Congratulations on all of your accomplishments! Your extracurriculars tell a very interesting story that could be quite compelling when creating your admissions packets. There’s an image of someone trying for societal improvements through business/economics and activism while also having multi-faceted interests.
Admissions for international students who need at least full tuition if not a full ride is extraordinarily difficult to get in the U.S., but not impossible. Many (most?) universities do not give financial aid to international students. And most universities do not meet 100% of someone’s need (whether domestic or international). And then schools are often need-aware, meaning that how much money a student needs can impact their chance for admission. And there are schools that are need-blind for domestic applicants, but not international ones. But, not all hope is lost!
First, make sure you apply to schools (in your home country or in a different one) that you are extremely likely to be admitted to and will be able to afford. That way, if nothing else works out the way you want it to, you will still have college options available.
For some extremely likely/guaranteed options, I would look at this post that was written for a student from India who essentially needed at least tuition as well: Match me - Intl student from India in need of advice (lib arts interests) - #69 by AustenNut
Then, I would take a good luck at these six universities as they are exactly what you need financially. They are need-blind (how much someone’s need is does not impact whether or not they are admitted) and meet 100% of the need, including for international students. They are all extremely difficult to get into for any student, but they’re going to be reading every application and you do have a compelling story, in my opinion. You only need one to say yes, and they would cover your full need without loans.
- Amherst
- Dartmouth
- Harvard
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Princeton
- Yale
Have you gone through your list to see what kind of aid (if any) they offer to international students? Once you verify they all give aid, please let us know. One source is to use the College Board’s site and under the financial section toggle “on” the option for aid for international students. That will clear out more than half of the universities right there. (Here’s a link with that already done.) Make sure to pay attention to whether they include loans or no loans, especially for students from low income families (this would usually be found on each school’s website).
UNC meets full-need for in-state and out-of-state students…double check if they do it for international students as well. Instead of Wisconsin, I’d look at U. of Virginia as that one will meet full need for domestic students, but double-check that’s true for international students. Wisconsin does not meet full need for domestic students, so is unlikely to do so for internationals.
Once we find out the status of international aid at most of the universities on your list, then we can see in what categories they would fall (though just glancing, most of them are less likely for all students because there are so many more qualified applicants than there are spots).
And for your browsing pleasure…
Some universities I saw listed elsewhere as being very good with respect to corporate social responsibility were:
- Yale
- Fordham
- Boston University
- U. of Pittsburgh
- Carnegie Mellon
- George Washington
This link describes some universities with social entrepreneurship programs. And here are two links that discuss socially conscious universities which might be more likely to provide a big financial aid package even if they are need-aware: