Does it make sense to apply to UMichigan and UW-Madison as an international student?

I am an international student, and I am contemplating whether I should apply to UMichigan and/or UWM or not. It is paramount to me that I will be able to get some sort of financial aid as I can’t afford to pay $300k for 4 years. Do these universities offer this to international students? And would it even be worth the time to apply to these universities considering the amount they may give?

I think you’d have more luck getting money from private schools than with large publics.

Sounds like Michigan offers very limited funding for international students:

https://finaid.umich.edu/international-students/

Madison says your eligible but I am from Wisconsin and know VERY few kids who have gotten money from there. Here’s what their website says:

https://financialaid.wisc.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/

If you really want to go to either, you can apply, but I wouldn’t get your hopes up.

Public universities offer very, very little to international students. Many will admit international students BECAUSE they want the $300k.

Also, keep in mind, that many universities will offer you money – but expecting you to pay a great deal, too. Can you afford $150k? How much, exactly, do you have, and will you need?

These are the kinds of questions you must ask your family as you begin applying.

Bottom line, Wisconsin and Michigan may offer you something if you’re a superb student who can bring something unique to their campus. But it’s unlikely to be a lot, and you still will be expected to pay a lot.

This is also the case with all the other major public universities, although there are public schools which can be generous - University of Alabama, University of New Mexico, University of Wyoming are among them. No, they do not have international reputations and are located in less-desirable parts of the US. (Although New Mexico is indescribably beautiful… as are parts of Wyoming.) That is why they can be generous.

And yes, as it was mentioned above, you are likely to get more from private schools.

If you’re serious about studying in America, you must apply to many colleges of varying renown and varying locations.

I think that we could be more helpful if we knew more about your situation.

What can you afford? What are your grades and test scores like? What country are you from? What year are you in?

Also, what do you want from a university?

Why would you want to apply to these particular schools? I know people who graduated from both these schools and I have attended meetings at both of them. These are excellent schools. However, there are a lot of very good universities to choose from.

Just to give you a little background: I have good grades and test scores, and I am applying from Denmark. Denmark has ‘free’ education (not free at all FYI, it is prepaid through enormous taxes), so I wouldn’t be interested in attending college in the US if it will set me back 300k - then I would prefer to save the money for grad school in the US. I honestly have no idea how much I really can afford myself, but a guess would be that I through personal finances, national scholarships, support from the Danish government, and parental contributions would be able to pay 200k.

I have already applied to six schools in the US and I just figured that if UMichigan/UW-Madison were generous with the financial aid, I would probably apply there as well seeing as I have no plans for the next couple of days and thus could spend the time writing the essays.

However, I have no idea how much aid they typically award to international students, which is my main concern.

For my future college education, I mainly put great emphasis on the level of education.

Don’t expect any financial aid from Michigan or Wisconsin. You might qualify for a random $2,000 endowed or departmental scholarship, but it’s exceedingly unlikely that you’d receive assistance adding up to a 6-digit number.