Double major for foreign students

Hi everyone! I hope you have a good day , I’m a foreign student in 11 grade . I’m an from North Africa and I’m interested in the double major program in the U.S. I wanna do the combo between theatre and engineering , it’s quite a combe i know! but the thing is : i don’t know how to start my research about the scholaships because i can’t afford the costs , therefore , im willing to win a full scholarships that cover all my financial needs during my college studies , i hope u help me to find a scholarships , to give me any information that might help, likewise to let me know if this kind of scholarships are affordable or not!

Thank you for your hep and advice, have an amazing day and i hope you find your path too!!

You have taken an extremely hard challenge- getting a US college or university to give you a free college education- and made it harder. There are very few places that will accommodate an engineering/theatre combo. A few will let students do a dual degree (you get a BA in theatre and a BS in engineering), but most schools will not do a double major in engineering and theatre. Getting through a dual degree in 4 years (which is how long most scholarships are) is harder again (finishing engineering in 4 years is tough enough in its own right).

Take a look at colleges like Lehigh and Bucknell for an example of each path.

Are you certain about double majoring? In the US you can usually take classes in other subjects (mixing engineering and arts can be tricky, but it can happen), and you can participate in theatre without majoring in it.

Do you have grades, test scores and teacher references that will demonstrate that you are the outstanding student who should get this chance?

eta: Great example- but PSU will not give you a full scholarship. Theatre meets engineering at Penn State Berks | Penn State University

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I second the difficulty of double majoring if one of those majors is engineering. A minor may be more doable and open up more potential colleges.

You may want to look at schools like Northwestern that are on a quarter system which allows for more courses during the school year and typically lend themselves better to double majoring or adding minors.

Agree with the above poster that your biggest challenge will be getting the financial aid you need. Full ride scholarships are extremely competitive and there are not many schools that are need blind for international students.

As an international student, this will be challenging for you.

If you are looking at doing a Bachelor of Fine Arts as part of your theater studies, you will need to do an audition. The strength of this audition relative to others also auditioning will determine any merit aid you might receive. It won’t be a full free ride.

Engineering is a very demanding major. Frankly, I think it will be challenging to double major in engineering and theater, but that discussion belongs in a different thread.

Re: aid. What is your GPA? Have you taken the SAT or ACT? What is your family income?

There are only five VERY competitive colleges here that meet full need for all accepted international students…AND are need blind for admissions. This means that at most places your level of financial need will be considered when your application for admission to full need schools is considered.

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The best scholarships come from the universities themselves. They continue for all four years. Since you can not afford to attend a university without a full ride, you are going to struggle to find a college that will accept you with full funding. You have to be the best student in your country to get admitted to some of these schools that meet need.

Another issue is that you don’t seem to understand how time-intensive each area of study is in a university. Students typically don’t “double major” in vastly different disciplines because it would be a logistics nightmare in planning and time. A number of engineering majors are now taking five years to finish their degrees.

Also, if you are accepted into an American university, you are a guest of the US, and are expected to return to your home country after graduating. A US college will educate you, but that’s it. As a nonresident, you won’t have permission to work. Hopefully, your country will have jobs for you in, either, engineering or theater.

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If you cannot afford to pay for university, then you are going to need a LOT of financial aid to study in the US. Getting a lot of financial aid as an international student is very difficult. Also, aid in nearly all cases runs out in 4 years. This means that you will very likely need to pick a major that you can complete in 4 years.

I think that you need to pick one between theater and engineering.

International students are usually required to return to their native country after graduating from university in the US. Therefore it would make the most sense to pick the major that will lead to a good career in your own country.

There are quite a few engineering and computer science and math majors who are quite good at music. I have attended open mic’s and been surprised more than once to see an engineering friend get up on stage and play (and play very well). To me it seems like doing engineering to make a living and theater on the side is sort of vaguely similar and is a reasonable combination.

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As a reference….family member here was a professional theater technician for years (he advises anyone majoring in theater to get tech experience because that can actually lead to more jobs than on stage). He was a master electrician and sound freelancer in NYC, then for a smaller regional company.

Went back to college and completed an engineering degree.

Worked as an engineer, but had lots of involvement in civic theater productions for fun.

Is that something you could do in your home country?

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Hello Madam! first I would like to say that I really appreciate your help, thank you!! I haven’t though that people might help me to find a scholarship. In my country, we cannot study two different majors , and even if we choose one we won’t be able to have another not even as an extra class.

I’m studing so hard so get a scholarship , and i’m up to do anything to win this change. Here in my place we cannot even study engineering unless we study two years as a training to get there , so it means 6 or 7 years instead of 4. As for an acting school, there is only one in the WHOLE country, and only 30 people get excepted each year.

Thank u again!!! And please if you know any skills or competences needed to get one , advice me.

Thank you so much madam for your help! Would you please explain to me what is a difference between a minor and a major please? I’m not quite familiar with the american education system.

I extremely appreciate your tips , thank you!!

A minor is a group of courses in one area. It is clearly defined by each college and is not the same higher standards as a major.

You cannot minor in engineering anywhere here that I can think of.

If you want a bachelor of fine arts in theater, I don’t think you can minor in that either.

BUT you can be an engineering major and at some colleges, you will find active groups for students who are not majoring in theater.

BUT the cost of attendance really is your issue. You say you need 100% funding. To get that, you would need to be a tippy top student in your country who has significant financial need. MIT, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Amherst (I think those are the five schools that BOTH meet full need AND don’t look at your financial need as part of the application process) have single digit acceptance rates for international students. So you need to clear that bar first.

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First of all I wanna thank you for your help!!

I don’t know what is my GPA exactly for an american grade but i mostly get an A !

GPA is grade point average!

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about my family income tho, it’s very low and that why i’m trying to get a scholarship, because I always wanted to study abroad but my circumstance doesn’t really help .

Thank you for your help again and have a great day madam !!

Well, i just checked on the internet and based on my contry grading system , i have an A+?
Do you think that might be good ? Please let me know , thank you.

Your grades will help. But are you a top student in your country? For the theater part…do you have significant experience that you can put on your application. If acting…can you get someplace for auditions?

There are thousands and thousands of international students applying for engineering in the United States. Even students with tippy top stats get declined.

You need a Plan B.

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To be honest, i always had acting as a hobby but i never playing in front of an audience nor having classes , but i love acting and i try to work on my skills as much as i can , i searched and i found out that i can improve myself by working on scripts and scenes , i read some books and biographies of actors and actresses , i woud’ve loved to have an experience but as i’ve told you before they’re no theatres here , not even at school!! I wish tho, but it’s okay .

I have a second plan , i’ll share it with you : In case i don’t get a scholarship, i’ll drop the acting thing since there is no way to do it, and i’ll study the 2 years and hope to get exepted in one of the engineering colleges here .

I cannot thank you enough for your helping i learnt a lot about the american system and those tips will absolutely help me , thank you madam!!!

Thank you so much for your help! In my country to be an engineer you gotta study 7 years for get a degree, and you’re only allowed to choose one major and you cannot study another one not even as a minor or an extra class!!

I understand the issue of the stress and the difficulty of my choices, it’s absolutly hard to combine between two different areas , but i think since i love those two fields i’ll sort it out !!
I wanna work too while stuying so i can afford the necessities , my country have a job for me as an engineer speacially with an american degree i’ll have a great privilege . regardless as an actor, my chances to have a living from it are very low .

My country isn’t really involved in the acting industry neither theaters , my first reason to go to U.S is that she’s absolutly into acting and the performing world!!! I know it’s not that easy to get a job or to have a stable situation speaciallly as a nonresident students but i’m willing to try rather then regret it for the rest of my life, U.S is a big country and not everyone can handle himself there, but i wanna try it and see what i’m capable of!!

thank you again and i’m sorry if i disrupting you, enjoy your day!!

I absolutely agree Sir!!i chose engineering to provide a living and to assure my parents about my living and on the other hand theater as my interest field , i would be verily grateful if you share with me the name of the college where your friend was studying , also if this college afford a theater major along with computer science or engineering too!!!

Thank you so much for your advice sir, have a good day!!!

You cannot work in the US on a student visa, except for limited hours in an on campus job. You can be in plays at your college but these are not paid roles. Many schools will allow you to audition without being a theater major. I don’t see the point of you majoring in theater if you can’t use that degree professionally in your own country. You aren’t going to be able to stay in the US after you graduate and audition for roles.

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