Does taking AP courses help you in getting financial aid for college.I’m an international student.
No. Financial Aid is based on need and whether the college can afford to do that, particularly for international students (most colleges don’t offer FA to internationals). What AP courses do is to increase your course of rigor which potentially will get you entrance to some schools that do offer FA to internationals.
Does it help in merit scholarships ?
It could help. It depends on whether the merit scholarship counts that as a consideration. Most merit awards look at SAT and ACT test scores, grades/class rank, and whether there is something about you that the school wants more of so it will pay for you to come to them. So something unusual, relatively scarce and that the school wants.
Where are you? What kind of high school are you enrolled in?
If you are studying at a high school in the US in non-immigrant status, go talk with your guidance counselor about where students like you have been admitted and whether or not they got the aid they needed. If you are the first person at your high school with your visa type, ask your guidance counselor to help you get in touch with a counselor at a nearby high school who knows about students like you.
If you are outside the US, and you are studying in a school that does not offer AP courses, stop worrying about this. Colleges and universities here do not expect students in that situation to take AP courses. Instead they expect them to do very well in their own national educational systems.
If you do well in AP classes such that you do well on AP exams, you’ll be able to get college credits (for some schools), which may save you a great deal of money. I’ve heard of people who start college as a sophomore due to their AP credits, it’s very probable.
Are you abroad and enrolled in a recognized curriculum (ie., A Levels, CBSE, Baccalauréat, Maturità…?)
Im in saudi arabia but im enrolled in an international high school and studying the american curriculum.