Hi, I am an US citizen who was born in Boston, MA, but I have never lived in the US, nor I have studied there at any age. I go there every summer, and studied once for just 2 weeks 5th grade (elementary school). I am fluent in English and everything (it is not my first language though) My doubt is: when applying to college: will I be considered an International or an American student? I have always thought I will be considered American, but a person once told me that some colleges will consider me an International Student for the entire freshman year or something like that, is this true? I will appreciate your help!
You are considered an American student because you are a U.S. citizen.
I think what that person meant was that you would be considered out-of-state for (most?) public universities.
Exactly, both out of state and international students have the same tuition on public universities. Do you know if I would be considered out-of-state on a Massachusetts public university? My parents pay taxes there… if that is any useful info…
Look up the Mass. public university’s websites for their definition of who qualifies. Colleges’ criteria differ – even within the same state.
I am also studying abroad and my parents pay taxes to California, my home state, but I would be considered OOS for the UCs.
It probably varies for each state, so you should look up the requirements for your state’s residency.
Check out these sources:
http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/uploads/listWidget/28299/tuitionclassification_rules.pdf
http://www.umass.edu/dean_students/undergraduateresidency/
It totally depends on the college. For financial aid purposes, you will always be considered as US, which is a huge advantage at all schools, except public universities, where you’ll be out-of-state for them all.
For admissions, most colleges will consider you as an American living abroad, but again, you will really need to check with each prospective university.
Call the school.
You need to contact each college and university on your list, and let them know that you are a US citizen who has been educated abroad, and ask them what you need to do in order to apply for admission. Do not be surprised if each place has somewhat different requirements for your application.
If you have been attending schools where English is not the medium of instruction, most colleges and universities will require that you take the TOEFL, IELTS, or another English proficiency exam. At many colleges and universities, the admissions officer who is responsible for students educated in the country where you are living will be responsible for reviewing your application because that person is familiar with the educational system that you have been in.
For financial aid purposes, you will be treated as a US applicant. That means that you can file the FAFSA, and you are eligible for federal need-based grants and student loans. https://fafsa.ed.gov/
One good source of information for you is the closest EducationUSA advising center. Read through their website, and then contact the counselors there. If none of them have worked with a US citizen recently, they have colleagues in other offices around the world who have that kind of expertise. http://educationusa.state.gov/
A few other things to add:
FA for Publics - each state is definitely diff’t. Aralis is correct about Cali and the UC’s (info via a friend), but Texas allowed for residency for us, but each school had diff’t requirements. Be sure to talk to the schools in Mass that you’re interested in directly to find out the criteria. You may have to submit a ‘core residency’ form to establish eligibility.
FA for Privates - for Mass private schools, there may be state grant funds available (if you’re eligible for need-based aid). If so, you may need to go through the same process as for the publics. In Texas, some schools have a ‘core residency’ form that must be completed to determine if you’re eligible for state funds; there may be something similar in Mass. This is an inexact science and you shouldn’t expect the schools to handle it correctly. We had 1 school fail to recognize grant eligibility, one gave it automatically and the other required the ‘core residency’ form be completed. Be sure to ask about this.
Admissions - some schools treat folks like you separately, some as though you are international, some as though you’re a typical US citizen. As already suggested, find out from each school. From our experience Christian schools were more likely to treat you as though international, but some secular schools did. For example: Davidson didn’t have a separate app, but they treated the applicant as though part of the international pool. Some schools have you work with the intl adcon (such as Davidson), others with your normal state adcon, you just need to ask.
American University - American was unique among all the schools we’ve looked at. American treats US citizens abroad as a completely diff’t group and refers to them as ‘global nomads’, and they have separate application requirements. Probably specifically to attract the state dept kids living abroad. Whereas the Christian schools are likely targeting MKs living abroad (such as Wheaton and Calvin).
Freshman Orientation - Even though you’re American, if the school you decide on offers a special orientation for international students you should strongly consider attending. It may soften the landing.
Great info, thanks to everyone for your replies!
You get the benefits of bringing international diversity (ie., you’re considered among the international pool, sometimes within the smaller pool of Americans educated abroad but typically you’re compared to people from the same education system) and you’re considered American for financial aid purpose (ie., MUCH, MUCH easier than for internationals). Best of both worlds.
Unless your parents can satisfy the state residency criteria, u will be regarded as an OOS applicant to the public universities. Therefore, you’ll have no default in-state public university to fall back on as a dependable affordable option
^well, “best of both worlds” for private universities, obviously. 
Public universities will not take “international diversity” into account, unless they’re holistic in admissions, and very few are.
Another downside is that your PSAT score is in the “Private schools/international” category which is the highest cutoff.