We are just trying to start to understand the implications of having a kid who is American, will be applying to American universities, but has lived abroad her entire life.
Is she put into a pool with other international students and compared against them? Or is she is a pool with American students and compared with them?
Also we are hearing anecdotally from students in international schools in our city that those who are not US citizens (and therefore those who did not request financial aid) have had a higher admission rate to top US universities than those kids who are actually US citizens (and whose parents did complete and submit FAFSAs). The general feeling here is that all things being equal, US schools are admitting the kids who will be paying full tuition over those who cannot pay full tuition. Is this a reasonable assumption?
That last assumption would not be true for need blind schools. The truly top schools like Ivy and equivalents truly are need blind.
I am not certain on your questions. My perception is that you have the advantage to be in the US pool as far as that being 90% of the class slots available. The 10 or so percent that top schools usually give to international (while saying there is no quota per se) in much smaller amount of the class. However I think your application may be reviewed by the international adcoms for your region. Not entirely sure, maybe more answers will come to light.
I think it’s a reasonable assumption that, on the whole, applicants who don’t need any kind of aid tend to have an advantage – whether they’re citizens or int’l. But comparing int’l applicants who don’t need aid to Americans who do need aid is apples and oranges. You’d have to compare Americans who don’t need aid to int’l applicants who also don’t need aid to get a sense of whether there’s some kind of advantage.
And of course a lot of int’l applicants do need aid, too. We’re also US citizens overseas, and most of my son’s friends who are applying to the US are non-citizens shooting for scholarships/grants. They’re not poor by any means, but private colleges aren’t exactly cheap, and a few in this year’s batch have managed to get full rides, or said they did.
We are Americans living abroad. As an American citizen I think my daughter’s applications were handled as other US citizens, however, at one school she was assigned to an admissions counselor who served internationals.
You have to look at the school’s policy. Some are need blind for US citizens or perm residents, but not Intl citizens.
Your D may be pooled by region and her high school, but will be considered as a US citizen. That should also include the same FA opportunities available to US-based kids.
Will she be at a disadvantage? Not necessarily. But the hs experiences can be different, the opportunities, than in the US. You need to strategize. What sort of hs? You need a feel for how competitive the hs is and her own record.
Will your child need financial aid? If so, how much? Have you run any of the Net Price Calculators at the college/university websites? That will give you a ballpark figure for your costs.
Most colleges and universities in the US do not consider financial aid need in the admissions process. Of those, only a very small number guarantee to meet all financial need. This means that it is likely that the student will end up with any number of unaffordable aid packages, so the family should settle the issue of how much they can and will pay even before the applications go out.
There also some colleges and universities that have need-sensitive admissions. If they are running out of aid money, students who don’t need aid money are admitted, students who only need a little aid money are admitted and are offered that little bit of money, and students who need a lot of money don’t get admitted. There may be a current list of institutions in this category somewhere in the Financial Aid Forum. But generally, this information should be in the financial aid page of the institution’s website. If you can’t find it there, it’s OK to ask them.
Sit down with whoever it is who will be helping your child pay for college, and work through the numbers. Get a solid agreement on what you will pay each year, and for the number of semesters or years that you will pay that. Then let your child know the limits of your budget. Where other students apply, and where they attend, is pretty much immaterial. What matters is that your child can find a place that won’t wreck your own family’s finances, and where that child can get the educational foundation necessary for that child’s future career goals.
Based on your child’s SAT/GPA/major/location of interst, find likely colleges.
Run the Net Price Calculator for these colleges
If it is more than you like, choose colleges where her scores are above the 75% for non-ivy schools to increase chances for Merit
Is she getting an IB diploma? Look for colleges that give extra credit for that. E.g., SUNY Binghamton is an excellent value for out of state students and my DD was able to graduate a year and a half early due to credits (and a couple of summer courses)…that could be used to double major or study abroad or coop instead.
Being American overseas is no different when applying re: financial aid.
We were overseas when my oldest DD was applying…we did a trip back to the US for Junior year spring break to visit schools (summer would be fine too) and then she chose…never did any admitted students days or anything. All schools ahve an international orientation that is right before school starts.
You might qualify for instate tuition - ask your state schools if there are any residency questionnaires you need to complete and how residency is determined. I’m assuming you file taxes and have a permanent address in a specific US state - those would be the state schools to ask.
There are differing opinions on how ‘need blind’ schools really are. But if you need financial aid, you should definitely apply for it since it won’t help to be admitted if you can’t afford the school.
Here’s a link to my comment in a similar thread where I provided some opinions related to being an American applicant living overseas:
“I’m assuming you file taxes and have a permanent address in a specific US state - those would be the state schools to ask.”
MANY American citizens living abroad neither file taxes nor have a permanent US address (and they not required to do so). For those who do, @lz57c4 and @lookingforward are correct. For those who do not, however, in-state tuition is unlikely. Since the OP’s post that initiated this thread stated that the student had never lived in the US, I suspect it’s likely they are in the latter category (non-US taxpayers, but American citizens).
bopper, Binghamton gets students through as quickly as possible with the goal of efficiency. Students can get an education and some do. Others get a diploma. Either way they push them through efficiently and effectively. The 6 year graduation rate is very impressive. Many students do well. Others are left feeling like this writer- http://chronicle.com/article/How-I-Aced-College-and-Why-I/63791/
He is right when he says " I’m sure that a great many other colleges and universities are guilty of similar conduct." But this is not true of many great colleges and universities.
As an American living overseas myself, I have asked these questions many times to admissions officers of various colleges and universities. The answer?
It depends on the college. For some need-blind colleges, US Citizens living abroad are considered domestic in terms of financial aid, but their applications are read in a regional basis i.e. they are compared to other students applying to the same college from the same region. For other need-blind colleges, US Citizens applying from overseas are placed in a third “pool” of applicants (American Abroad vs. International and Domestic pools) for admissions, although you should verify this with each college individually.
As for financial aid, it would depend on whether or not the college practices need-blind admissions. For colleges with need-aware admissions, students who are able to fully pay the COA will have a higher chance of acceptance. For colleges with need-blind admissions, your kid will have an advantage in that they will be a US citizen and will be judged solely on their application. It may seem like more kids who can pay full freight are getting in for many different reasons, some of which include:
Most (local/international) kids in the area come from well-to-do families
The American:International student ratio is disproportionate
The non-Americans applying to college are applying to need-aware colleges while the Americans are applying to need-blind colleges.
It really depends on where you live, but it is unlikely that your last assumption is true.
This was 20+ years ago, but this is what happened to me:
I applied as a US citizen living in England. At the time I applied I was attending a US Dept of Defense HS. The official address used on all of my application materials was a US APO NY address.
The university I chose to attend seemed somewhat confused as to my status. For some things they treated me as a domestic student, and for others as if I were foreign–for example inviting me to a special early orientation for internationals.
The biggest surprise came end of 1st semester sophomore year. I was called down to the Financial Aid Office, and was informed, in a somewhat accusatory tone, that I had been receiving funds from an international pool; they had “just discovered” that I was in fact a US citizen. I told them I had never pretended to be anything but, and had used a US address and SSN for all forms and correspondence (except when asked for an address of physical residence), and it wasn’t my fault if they had mistakenly used the physical address instead of the official one.
Luckily, it all got straightened out and I was able to keep getting aid from the correct pool, but I just mention it as evidence that it can be confusing to schools; make sure at every step along the way they are clear as to your status.
If you attend a “local” school, you’ll be compared to students who attend this system; if many are also American citizens, you’ll be compared to them, otherwise you’ll be compared to “your” educational system’s pool.
If you attend an IB school, you’ll be compared to IB applicants from your region (or American applicants from the region, if there are enough).
For financial aid, you’ll be in the American pool (which is the best one to be in since you have access to all federal financial aid AND don’t have to jump through the extra hurdle/s that the international applicants with FA have to jump through.)
If you have a state of residence, you’ll be considered in-state, but it’s very uncommon. From that point of view, you lose out, because your child has no “instate” option.
UNLESS you are on a DOD base, in which case the Obama Administration passed a law that requires States to consider you instate for college purposes (and/or many states will consider that where you were stationed before is your “in state”).
You have access to all merit aid competitions and awards.
I don’t think having an in-state residency is “very uncommon” at all, though. I think most people working abroad for INGOs, State Dept, businesses etc have a state of residence. We do, and we’re permanent overseas residents, basically. But we still file taxes and vote in our US state of residence. Am I missing something?!? (I sure hope not!)
@MomOnALaptop - Over the years, a number of posters who have lived abroad have reported that their children weren’t considered in-state for college tuition and fees even though the family owned property and voted in that state. In some states each community college and 4-year public sets their own policies, so you may need to check each institution separately.
Yikes, @happymomof1, really?!? We’re in-state in MD: does anyone know that one? I’d think there would be so very many people who move in and out of the US from metro DC that there’d be State Dept and INGO employees camped out in protest on the university steps if it wasn’t an option, but I could be wrong. It’s actually unclear to me from college websites.
I don’t know what the rules are for MD, but you may want to start checking now. The last time I checked, it was possible for students to establish in-county residency on their own for Montgomery College. They needed to be living in MoCo for at least three months, and if asked, would need to provide evidence that they had covered more than 50% of their living expenses for the past 12 months. I have no idea how often they actually were asked about that.
