. A one bedroom flat on campus will run you around 500 US dollars a month with amenities(electrical,water etc.) included or you can always split a flat! Here is a link to the estimated fees per year. http://www.utdallas.edu/enroll/apply/cost.php?nocookies=false. You would need to take a look at the out-of-state section. Don't be too worried about the high tuiton! Many international students are studying here on full scholarships, so you are bound to receive some sort of financial aid.

Hope this helps!

Reply 3

ForlornUnicorn

Original post by American_student

There are many, many, many universities in the United States. You're gonna have to be specific with what you want to study.

Financial Aid- It's hardly given to international students
Relatively Cheap- State schools are much cheaper than private schools.

State schools are generally cheaper, but not cheap, just for in-state students. The UCs, for example, are very expensive for out-of-state, let alone international students.

Financial aid for internationals is offered at all the Ivies and a lot of top 25 universities (eg. Duke, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Stanford, UChicago, MIT), as well as many LACs (eg. Amherst, Vassar, Grinnell, Oberlin, Occidental, just to name a few). It's an overstatement to say it's hardly given, as LACs happen to be quite generous at times, but it's also true that most places are need-aware (i.e. they consider your ability to pay when making an admission decision).

Reply 4

American_student

Original post by ForlornUnicorn

State schools are generally cheaper, but not cheap, just for in-state students. The UCs, for example, are very expensive for out-of-state, let alone international students.

Financial aid for internationals is offered at all the Ivies and a lot of top 25 universities (eg. Duke, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Stanford, UChicago, MIT), as well as many LACs (eg. Amherst, Vassar, Grinnell, Oberlin, Occidental, just to name a few). It's an overstatement to say it's hardly given, as LACs happen to be quite generous at times, but it's also true that most places are need-aware (i.e. they consider your ability to pay when making an admission decision).

UC's out of state tuition and international are the same.
Unless test scores are amazing, LAC's don't really offer much aid to internationals.

Reply 5

ForlornUnicorn

Original post by American_student

UC's out of state tuition and international are the same.
Unless test scores are amazing, LAC's don't really offer much aid to internationals.

Yes, I know tuition is the same. However, US students have access to several grants etc. that internationals don't get. Also, add international travel to the cost of attendance, and the result will be once again different.

I'm not so sure about that, since LACs often view applications holistically. Yes, you'll probably need 2000+ on the SAT, but that applies to any top school. Quite a lot of rural LACs with few international students give lots of aid to make themselves more popular. It happens.

Reply 6

JayJay-C19

Original post by American_student

There are many, many, many universities in the United States. You're gonna have to be specific with what you want to study.

Financial Aid- It's hardly given to international students
Relatively Cheap- State schools are much cheaper than private schools.

Not necessarily; Harvard College for example costs less or the same as most state schools to attend.

Reply 7

squidshoes

Have you looked at College Confidential? It is a forum very similar to this one, but it is catered towards American students and is quite popular over there. I attend a top-tier University in the USA, and I know of many people who used that website as a primary resource.

Reply 8

ForlornUnicorn

Original post by squidshoes

Have you looked at College Confidential? It is a forum very similar to this one, but it is catered towards American students and is quite popular over there. I attend a top-tier University in the USA, and I know of many people who used that website as a primary resource.

This. I second every single word of this. CC actually has an International Students section, as well as a UK section so OP can look around. There are many automatic scholarships threads, financial aid for international students threads, and "stats only" threads where people post their scores, their ECs etc. and whether they were admitted or not.

Reply 9

American_student

Original post by ForlornUnicorn

Yes, I know tuition is the same. However, US students have access to several grants etc. that internationals don't get. Also, add international travel to the cost of attendance, and the result will be once again different.

I'm not so sure about that, since LACs often view applications holistically. Yes, you'll probably need 2000+ on the SAT, but that applies to any top school. Quite a lot of rural LACs with few international students give lots of aid to make themselves more popular. It happens.

Most of the aid/grants which are for American students are only available to those who make less than a certain amount of money per year. The majority of students who attend expensive schools are not the ones receiving this type of aid.

The term "holistically" is almost nonsense. But yes, LACs tend to give much more aid than other universities.

Reply 10

ForlornUnicorn

Original post by American_student

Most of the aid/grants which are for American students are only available to those who make less than a certain amount of money per year. The majority of students who attend expensive schools are not the ones receiving this type of aid.

The term "holistically" is almost nonsense. But yes, LACs tend to give much more aid than other universities.

Why would it be nonsense? It means they look at your entire application, which is true. Unlike in the UK, where they care for your A-Levels, your personal statement and your reference. But I think you know that already. UK students might not.

Loans, though not advised, are also available to most US students, while for non-US citizens it is very difficult to find a co-signer in the States. I agree that the majority of students at top schools are not low-income, but then again there are the students applying through QuestBridge etc.

But I'm veering off topic here. Best advice on this thread was checking out College Confidential.

Reply 11

username738914

21

Original post by American_student

Most of the aid/grants which are for American students are only available to those who make less than a certain amount of money per year. The majority of students who attend expensive schools are not the ones receiving this type of aid.

The term "holistically" is almost nonsense. But yes, LACs tend to give much more aid than other universities.

Are you retarded?

The people who attend high cost schools need aid the most - these schools tend to have very strong endowments that can fund scholarships, grants and financial aid packages. In fact, there are 27 universities that promise to meet 100% of an international students financial need (yes! based on income and assets) if admitted. There are also several scholarship plans open to both domestic and international students. All this being said, you'll have to be a competitive applicant to be considered; as many of these schools are top 20 unis and LACs.

Reply 12

jonsnow123

I'm applying to Stanford (top choice), Duke (second choice), Penn (3rd choice), Chicago (4th choice) and maybe Yale. My safety is Emory.

Reply 13

fluffymilk

If your only goal is to just go to an American/North American school, then consider looking at smaller state colleges such as Ohio State University. If going to a school in the middle of nowhere doesn't interest you, look into the University of Southern California, NYU (New York University), and UPENN (University of Pennsylvania). These schools have a large number of applicants from the UK so you may have a better chance there. College Confidential is a good place to look for colleges, as they have a form type thing where you plug in your major, test scores, location, ideal tuition cost, etc and they will match you up with schools. Good luck finding the right schools for you!

Reply 14

feyy

6

Original post by fluffymilk

If going to a school in the middle of nowhere doesn't interest you, look into the University of Southern California, NYU (New York University), and UPENN (University of Pennsylvania). These schools have a large number of applicants from the UK so you may have a better chance there.

USC is a good one, depending on the merit OP would get. NYU doesn't give much aid (if any, I can't remember) to internationals and UPenn is an Ivy which is need-aware, so it's really not right to say OP may have a better chance going there, given their criteria ("offer financial aid for international students or are relatively cheap" and no Ivies).

What about Gettysburg?