<p>I have a friend you wants to attend American schools, specifically UCSB. He is from Italy, but is an American citizen. My question is can he apply as non international? If so would it be better for him to apply as international or not, for his chances and fin aid?
Thank you</p>
<p>In addition he attended Italian schools and his maternal language is Italian, although he speaks English well.</p>
<p>He is a Domestic student for financial aid purposes. As a citizen, he is eligible to file the FAFSA and can be awarded federally determined financial aid. He also can get a job here and work during the school year. This is a HUGE advantage! It is extremely hard for international students to get any kind of financial aid!</p>
<p>He will need to contact each university that he is applying to to find out how they want to handle his secondary school records. It is possible that the international admissions officers at each place will have to be the ones to actually interpret his transcripts. He also needs to double-check with each university about whether he needs to take the TOEFL or another English placement exam.</p>
<p>Since he is a citizen, he does have the option of moving to the state where he would like to study, finding a job there, and living there for a year while he establishes formal residency. Each state has different rules about this, so he will have to check it out very thoroughly. For example, in Maryland he would be in-state for the community colleges after three months, but would need to live and work here for a year to be in-state for the public universities.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input happymomof1. It is very informative.</p>
<p>Does anyone else know how being Italian will affect admission chances?</p>
<p>It probably won’t matter that much. If Italians are underrepresented at the particular schools that he is applying to, it might help a little bit, but it’s not really a major hook unless he does something with it.</p>
<p>He won’t get aid at UCSB other than any federal money he qualifies for (max $5500) if he’s poor, they don’t give anything significant to OOS students, so he’ll pay $50K/yr. Happymom’s suggestionn on moving a year early and working generally does not work in CA.</p>