Hey guys. I wonder if someone could let me know which of these universities are worth applying to? As an international student I don’t know a lot about the reputation of these places. I searched for these universities using the collegeboard search tool with my only requirements being that they are in California/Arizona and offer funding for international students. I would need pretty much 100% needs based or merit aid, give or take a few thousand of my own savings.
I sat my SAT on the 3rd of this month so I don’t have my score yet but on the practice tests i was getting between 1830-1950/2400
As far as my GPA goes… I’ve received an ‘A’ grade so far but I sit my exams next year and I’m predicted all A’s. So this would be a 4.0 unless I’m mistaken?
I have very few mentionable extra curricular’s. I’m learning Spanish by myself, I’m learning bass guitar, I play roller derby and I have a very low-key amateur business walking dogs around the neighbourhood.
Admissions may look down on me because of my past though, I suffered with mental illness throughout high school and college and have failed at a lot of things and gotten bad grades because of it so my transcript will be terrible.
Here is my list of possible colleges to apply to:
‘Reach’:
UCLA (I've heard different things about whether they offer funding for internationals)
University of Southern California (Offers merit but not need)
University of California: Santa Barbara (Can't find anything about aid)
Match/Safety
University of San Diego (Cant find anything about aid)
Cal State: Fullerton (Offers need aid for internationals)
I just posted a topic with a very similar situation! I’m also applying to America from the UK
What year are you in? Are you predicted all A’s in A-levels or AS, etc?
I heard that situations like yours can make for some great recovery stories in application essays!
I know I can’t help too much since I’m asking a similar question myself, but I know a girl who got into University of Southern California. She had 3 A-levels of grades A,A,B in Psychology, English and Geography. I think she’s taking psychology there.
She had 10 GCSEs with 2As, 3As and the rest Bs.
I know her SATs were at 2020 but I don’t know about subject tests.
UC colleges don’t even give aid to out if state students, let alone internationals. I thought the same was true for all CSU colleges as well. A school like Pitzer may meet need, but they are not need blind in admissions for internationals, so if you need a lot of aid, your odds of getting in go down significantly. Some schools don’t commit to meet need for any students (I am betting San Jose State falls in that category, but did not look it up). So in that case, you probably will have a gap between what they offer you and what you can pay.
Also, do you know that to get any aid, you need to provide your parents’ income & asset info?
Oooh, studying A-levels at home must be so hard! That could also work for good essays
Are you applying for British Unis as well as American? And yea, I find the British system so much easier to deal with!
I know that American unis have a tendency to look at applications as a whole though, whereas in the UK, if you don’t meet certain grade requirements your application is automatically put in the denied pile.
My SATs are really bad for my dream uni (my chances are minimal at best), so I kind of understand where you’re coming from.
@Zekkia09 Assuming you have a 1900+ sat score you haven’t mentioned your A levels I would assume they are 3A’s and your gcse’s mostly A’s and A*'s then UCLA would be a reach, USC a reach and UC Santa Barbara you actually stand a decent chance. In terms of aid I would say apart from pitzer which is extremely selective none of the universities you mention are likely to give you any aid let alone 100% aid. However, have you heard of private loans? If your an international students and happen to know a us citizen or green card holder with good credit history willing to sponsor you then you could get a private loan covering 100% of your university costs.
You could send the approved loan to the university and they would accept it as a source of funding. The issue here is graduating with over $200,000(£130,000) worth of debt and slightly higher interest rates to repay it. However you get to determine how long you take to repay the loan. This leads me to another question, do you plan on working in the us after graduating? For most private loans you can start repaying 6 months after graduating. Anyway, this seems to be the only option for you to pay these universities. Hope this helps and good luck.
Edit: You mention you have a record of bad grades but you don’t have to mention them on your transcript as they would only care about gcse and A levels. I know a guy with average gcses that got into UCLA with AAA predicted grades last year. After he received his unconditional offer it seems that he stopped trying to aim for the A in further maths and got AAB. Most of the other universities you mention with the exception of Pitzer don’t care too much and would probably admit you at BBB on your A levels.
Thanks for your reply. I am so confused. I’m hearing lots of different things from different places about which universities offer aid. According to collegeboard all of those universities offer needs-based aid to international students. The websites are a maze also
Also, I dont think my parents income would come into it as I’m 21 and I don’t live with them.
Would you suggest I just apply and hope for the best?
@ali1302 It doesn’t look like im going to be able to go to any university in the US it seems I’ve spent a year doing my AS levels to go and months revising for the sat and travelling across the country to sit it. And trips across the country to seminars about US study. I’m going to be absolutely devastated if I don’t get accepted anywhere, or If i do get accepted theres no way I’ll be able to afford it.
I don’t know a single US citizen so loans are not an option either.
It’s not looking good.
@Zekkia09 You would get accepted at most these universities but what’s the point of getting admitted to a university you can’t afford to attend? If you could tell me the maximum amount of income you would be able to contribute each year at uni then I could tell you whether you could pay most of these unis. Also,Parent income counts and age is rather irrelevant here.
In terms of loans you just need to know any green card holder/citizen willing to sponsor you could be a relative?There is another private loan that requires no sponsor but in my opinion the interest rates are too high. Anyway if you mention the max you can pay then I could recommend unis where you have a realistic chance of attending.
@Ali1302 I can have about £4,000 saved up by next August if I eat nothing but toast until then haha.
I don’t know the exact amount that my parents earn but its very little.
I don’t know anyone with a green card or a US citizen unfortunately so loans aren’t an option either.
@Zekkia09 What do you think would be the max amount your parents would be willing to contribute ranging from £10,000 to £30,000 a year. Also, did you ever attend a private school/sixth form and if so then how much did your parents have to pay?
@ali1302 I’ve never had this conversation with them as I thought they were exempt from contributing but probably around £10,000 a year. College fees are upwards of around $30,000 though so that wouldn’t help much I don’t suppose.
I’ve never attended a private school or sixth form.
Americans in your position might well go to community college first. The idea that the US is an option is really for people with money or internationally competitive stats. In the UK you are a mature student. Use that maturity to look at what options you have there. A USA 4 yr uni for a 21 yr old with your stats and 4K is a pipe dream. What are your actual uni options in the UK?
@Zekkia09 Lets say you can contribute $19000 a year from both your money and your parents money you would need to go to a college that would provide you with aid ranging from $35,000 to $42,000. Alright, the first uni I would recommend is Lawrence university that would accept you if you can contribute at least $18,000 a year,
Second is St Lawrence university that provides average aid of $38,000 given that you have above average stats on your sat or act + above average gpa, Bard college also provides a lot of aid +$40,000 if you have above average stats, The university of Alabama offers full tuition scholarships for internationals with a +3.5 gpa and a +32 ACT score or +1400 on SAT reading+math.
Here is a list of colleges/ unis that give over $35,000 aid to over 60% of international students(with average aid given):
Bard $43146
Bates $52427
Colby $50080
Connecticut $49126
Dickinson $31882
Earlham $40937
F&M $37432
Furman $32370
Grinnell $36837
Hamilton $36837
Kenyon $39737
Lafayette $40358
Lewis&Clark $32370
St. Olaf $35410
Trinity $51003
Whitman $37133
Williams $54671
Middlebury $43708
Macalester $42854
Colorado $42025
St. Lawrence $37020
Washington and Lee $49860
Colleges that give more than $35000 dollars to 40-59% of International students:
Colgate $49126
Skidmore $53600
Vassar $47509
Carleton $34708
Davidson $39217
University of Richmond $45527
Gettysburg $44892
Bowdoin $43421
Union $34264
Most international students for these colleges are only expected to contribute $10,000. Therefore it is realistic to study in the us but you have to have good stats and it is competitive.
Edit: A lot of these colleges are high ranked. It helps that applying as a british citizen is an advantage since most these unis don’t have as many british students so georgraphic region could work to your benefit.
@Ali1302 Thanks for the list, I’ll have a look at each one, you’ve been way more helpful than the collegeboard search has been. I’ll have to have a chat with my parents about what they could contribute and wait and see what my SAT score is.
@Alfonsia I’m aware that its a very unattainable dream but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to give it my best shot at least.
I actually looked into community college and its very affordable with my savings and my parents contribution but from what I remember, when you apply you have to show them a bank statement proving that you have the full amount in. I’d probably be able to afford it but only with a payment plan, preferably monthly, but I don’t think they offer this to international students.
But almost none (if any) of those colleges are need blind when accepting internationals. So you need to have stats well above the average for their applicant pool.
@intparent That isn’t necessarily always true. I’ve heard of international students with average or below average stats get full aid from some of these schools. However, most of these students come from underrepresented countries such as sub-Saharan countries and have very poor backgrounds. I think geography matters since most schools want a diverse class of internationals, hence why it is very tough for Indians and Chinese applicants to get full aid because a school can’t simply fill itself with indian and chinese internationals. However, for the most part I guess what you say is true for the average international student.
Thanks very much for your help guys!
All I can do is apply and hope for the best.
One last thing, it would be a lot easier and cheaper and way more realistic to go to community college. Do you know whether they allow applicants to pay monthly or does it have to be all at once?
I am sure the UK isn’t going to be considered under-represented, though. You will have to look at each CC’s website to see if they have payment plans. Usually payment is due at the start of the semester. Be aware that in most states, living there for a couple of years to attend a CC will not make you an in-state resident at public universities for tuition purposes.
