A good resource and tips

Student Lounge International Students
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<p>To all of you considering higher studies in the US, this is a great resource
EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America</p>

<p>EducationUSA</a> | Research Your Options</p>

<p>Some things to help if you need financial aid to the top universities -
- it helps to be feeder from the well known schools in India, schools that traditionally sent their top kids here.
- Get involved in your school, student bodies, charity, volunteering, music, sports.
-Get involved in competitions so that you have some state/national level awards to show.
-Be the top 1-5% in your school
- Great SAT scores , take all subject scores</p>

<p>If you are not in any of the big schools where you have good teachers/counselors who are familiar with US applicants, you can still do couple of things
- seek out USIEF (if you are in the major cities) ::</a> Welcome to USIEF ::</p>

<p>Some other good universities (not as competitive) are Rutgers, Purdue, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, NJIT, University of Maryland, UNC, syracuse, UMass, univ of illionis to name a few. West coast - USC (good but expensive), UCs are expensive for international. Look for colleges with a good international base. Again none of these have good aid for internationals, but if you have other family close by who are willing to help, check out universities in those areas. </p>

<p>Again there may be other universities (other than the top Ivies) where you may get some aid (choose universities where you fall at the top end of their SAT scores). Again narrow your list and look at every college website (the international section). There is a wealth of info out there.</p>

<p>If you have admission in India in good colleges and financially constrained, I would honestly urge that you finish your undergrad in India and think of applying as Grad students in the US if you so desire. Good luck with the process.</p>

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<p>^ I would actually disagree with only 2 in the list of schools you mentioned: UC Berkeley, and UNC. If you go to their forum they will have doubts in terms of OOS and international admit rates and your chances given that you are a normal applicant (SAT: 2100, avg gpa, not much significant ec). I know UNC is very competitive to get into as an OOS alone and this is widely known to many applicants who apply as such. It would be wise to chance for both only after you have achieved some significant works in your field(s). All in all though, UC Berkeley may have better hopes as it has become more ready to accept OOS students since they give a lot more tuition than instate people. I know that there were significant number of kids in the east coast side who got admitted to Berkeley despite the fact that they were OOS. I can attest to the fact that if you can pay and have superb scores, you may get in. The same cannot be said of UNC, which is not in Cali.</p>

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<p>You are right. I was just comparing UNC with Ivy admission. UCB OOS tuition/housing is very expensive so that would be a deterrent to Indian applicants as well , unless they get private scholarships.</p>