Any chances for a full ride? Please help me out! (I am an international student)

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>So I'm planning to get an undergraduate degree in the US, but the thing is that my family cannot contribute much money, if any, so I definitely need a full ride scholarship or something very close to it. </p>

<p>I think I should briefly describe myself first. </p>

<p>My application should be pretty strong. I have an equivalent of 4.0 GPA (unweighted, I guess), 33 on ACT Plus Writing (E:31, M:32, R:34, S:36) which is in top 1% nationwide, and 106 on TOEFL IBT. The school system of my country doesn't offer AP or IB courses, but my school is one of top 20 high schools in my country and it has very rigorous course work. I also have 800s on SAT II Math 2, Chemistry and World History). </p>

<p>As for EC's I have lots to tell too. I've been a president of my school's engineering and robotics club for 2 years. I've created a device that got me to a national engineering competition and is now in use in several of schools in my city ( the device is automatic bell ringer. In my country this is still being done manually, and my device is a very cheap way to change it). Also, I became a finalist of an extremely selective US Department of State's program called Future Leaders Exchange. Of around 9000 applicants only 176 got selected as finalists. This program allows students to go to the US for 10 moths, to live with an American family and to study in American High school completely for free, it even pays me a scholarship. This is being done to develop a better understanding between our cultures. During my stay I organised quite a few events and presentations dedicated to share about my country, history and culture with the community that I lived in. I also organised a charity event, and did around 80 hours of community service. Technically, each finalist of the program is like an ambassador of his or her country. I think this will be a nice thing to add to my application.</p>

<p>Also, I can fluently speak 4 languages and play piano, guitar and drums (of which I won some awards too), and also there are really few applicants from my country (Ukraine), which can be a good thing as well, I believe.</p>

<p>As for colleges, my top choices are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Dartmouth, and Amherst. All 6 of them are need blind, and students from low income families -like me- don't have to pay anything. However, these schools are ridiculously hard to get in. It's more a matter of luck, and if I don't get in, I would like to have some safety schools to go to. The question is: if I apply to a school where I will be way above average, for example where the average ACT scores are 20-22 and 3.0 GPA, or even lower, should I expect getting a full ride? Or at least something close? </p>

<p>I really really want to go to a good school, but if I don't get in I would like to go at least somewhere. Unfortunately, I can't pay a lot and have to hope for a full ride.</p>

<p>I would really appreciate any help as well as some tips to strengthen my application.</p>

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<p>Yes those schools are need blind in their admissions but they do not state the will meet your full need. You need to check their websites in regards to Fianancial aid for International Students.</p>

<p>This is from Yales Website:
Yale’s financial aid policies for foreign citizens are similar to those for U.S. citizens: need-blind admissions and need-based aid. “Need-blind” means that Yale College admits students on the basis of academic and personal promise, without regard to their ability to pay. “Need-based” means that financial aid packages are based on individual needs assessments, not based on merit awards. International students are evaluated using a needs analysis that takes into account the relative differences between the US economy and the economy of students’ home countries.</p>

<p>This is from Harvard’s Website:
•60% of our undergraduates receive Harvard Scholarship.
•20% of our parents have total incomes less than $65,000 and are not expected to contribute.
•Families with incomes between $65,000 and $150,000 will contribute from 0-10% of their income, and those with incomes above $150,000 will be asked to pay proportionately more than 10%, based on their individual circumstances. Families at all income levels who have significant assets will continue to pay more than those in less fortunate circumstances.
•Two-thirds of students work during the academic year.</p>

<p>Check this link for Full rides: <a href=“Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Competitive Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;

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<p>Yes, but this one “Yale meets 100% of demonstrated financial need.” is also from Yale’s website. Any other of those 6 that I’ve mentioned are the same and I don’t think there will be problems with funding once I accepted to one of them.</p>

<p>What I’m asking is whether I’m likely to get a full ride if I apply to a school where I will be a lot more overqualified than a regular applicant</p>

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<p>Gumby, those schools are need blind for admissions and meet full need for international students.</p>

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<p>@thumper1: Thank you for correcting my information. I appreciate it.</p>

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<p>Those 6 are targets from almost all internationals that are in range academically because of that financial policy. they will have by far the most internationals in competition with you. You will have to do a lot of homework to figure out which additional to apply to.</p>

<p>You can’t assume a full ride from low avg stats colleges because some just don’t give those or give any to int’ls… Someone in the international forum gathered a large list of colleges that were known to give aid to internationals large enough to be significant but at varying levels.
<a href=“List of schools that give aid to international students - International Students - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/india/1502560-list-of-schools-that-give-aid-to-international-students-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also some of the ‘meets needs’ colleges that don’t guarantee it like the 6 may still meet your need.
<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014”>http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2013/09/18/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need-2014&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>There is the automatic full rides, see if any will honor that for internationals:
<a href=“http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/”>http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In addition, there is some Ukraine-American organization that helps kids with costs in some way. I don’t know the name of it but a friend of my daughter’s at Brown was associated with this group and got aid from them and used to go as a speaker to help raise money from Americans. That student was denied in his first round to Ivies+ and went to Univ of Kiev and was able to gain admittance to Brown in his second year of applications.</p>

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<p>@BrownParent thank you!</p>