FA for International Student

<p>I am an international student with decent stats, although nothing great (2260 SAT, 3.97 GPA, 800 and 730 in 2 SAT II,...).
My family can afford 15,000-20,000$ a year (maybe 25,000$ at max) so I don't need a full-ride.
In short, could someone recommend me colleges that may offer an international student a FA just enough for him to go there? I know that no one can chance me exactly whether I can be accepted and get some aids or not, but I just need some names to consider.
I have looked at some threads in this section of the forum, but most of the FA or Scholarship seem to be exclusive for U.S. students.
Finally, I'm considering applying to some top tier need-blind colleges (Harvard, MIT,...), however, I don't think I have a good chance of getting in. So now, Randolph and University of Richmond in Virginia is in my consideration. Are these 2 schools well-known for their aids?</p>

<p>Apply for University of Alabama for full tuition scholarship RIGHT NOW. IT"S DUE TODAY. Send scores and transcript asap</p>

<p>Is that GPA UW or Weighted?</p>

<p>I don’t think I’m quick enough to submit for the app for U. of Alabama. Thanks for your help anyway, it is my bad to ask such a question this late. I will keep looking.
As for my GPA, 3.97 is weighted, my UW is around 3.87, however. The reason is that I spent 2 years if high school in my home country (which does not offer advanced courses, every student takes the same classes), then transfer to a high school in the U.S. and take all Honors/AP courses. So the added points don’t affect my GPA that much.</p>

<p>URichmond would be a good choice, Randolph wouldn’t.
UAlabama is a great pick (but you need your transcript evaluated by an agency, which is very costly).
What do you want to study?
With that amount and these scores, you’d have a shot at Hendrix and Earlham. Both are very solid academically but require you to prove you have $20,000.</p>

<p>What about Howard University? It doesn’t have a deadline but highly recommended to apply ASAP.</p>

<p>I wish to major in one of three: Philosophy (first choice), English or Mathematics (it is wacky to have both English and Math but I love both subject equally).
I will definitely apply to Richmond and Howard.
As for Hendrix and Earlham, what is the major difference between LACs and “conventional” colleges except LACs focus more on liberal arts study?
A little bit off-track, today my college counselor told me that I’m the S.T.A.R. student for the year. Should I or should I not include this in my transcript since the admission office is already aware of my SAT?</p>

<p>In short, LACs spend more time with students and smaller tham conventional colleges.
And no, xxxxx of the year doesnt really count</p>

<p>And your ECs and awards?</p>

<p>ECs mainly deal with J.R.O.T.C. stuff (I go to a military boarding school):

  1. First Lieutenant (second-in-command of a company) making sure 53 people in the company know the schedule and don’t do anything stupid.
  2. Drill team and Honor guard captain
  3. Marching band (chosen to attend Pearl Harbor Memorial Parade)
  4. Volunteer at a library for Vietnamese (I got involved in the process of building it, although I wasn’t the founder)
  5. Plan a program to teach Vietnamese for American Vietnamese in a local church.
    Awards:
    Some awards from my home country, 2 quite prestigious but I don’t think the admission office is familiar with them.
    Some J.R.O.T.C. awards
    NHS
    Science NHS
    Other than that, nothing much except a few awards such as the S.T.A.R. student (which is dismal and I don’t intend to put in the app), no international award, no nothing…</p>

<p>My only hope is the teacher recommendations (in the U.S.), one of which actually stated that I was his best student in 30 years of teaching. But, again, I think every student has a good recommendation :(</p>

<p>What is “S.T.A.R”? </p>

<p>The “Student Teacher Achievement Recognition”, basically it is an award for a “pair” of a student who has the highest SAT of the school and a teacher who has helped that student to achieve such score.</p>

<p>No, I don’t think that STAR award is valuable for college I would leave it off, more of a thing in your school.</p>

<p>What you do have that is very valuable is the teacher recommendation you mention. Not everyone can get a ‘best I ever taught’ recommendation–that is rare. </p>

<p>Because have very high stats and you can pay a good portion you should have quite a few options. Don’t you have someone to work with you on this, someone at your boarding school? Liberal Arts colleges are very good for students who are all rounders. Since you are Vietnamese, you can get interest at colleges that don’t have as many Asians if you are willing to be at a less diverse school, so look in the South and Midwest. Here’s a helpful thread:
<a href=“To all international students asking for huge amounts of aid - International Students - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/international-students/1698406-to-all-international-students-asking-for-huge-amounts-of-aid-p1.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>My college counselor suggests applying to top tier schools because I am a “definitely competitive candidate”. But since I am an international student that needs aid, I would love to have more safety schools.
Thank you for your input.</p>

<p>Look at LACs in the Midwest and South up to rank 125 and if you see some that “fit” you, come back here to this thread to ask about them. In addition, any Honors Program where you meet the criteria and would qualify for aid thanks to this would be important, but many deadlines have passed.</p>

<p>I think my list is full, more than 20 schools… I know that is a huge number, but almost half of those schools offer me fee waiver and don’t require additional essays; so I’m ok now. Thanks a lot for your help.</p>