<p>My nationalities are French and German. I speak and write both languages fluently. I grew up in the United States, specifically California and left there when I was 14. I also have the Green Card! Right now I am in the German educational system and going to be getting my abitur(German equivalent to the high school diploma) in 2010. I definitely know that I want to study in the United States. My question is how does everything work for us international students. What is the timetable/schedule for applications and applying for aid? I will have to get financial aid, be it a loan or just some kind of help, as my parents will not be paying for college for me. So any help or tips or just info on how to do anything would be appreciated. Is it cheaper for me to live on campus or off-campus? How high are your average expenses a month and what kind of job do you have to support yourself outside of school?</p>
<p>I'm sorry I have no information on international students. But, I do have one question:</p>
<p>The USA mainstream media talks constantly about how the rest of the world looks down upon the USA. How Europe is much better and enlightened. So, why would someone from Europe (you say you have French and German citizenship) want to come and study in the USA? Wouldn't you want to study at the superior European schools?</p>
<p>
[quote]
What is the timetable/schedule for applications and applying for aid?
[/quote]
Start preparing for the SATs and researching colleges now.
Take the SATs in May, June, October or November. (You will probably need two sittings, one for the general test and one for the subject tests, and you may want to leave yourself enough time to retake one or both of them if you are not happy with your scores.)
Ask for 3 letters of recommendation (counselor, 2 teachers) in October, and start working on your applications.
Most application deadlines for Fall 2010 entry are between November 2009 and February 2010. Early decision and early action deadlines tend to be in November and December, and most selective colleges have regular application deadlines in January. That's also when financial aid applications are due.</p>
<p>
[quote]
will have to get financial aid, be it a loan or just some kind of help, as my parents will not be paying for college for me.
[/quote]
Is it because your parents cannot help you pay for college (i.e. you are poor) or because they don't want to? Those two situations will require different approaches. If you simply cannot pay, then you can apply for need-based aid. All of the colleges you would be interested in with a German Abitur offer need-based aid. If your parents could contribute something but don't want to, you should be looking at merit-based aid instead (i.e. scholarships). Those are given out for a variety of reasons, the most significant being academic and athletic. However, aiming for academic scholarships will entail applying to colleges you would usually not apply to because you have to be one of their very best applicants to receive a significant academic scholarship. The nation's best (or maybe I should say, most selective) colleges do not have any academic scholarships at all.</p>
<p>Since you probably would not qualify for in-state tuition anywhere, without any sort of financial support you would be looking at tuition charges between $10,000 (cheapest public universities) and $35,000 a year (selective private colleges). Your cost of living will vary by location, but it is safe to assume that you would need another $10,000 to cover incidentals and living expenses. Also keep in mind that you would have to pay for your own health insurance, which would cost another $1,000 to $2,000 a year. Note that American health insurances typically do not pay for everything, unlike the insurance you have in Germany. (A typical American health insurance might cover only 80% of your medical bills and not cover dental work at all, for example.)</p>
<p>Needless to say, American students do not work their way through college unlike their counterparts in Europe. A typical work-study job in the US will bring you $2,000 for two semester's worth of work, plus whatever you earn during the summer.</p>
<p>That could be personal choice, OperaDad. ratboy90 said that he was in California for a LONG time and maybe he thinks California is where he really belongs.</p>
<p>ratboy90, first thing you need to do, decide which colleges/universities are right for you. Check out the rankings, reviews everything you can find. See which ones suit you best. Consider everything, like cost, environment, majors, student body (everything you consider your priority) and match it with your profile (academic and EC, both). There are really good universities in California too!! So, make a list of these colleges.</p>
<p>Then, go to their website > admissions section > International Students > Details OR Entry Requirements OR statistics (You can see all the options there...)</p>
<p>To follow up on talha_adnan's suggestion: You should read all of the admission information for both domestic and international applicants that each college provides. The reason is that you have the education background of an international student so you might have to sit for additional tests (e.g. the TOEFL), but you are a domestic student financial aid-wise. Be careful to note exactly what does and does not apply to you in each case.</p>
<p>@ OperaDad - Don't pay attention to what the media says. There are just as many stupid Europeans as there are Americans. Second of all I consider myself American even though I don't have an American passport. BUT(!) I will be taking the American nationality after I move back to the United States. Last but not least: there are also the same amount of or even more superior schools in America than there are in Europe. And I want to major in English. Now try finding a university outside of England that allows you to major in English. Yeah, very little. Now don't mistake my tone, it's not agressive :P just wanted to clear some stuff up.</p>
<p>@ b@r!um - Thanks a lot for all that info. But do I also have to take SATs being a German educational student?
All that financial info was really helpful. So if I get this right American students typically don't work and go to college? But how do those that live off-campus pay everything then? Their parents certainly aren't going to want to pay everything?
As of right now I am seriously looking into the University of Florida, CSU Long Beach and San Diego State. MY choices are somewhat limited due to the tuition costs for out-of-state students.
Financially my parents are between being unable to pay and not wanting to pay for college for me.</p>
<p>So I will have around $12,000 of expenses. If I only get approximately $2,000 a year, where do I get the other $8,000? What should I do or would you recommend I do? Also what do students usually do? Or would it be easier for me to live on-campus? Although I have heard and read that this is more expensive than off-campus.</p>
<p>Thanks also for the tip on the fact that I qualify financial aid-wise as a domestic student. Didn't know that worked. I am also currently studying for the TOEFL which I will be taking soon.</p>
<p>I really appreciate all the help from you guys</p>
<p>Nationwide, the"typical" US college student works and goes to college. Nationwide, the largest number of college-age students are doing just that at local community colleges. Most of them are studying part-time. What is very difficult, is to work enough to support yourself and pay for full-time studies - even at a cheap California community college. It is almost impossible to put yourself through four years of private college/university by working except in the case of an ROTC scholarship which commits you to military service as an officer after graduation.</p>
<p>As a US permanent resident, you will be eligible for Federally determined financial aid (FAFSA). So, you must do everything within your power to maintain your legal residence in the US. Ask an immigration lawyer just exactly what you have to do to make this happen. You may need to travel to the US every 6 months or so, or get a Re-Entry Permit. DO NOT LET YOUR RESIDENCE LAPSE!</p>
<p>You may be able to recover your in-state residence in the last state of residence if you move there for college and make it very clear that you are a permanent resident of that state. Some states are more flexible about this than others are, so it may not be possible. Or it may be possible with some public colleges/universities in that state but not with others. It may be best for you to move back, get a job and live and pay taxes in the state you want to study in for a year before even applying to the closest community college. At that point, you would be a local/in-state resident based on your green-card status and on your physical residence, so your tuition would not be based on where your parents live. How this would be handled by a private institution could be another thing entirely.</p>
<p>As to how soon you would be able to become a citizen, that is something to take up with your immigration lawyer. You may have to start all over again with accumulating physical presence time, in which case it would be a minimum of 5 years unless you enlist in the US military.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
<p>Also, if you have a good academic standing, you could ask your native countries i.e. France and Germany to assist you financially. Check their criteria out... (Just for the financial assistance)</p>
<p>About the universities you listed - Maybe if you post your stats here, we can suggest you some good colleges!</p>
<p>
[quote]
But do I also have to take SATs being a German educational student?
[/quote]
Yes, you do.</p>
<p>
[quote]
So if I get this right American students typically don't work and go to college? But how do those that live off-campus pay everything then? Their parents certainly aren't going to want to pay everything?
[/quote]
happymomof1 already pointed out that most American college students actually attend cheap local colleges. (Thanks!) Those students who are lucky enough to attend a more expensive 4-year university as a full-time student are usually supported by others, e.g. their parents or financial aid. And yes, in the US (some) parents shell out tens of thousands of dollars a year to help their kids through college.</p>
<p>I am attending a private college where most students live on campus. Most students receive support for room and board charges of about $10,000 a year (mostly parents, some are on full financial aid) and work about 10 hours a week to pay for incidentals (textbooks, toiletries, entertainment, etc). </p>
<p>Living on campus may be cheaper or more expensive than living off-campus. The problem with living off campus is that many cities don't offer much in terms of public transportation. In that case you would either have to live within walking/biking distance of campus (where apartment prices are high due to high demand) or you would need a car to drive to school. The car would cost more than the money you save by moving off-campus, but it might come in handy for other purposes.</p>
<p>So, I haven't read what the others wrote, but I applied this year from Switzerland. I thought maybe it would help to see it from another european's perspective ;-)</p>
<p>I didn't know anything until last March, when I started reseaching colleges. First of all, go to collegeboard.com to sign up for the May SAT I. Then print out the practice test and do it - it'll give you a good enough idea of how it works. When I took the tests, I did well enough, but decided to take it again in December to get higher scores. </p>
<p>Then decide what you want from a school: Academics and what major - large or small, public or private, cheap or expensive - prestige? - compare the schools to your grades and then to your SAT scores and pick three you think you can get into and three you think you want to go to but are more competitive.</p>
<p>Then research! Check their websites, this site for opinions on them, google them,....</p>
<p>Depending on whether your family is rich enough to pay for college, you'll also have to look into financial aid. There are only about six colleges in the US that give equal financial aid to international students, and all are highly competitve (Ivy Leagues, like Harvard, Yale, Princeton.) Some other schools will offer you financial aid, just not as much. There are even some schools that will reject you if they see that you need too much financial aid.</p>
<p>Some good sites are The Princeton Review, Collegeboard and the other part of this site, Collegeconfidential. </p>
<p>During summer vacation, you should make your final decision on what schools you want to apply to. As soon as the common application becomes available, you should print it and take a look at it. </p>
<p>You can find that at the common application website (just google it). You'll have the option of applying online or on paper. As an international student, I would personally recommend applying on paper, because there are a lot of things that are hard to fill out for internationals without making little notes next to it. You can't do that if you apply electronically.</p>
<p>Also, write your essays during summer vacation. You'll be really glad you did, later. Your essays should be about something that makes you different, or special. They also should NOT be over 700 words, maximum.</p>
<p>Then, starting in August, check for supplements from the schools. Each school will require you to fill out another three or four sheets which ask for additional essays, personal questions and extracurriculars.</p>
<p>As soon as you get back to school, get your Rektor or priciple or whatever you have there to fill out the secondary school report and the international supplement to the secondary school report. You'll also need signed copies of your grades and translations, which my principle took care of for me.</p>
<p>i'll write more in a sec, have to go eat lunch, lol ;-)</p>
<p>ok, so...</p>
<p>In August at the VERY LATEST sign up for the October SAT's. I missed them, because I wasn't careful enough. ;-(</p>
<p>You have to take three SAT II's, which are also called SAT Subject tests. Choose three subjects you are good in, but not German or French, if you speak them fluently. You should tell them that in your application, and then show that you are good in other things, as well. I took the biology test, the french test, and the spanish test. The language tests are pretty basic, but not all languages are offered at all times - italian is, for example, not offered on the November test date. There's a complete list on the collegeboard website.
The other tests, like chemistry and biology, you should definitely look over before taking. There is an official practice book you can buy for 30 euros at amazon.de or something similar,and it has one of each test in it. Then you can decide which you will take. If you have trouble with the tests, there are also seperate books you can find, for example a SAT chemistry book (by The Princeton Review) that tells you everything you need to know for the test.</p>
<p>So if you do everything right, you'll still have the November date and the December date to retake the SAT I's and the SAT II's, if they do go so well.</p>
<p>If there is a school that you would go to no matter what, it might be smart to apply Early Decision (ED). You have a slightly bigger chance of acceptance, but you will generally HAVE to go. Early Decision deadlines are generally in November. You can only apply ED to ONE school.</p>
<p>RD (Regular Decision) deadlines are generally dec. 31st or jan 1st. But it's a good idea to get them in by dec. 15th, or even dec. 1st. Don't worry if your test results aren't in by then. You have to send your test results to all the schools, by the way. You designate schools to receive your scores when signing up for the tests. You can send them to four schools for free, each school more will cost 9 USD.</p>
<p>You should also make copies of everything before sending stuff off. That way, you won't have to redo everything if your applications get lost.</p>
<p>When you have everything sent off, you should look into interviews. Interviews are different for every school - sometimes you have to contact them, sometimes they will contact you.</p>
<p>That's all I can think of at the moment. You'll be doing most of this yourself, because that's how it is for internationals. Do you still have contact to your old guidance counselor from the US? Perhaps he could help as well.</p>
<p>Feel free to send me any private messages if you have any questions. It's nice to know there's someone who will be able to answer your numerous questions ;-). I'm still waiting on my decisions, btw. It's a long and hard process for internationals, so be ready for lots of work and a long wait.</p>
<p>Viel Glück! Ich hätte eigentlich das Ganze auf Deutsch schreiben können, oder? Naja, lol ;-)</p>
<p>you can also apply for federal financial aid at the FAFSA website. That way, the US government will, depending on how much your parent earn yearly, pay for part of your college tuition.</p>
<p>back from the dead after I caught a harsh cold. </p>
<p>First of all to sev1991 thanks a lot for all of your help. I will be coming back on your offer in case I need help. </p>
<p>Thing is now that I'm a bit confused. I'm gonna graduate from "high school" in the school year of 2009-2010. Could you give me a rundown with month/year of when I should do what? That'd be really helpful because I am totally confused and lost. </p>
<p>I have more questions to come. I'll post them later though because I'm still in the process of getting them all together. </p>
<p>Thank you guys so much for all your help so far!!</p>
<p>Apply for fall 2010
Take SATs and SAT 2 and/or TOEFL, ACT (as appropriate) by Dec 2009 for some places, JAN 2010 for nearly all places, and Nov 2009 or earlier for ED 1
Start looking for colleges ... now!
Decide on colleges by May/June 2009
Work on applications give rec forms to teacher counselors employers etc June_ aug 2009
Send Apps by jan 1 for most places</p>
<p>I agree with Karpov. Start looking for colleges ... now! And don't stop.
Keep participating in discussions here at CC. Its like GOLD, seriously! You can get so much help that you can't even imagine. I wish I had been smart and found out about this site last year. :(</p>
<p>Anyway, the good part is, you still have A LOT of time. :)</p>
<p>"Wouldn't you want to study at the superior European schools? "</p>
<p>You really can't say Imperial is superior to Caltech, MIT, Stanford...</p>
<p>whatever you do, I would STRONGLY recommend signing up for the May SAT I's THIS MONTH. Do this at collegeboard.com. Before going, take a practice test at collegeboard, as well.
Then, even if you do badly, you can still repeat it after summer vacation, and you'll know what you have to work on and how the test works - you'll feel a lot more confident the second time around :)</p>
<p>Hello ratboy90, your college financial aid situation is going to be very different according to whether or not you are still a U.S. legal permanent resident. I understand you have a "green card" but if you have been out of the country for a certain amount of time that document may no longer be valid, and/or you may have to file some forms with a U.S. embassy before you attempt to reenter the United States as an LPR. If you PM me I can try to point you in the right direction, but you may ultimately need to consult an immigration attorney.</p>
<p>What a fitting screename, AmicusPeregrini. :)</p>
<p>Thanks :) Though it's probably wrong - I only know random bits of latin from legal documents and have no idea about declinations.</p>