(1) If LaPlata is too far, Harvard is more than 5000 miles farther.
(2) How many students from Argentina get the kind of support you need in the US? I’d guess a dozen, but probably not two. (MIT takes one student every other year). As you say, if lots of Argenine students are looking for a way out, you’ll have lots of competition. Why you?
You need a very good answer to that question, and it needs to be the centerpiece of your application. I’m afraid “because I am academically stronger than anyone you are likely to find in the USA” probably will not fly.
I did attend MIT as an international student. However, this is critical: I had an affordable safety in my home country (actually in my home city). Also, I would have been happy to attend my affordable safety. Similarly, @Leods needs to make sure that they have an affordable safety in their home country.
I had a few other advantages, such as the fact that Cambridge, Massachusetts was only a five hour drive from my parent’s home. In contrast, I have done the flight from Boston to Argentina (with an intermediate stop). It is a long way and just the flight by itself is not cheap.
I agree with what I see as the overall sentiment of this thread: Apply to a few schools in the US, but be aware that it is long shot.
Hm, i think i see your point. I could answer the specifical arguments (about La Plata’s distance being a problem but Harvard’s not, or about how living out of the state’s help in my country would be not just hard, but also immoral and go against my principles), but i don’t think that’s what this questions are aimed for, right? I do have to think at a more abstract level, probably, which sadly cannot be quantified
Thanks, this is indeed a challenge
Need-blind for internationals is clearly better than not being need-blind. But don’t assume that the other schools are strictly full-pay.
As I’ve heard it described, albeit for domestic students, a lot of schools try to act need-blind for most of their admissions process. Then they’ll realize that they are running out of aid money and become “aware” for the tail end of accepted candidates. A school that only accepts 5% of its class in a need aware fashion is different than one that accepts 50%.
Of course, this means that you should position yourself as highly desirable rather than a marginal applicant, to avoid being in that tail.
You can look at the Common Data Set for each school to see how much money they actually pass out to internationals. In my experience, that varies quite a bit. This may give you a better feel for the reality you are facing.
Another thing to consider. It is highly probable that you will be required to return to your home country after undergrad school here (should you get accepted ).
I don’t have a problem with that. 4 years with a dolarized salary (even one as low as 13 dollars per hour) would already make me upper class in Argentina. A 20/h is already enough to be completely independent and buy myself a nice little house, plus live a comfortable life.
However, I’m curious about that. I understand they might kick you out of the campus once you end your grades, but do they actually deport you? Like, even if i tried to get the nationality and all that stuff they’d still be able to force me to go back to Argentina? That’s pretty weird imo
I’m not sure what you mean by 4 years of a dolarized salary. Students on students visas are extremely limited in how much they are allowed to work and I believe they are only allowed to work on campus. The amount you make will be enough for spending money.
After you graduate you must the country leave as your student visa expires when you are no longer a student. The exception is in certain stem majors, you can get permission to stay for a year to work at a job in your field. After that you have to leave unless you find an employer to sponsor you.
No, I’m sorry that you haven’t been exposed to how immigration works in the US, and, it is definitely not considered “weird”. These are the current laws of US Immigration for a student visa.
The immigration service will grant your student visa, IF you are accepted to a US college or university. If you get in, the universities/colleges will educate international students but, that’s it. You are a guest of the university. Once you graduate, they are under no obligation to find a sponsor for you, nor seek employment for you. You allowed to work about 10 hours per week while in school and usually on campus. This income will cover basic expenses for toiletries and some entertainment. You cannot work outside of the campus because you will not have a work visa to legally work in the US.
Once you graduate, you’ll receive your diploma, and your student visa will expire. You need to save your income to fly home because you wont be able to afford to live in the US (rent an apartment or eat) without income. If you get the chance to do an OP internship, then you may do a year or two as an intern and then, after that, all bets are off. You cannot work legally in the US without permission to work from the US government. Many corporations indicate this on the websites of their career pages: “This company does not currently sponsor non-US citizens for employment”. Work visas are impossible to get. Too many people waiting in decades long lines.
The law is that the US government requires employers to employ US citizens and permanent residents first. Employers must seek out US candidates before even considering a non-citizen and typically do not want to sponsor non-citizens, not only because of the paperwork and expense, but also because there are new US grads who can fill those positions without the hassle of trying to sponsor a non-citizen.
There are too many international students who make the mistaken assumption of believing that once they get into a US college, that they will graduate and will live in the US, with immigration soon to follow. You need to be aware that the universities will educate you and then, you return home. Nothing else is promised to you. You wont be able to afford to live in the US if you are not allowed to work. It is very expensive to live in the US.
In order to reside and work in the U.S. you require the proper visa status. International students are here pursuant to F-1 visas. As others stated any employment you secure during college will only suffice for spending money. Once you graduate you will be eligible for an F-1 Optional Practical Training EAD card valid for 12 months. You will have to find employment in your field of study. If you complete a STEM degree you will be eligible for a further 24 months of Optional Practical Training. If you wish to remain in the U.S. and remain employed you will need to enter the annual H-1B visa lottery (for the current year less than 20% of entries were selected–this is a random lottery) and if successful you can remain in the U.S. There are caveats though: you need to find a U.S. employer to sponsor you for an H-1B visa AND the offered role must be considered a “specialty occupation” by the USCIS (think Interior Designer, Software Engineer, Accountant, etc. not English Teacher, Human Resources Generalist, Payroll Specialist, etc.) and the U.S. employer must pay prevailing wage. I think you should totally apply to a top U.S. university but be aware of what lies ahead. Wishing you the best of luck.
"The law is that the US government requires employers to employ US citizens and permanent residents first. Employers must seek out US candidates before even considering a non-citizen . . . "
This only applies when sponsoring a foreign national for an employer-based Green Card. This criteria does not exist for H-1B foreign nationals.
You can’t directly apply for citizenship. There’s a long, complicated and expensive process to get work sponsorship and then a green card, as @janehoya explained above. Applying for citizenship comes way after that.
International students can actually work up to 20 hours per week while studying, but that still just lets you cover some expenses at a student wage.
It is against the law to overstay your visa. No one is likely to come and chase you down, but there is a chance of getting caught and expelled if you are entangled with the law for some other reason (perhaps a traffic accident?). Without proper status, you’d only be able to work irregular jobs - often these are farm labor, small scale construction work, cleaning services. Those jobs typically don’t require a Harvard degree in any case. Perhaps more importantly for you, if you ever leave the country after overstaying, that will be marked on your file and you’ll be unlikely to be admitted to the US ever again. Workers without visa status are often “trapped” in the US for this reason.
Do not think that attending college in the United States is a path to citizenship. It is not. Full stop.
Your visa to study here will end when you get your bachelors degree. Unless you are successful in gaining some other kind of visa to be in this country, you will be here illegally….with no visa.
Plan to return to your home country after you get your bachelors.
Great point.
And conversely, the jobs that do require college degrees are at companies that will not hire people who are not authorized to work legally in the US.
Thanks to all of you, i was a bit confused about the visa stuff so this is really helpful. I just thought it was weird because here in Argentina most (and im not even sure if this is legal, but it certainly is what happens) just enter, study, and then dacide if they’ll stay or not (now that i think about it, this might be historical. Argentina is a country of immigrants, it has always been). Just like that, we don’t have such strict limitations (actually, being deported here is something very extreme that usually happens just to criminals), and i wrongly assumed it was like that on the USA. Which was stupid of me tbh, since there has been a lot of political discussion about the whole immigration thing.
Got it, if I go there it’ll be just for the degree (and other stuff i might get there, like contacts and friendships), thank you very much
For your best chance of attending a top U.S. college with an excellent math program, you may want to research colleges that may not consistently enroll students from Argentina, such as Haverford, Amherst and Hamilton. With respect to likelihood of admission, your SAT result, when available, will offer you some indication of this.
