Well, you did say:
Which suggested you didn’t really have a good understanding of public universities. But regardless, there are publics that provide merit aid to internationals that will get your cost to $20k but they aren’t the top 20 publics.
With a top 20 CS program, UMD is selective as you said - but I don’t believe they offer merit scholarships to international students. UMBC (Baltimore) does, but not the flagship.
Generally speaking, unless the criteria specifically state that the Honors scholarships are for US citizens only (some UMBC scholarships are, for instance, so that diversity encompasses US diversity and not the world’s; Banneker-Key and Dean’s are, too) otherwise they’re open to all.
Specifically, you’re right: it may be easier for this poster to skip applying to UMD altogether.
I think many posters took issue with the word “cheap”, but in many languages there’s no difference between “cheap” and “inexpensive”, and this poster clearly meant “less expensive than top universities yet out of reach financially”. Internationals aim for LACs and T20 universities bc they’re the only ones offering sufficient FA to a few lucky individuals.
@clockila: being full pay is an ENTIRELY different ballgame.
Getting back to your original question…you have a chance of being accepted. You also have a chance of not being accepted to these highly competitive schools. So…apply and see.
If money really IS a huge issue for you, keep in mind that there can be thousands and thousands of dollars of difference between the need based aid at one full need college vs another.
And as noted by others here, there are some fine programs that offer very excellent merit aid to student like you that could bring your costs down to your price point. You might want to consider those at least.
Regarding an aspect that appears frequently overlooked, a general T20 ranking wouldn’t necessarily exclude or include LACs. This source offers one example:
It should be noted, however, as a major shortcoming, this source appears to have omitted from consideration colleges that were fully test optional at the time the underlying data were collected.
There are plenty of state schools that will be affordable for you if you apply to them. You do not seem to understand that.
Here is just 1 example for you at a reputable state school in TX:
https://www.depts.ttu.edu/scholarships/Images/2022_2023FreshmanMerit.png
You will get an OOS tuition waiver plus the indicated amount based on GPA/rank/SAT. There are many other schools like TTU. The problem is that most international students are either not aware of them or think they are competitive for top schools.
Without knowing more about them it is hard to judge. I assume they were domestic applicants? Scores, hooks, URM, rank etc. all come to play.
I assumed this also (what other college would do ED there?) I was wondering about this, and affordability. I know NYUAD is very generous to Emirati nationals, but OP isn’t one (if I understood correctly) and I’m not sure that it would be much more affordable than US colleges. They talk about need-based aid to other applicants but they don’t seem to mention meeting full need.
of course, if this is the college OP is talking about, the other problem is that they have a 4% admit rate. I don’t think anyone can talk about “solid chances” with those kind of numbers, even ED.