<p>Dear readers,
I am an Indian citizen and i'm planning to do my undergrad in the US.
My SAT score:1880
(680-math; 580-CR; 620-reading)
Not an amazing score (unfortunately i was ill when i took my test) but i don't have the time to take it again. Now, I really wanna get admitted into any legitimately ranked college with a "full ride". You know, its kinda difficult for my parents to pay the full tuition and stuff; USD being so much more costlier than the Indian rupee. I'm totally banking on scholarships and other aids(i'm up for work-study too). Is it possible? If aye, which colleges should i consider?
P.S: I want to major in Electrical Engineering, Electronics and communications engineering or the likes.</p>
<p>A full ride? I hop you understand that full ride awards of any kind are not all that common. Merit full ride awards are very competitive. VERY. Need based full ride awards are awarded primarily by THE most competitive colleges in this country based on your family income and assets. Admission to many of the schools that meet full need for international students is in the single digits.</p>
<p>In addition, at many colleges, your ability to pay to attend will be considered when your application for admission is considered.</p>
<p>You need to find time to take the SAT again. Your current SAT score is not competitive for full rides for international students. It might not be competitve for admission directly into an engineering program.</p>
<p>You don’t mention your HS GPA at all. It would need to be top notch too.</p>
<p>You can’t be awarded federal work study. That is only for U.S. citizens or permanent residents.</p>
<p>University of San Diego…is that the USD you are referring to? The school doesn’t meet full need for all accepted students. I doubt seriously that you will get a full ride there…period.</p>
<p>If you are planning to apply directly to engineering programs, you may find that your SAT score isn’t high enough to gain admission.</p>
<p>Personally, I think you need to either find time to take that SAT again. </p>
<p>My high school GPA is 3.8. USD= u.s dollar. I’ve also taken the subject tests in Math2 and Physics.</p>
<p>Ok…be honest here. Yourother thread says:</p>
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<p>So what DID you score on the math? 680 or 700.</p>
<p>This is not a chances area…but I will say…with a 1260-1280 CR Math total, your likelihood of getting a completely free ride is almost zero as an international student. </p>
<p>Have you looked at colleges in India? You have a better chance of being accepted there. Plus they will likely be affordable.</p>
<p>You will not get a full ride, full tuition, or anything approaching, with that SAT score. It is quite good for a test taken in a foreign language but it will not be competitive for an international who needs financial aid. Add to this the fact you want to study engineering: 680M is borderline for engineering at good schools. You MUST retake that test (or the ACT). If there’s no time in December, then plan to take a gap year.</p>
<p>@thumper1 Yeah i’ve looked at colleges in india and i’m preparing for those entrances too. Thats practically why i have absolutely no time to retake the SAT. Plus I’m not aiming at MIT or Harvard or anything. Any public college with legit ranking would do. Isn’t there even a blue moon chance for me?</p>
<p>And honestly i scored a 680 on the math</p>
<p>Your 1260 CR and Math total is not likely to put you in contention for a full ride…including all costs…anywhere.</p>
<p>I’m not wishing to sound mean or pessimistic…but do you realize that full rides are NOT all that common, and go to the TIPPY top applicants (for merit awards), or to applicants at highly competitive schools that guarantee to meet full need for all accepted international students?</p>
<p>Your SAT score does NOT look like a competitive one to me. But that is my opinion. </p>
<p>And keep in mind you would be considered an out of state student at ALL of those public universities. All of them. Costs would range from under $25,000 (see above pinned thread about scholarships…and colleges that cost less than $25,000) to over $50,000 a year. </p>
<p>It’s probably a little late for some of those competitve merit awards…those applications are sometimes due in December. </p>
<p>To be competitive for admission to a highly competitive school…as a student applying from India…you would need nearly perfect SAT scores, and a superlative GPA. Your application for admission will be reviewed with the international pool from your region…many applicants are very strong ones.</p>
<p>@thumper1 can you please name this highly competitive school that first flashed your mind?
What according to you is a superlative GPA? And internationals are allowed to work on campus.</p>
<p>International students have VERY restricted work hours at on campus jobs. They cannot earn $50,000 a year. You would be very lucky to earn $5000. Very lucky. In addition, you are not eligible for any U.S. federally funded grants or loans. None. And you would not be eligible for state grants either.</p>
<p>So…you would need to look at schools that give large institutional aid to international students. The vast majority of public universities don’t give full rides to students from other states…never mind other countries.</p>
<p>Many public universities do NOT give need based aid to international students at all. And your stats really are not competitive for huge merit aid.</p>
<p>And your stats are not competitive at all for those schools that do guarantee to meet full need for all students.</p>
<p>Oh…and to answer your question…the schools that do meet full need for all accepted students are schools like The Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Amherst, Williams, and the like. Very competitive schools. UMichigan is a public that meets need for instate students, but not OOS. UVA and UNC-CH also meet full need, but your current SAT score does not make you a competitive admit for any of these schools. </p>
<p>In addition, all of the schools that meet full need expect a student contribution annually as well that can be several thousand dollars…or more.</p>
<p>I’m just saying…the odds of ANYONE getting a full ride are low. The odds of an international student getting a full ride are even lower. And you can’t get any aid at all unless you are accepted…and it is my opinion that you are not a competitive applicant for the most generous universities.</p>
<p>Prairie View A&M: full ride with 3.5 GPA and 26 ACT or 1760 SAT; residual cost $5,324.
- Tuskegee: full tuition + books with 3.5 GPA and 26 ACT or 1180 SAT CR+M; residual cost $11,064.
- Florida A&M: full tuition with 3.5 GPA and 27 ACT or 1800 SAT; residual cost $13,096.
- Howard: full tuition with 3.0 GPA and 26 ACT or 1170 SAT CR+M; residual cost $15,754.</p>
<p>I found this on some other thread. What kind of colleges are these? Good ones? Do my stats qualify here?
P.S: Thanks a ton for ur time. </p>
<p>You asked for FULL RIDES. All of these have residual costs. Can you pay them?</p>
<p>That other thread is a good one. Just check to be sure that international students can receive their awards.</p>
<p>The Tuskegee scholarship is only available to domestic applicants.
Howard is a good university. It’s a HBCU and it’s in DC. The others are fourth-tier colleges.
You probably have a shot at UMN-Morris but they don’t offer engineering (they’re good at CS though) or SDS of Mines and Technology.</p>
<p>Note: Full ride typically means “tuition, room&board”. Full ride+ means “tuition, room&board, books/other”. There’s almost always a residual cost.</p>
<p>OP: what’s your parents’ budget?</p>
<p>@thumper1 I’ve heard a lot about colleges giving loans to students which they can repay later. Are these available to internationals too?</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 what do you think of UMN-Duluth. And how about ASU? Do i have a shot at these?Do internationals get scholarships at these colleges? </p>
<p>Loans are not usually available to international students. You are not eligible for federally funded loans. Any other type of loan would need to be cosigned by a U.S. citizen with excellent credit who could get such a loan.</p>
<p>And to get a visa to study here, you will have to complete a certificate of finances that guarantees you have enough money to pay your full costs. This can include already approved loans (perhaps your parents can get a loan in your country). But it cannot include job earnings in the future. In other words…any potential earnings you might make cannot be included. Your parents, however, might (this varies by college) need to provide documentation that certifies that their incomes are stable. </p>
<p>Okay. And looks like you’ve checked out my other thread about NUS. What do you think? Can I get into NUS?</p>
<p>I don’t have any personal knowledge about colleges in Songapore. But as noted in your thread…you don’t meet their SAT cutoff by 20 points. I have no idea if they bend that requirement…or not. </p>
<p>No, you can’t get into NUS. You’d need 3.7+/2100+ with close to 800 on the SAT math section.
The cut off score is to “cut” students easily; then they select among the remaining applications.
You wouldn’t get a full ride or full tuition scholarship at SDschool of Mines, UMNDuluth, UMNMorris, or ASU. You may get a small scholarship and your admission without scholarship is almost certain. UWisconsin Superior would likely grant you a scholarship but they don’t have engineering, and they’re less good at CS than UMNMorris.
(You have to realize that 680M for a future STEM student is considered borderline, most expect 740 at the very least, with an SAT2Math (subject test) above 700 too. Retaking the SAT or trying the ACT would be your best bet.)
Many merit scholarships have a December 1st deadline but if you took the test in December they’d be able to consider it.
Loans are not available to International students. The limit (recommended by federal loans) is $5,500 freshman year. If you borrow money in your country, you’d have to limit to this amount.
Work study would probably mean you could earn $1,000 to $1,500 per semester - sufficient to pay for books and miscellaneous, nothing else.
Few full tuition scholarships are available at Top100 universities if you don’t have 2100CR+M+W or 1400 CR+M. UAlabama has such a scholarship - their College of Engineering is well-regarded, and scoring 1350CR+M would mean Honors College, Honors Housing, full tuition scholarship, and $2,500 stipend. You’d have to pay for housing and food plus books, about 12-14,000.</p>
<p>And to add…you would have to get college work study as you are not eligible for federal work study. Some college do not have their own work study funds.</p>
<p>“Now, I really wanna get admitted into any legitimately ranked college with a “full ride”. You know, its kinda difficult for my parents to pay the full tuition and stuff”</p>
<p>This sounds harsh, but US schools have to put US students first, and I think it is very entitled to think that there is a college in the US that should just give you a free ride to come here. We are not a land of unlimited funds for the world to use. </p>