Hello everyone, I’m a newcomer here on this forum,
I am applying to US universities, this November 1,2018 (Early Action) as an International student from India.
Taking the SAT subject tests and SAT main along with TOEFL in the coming months… I was wondering about my financial aid as the fees as relatively high compared to Indian standards…
I am researching on how can I get an aid, but i am unable to get the perfect financial aid application FOR INTERNATIONAL STUENTS…
Looking for advises from you
US colleges don’t offer much aid to domestic applicants. They offer less to international students. How much can your parents contribute to your education?
There are U.S. colleges that do provide aid to international students, and those that provide limited aid, and those that provide ZERO aid to international students. Read EACH college website.
There are only 5 colleges that are both need blind for admissions (meaning your financial need won’t be considered when your application for admission is read), and also meet full need for all accepted students. They are amongst THE most competitive schools for admissions, and you should NOT be viewing them as a sure thing for admissions.
If this is your last year in high school...why didn’t you take the SAT sooner? When exactly are you taking this test?
Applying early ACTION is OK IF the school isn’t REA (restricted early action) or SCEA (single choice early action). For REA and SCEA, you can’t apply to any other early schools. Read the fine print.
Why are you applying by November 1? Especially since you don’t have a SAT score yet…and might need to retake.
Your application for admission will be reviewed with the gazillion other well qualified applicants from your region. At the highly competitive colleges, acceptance rates for internationals is well under 10%.
Why are you not getting your bachelors at an affordable university in YOUR country?
I am Indian and studying in America, but I lived in America for quite some time. You dude are in trouble. Please do lots of research on what school you want to go to and please study hard for your SAT I cannot stress enough because we sort of have a huge disadvantage in the grammar and writing portion of the SAT. Don’t forget to take SAT subject tests that are more science and math based considering this will be your strength (I am lowkey stereotyping) and take the normal SAT with writing. Study a lot because I got a slightly above average score and you should aim for a 1450 or higher. Also, lets just say converting rupees to dollars in never pretty. You might be sometimes better off living on maggi and parle-g while studying in India than paying for American tuition because you can get more of good food and education for less. I have gotten threats to study in India because I am a bad Indian child and tuition there is cheap. Not that I am discouraging you to not apply in America. But money here works way differently and overall with worse quality. I prefer you to studying Inida for undergraduate and come here for graduate school even though it is slightly costlier. You will be very well matured by then in your studies and as a person. Again, not discouraging you to apply. But look at some important factors, especially if finance is a big issue.
@shreyaheart is right. If you don’t know about US colleges and financial aid by now, it’s probably too late. By all means, take the SAT and apply, but know that I, who started US college research at the start of 11th grade, barely had time to learn all about US admissions for international students in the past year. If I had known about all this two years earlier, I would have had a chance at these colleges, since I would be well prepared in terms of SAT, financial aid options and extracurriculars required to get the best Scholarships. Even though I know pretty much all I should about US college admissions by now, I’m still pretty late and have a very little chance of getting in anywhere since my profile just isn’t ready. You are researching this so late that your chances are very low. You would be better off studying bachelor’s in India and researching graduate Scholarships for that duration then applying for graduate studies in USA. Then you would have a great shot and will be prepared
But just to help you out (maybe you are more prepared than it appears), I can tell you that there are about 30-40 colleges that offer decent to full amounts of financial aid to international students. But know that getting into any of these colleges is near impossible for an international student asking for huge amounts of aid, so be prepared. First of all, the whole ivy league will give you all the financial aid you need. Apart from that, top 20-30 liberal arts colleges like Williams, Amherst, Kenyon, Vassar, Davidson, Dickinson and top universities like Johns Hopkins, duke, Uchicago, Vanderbilt and WUSTL will also give you all the financial aid you. Eed. But to receive financial aid from any of these colleges, you first have to be accepted to them. And that, my friend, is crazy difficult even for international students who spend years preparing for US admissions
So, it looks like I have a sleek chance of getting in US… Okay, I can do nothing bout this, but I wanted to study aerospace engineering abroad, and in India it is in a crippled state, rather than ISRO(Indian Space Research Organisation) all the students who pass out from IITs, hardly get placed to good companies, well if we exclude jobs the Indian curriculum for aerospace engineering is about 40 years old. As I love this subject, I don’t wanna study it in India
You NEED your SAT or ACT score for any decent help here. You haven’t taken those yet…why?? Especially if you plan to apply early action someplace.
Once you have your SAT score…which I sure hope is soon…post that score along with your GPA, but make it make sense here. Perhaps you will qualify for decent merit aid someplace. It won’t be MIT or Caltech (no merit at those schools), but possibly elsewhere.
As noted, the schools that meet full need with very generous need based aid for all accepted students have very low acceptance rates for international students…some under 5%.
I am Taking TOEFL next month and SAT tests in month of October, also I am appearing for olympiads this year… hope I can perform good there , who knows… Well, from the side of ECs one of them is that I study a lot of books related to space and rocket science( Ignition!, Fundamentals of Astrodynamics) and try to make notes of these topics… I have a good knowledge of astrophysics and have read a quite lot of books too… My academics are good, plus point is I was awarded 5000 INR(75 USD) in 10th grade for what in USA calls 4 GPA. Hope this will provide you some idea about me so that you can advice me more
SAT for the first time in October of senior year is quite late for ED application. You won’t have scores back prior to the application date. Are you going to an international Olympiad competition this summer or are you trying for a team next spring/summer? If you’re on a team this summer that can be good on your application. If you are trying for next spring/summer that will be after application season.
If you plan to apply early admission to any college, you need to take the SAT prior to October.
Frankly, how will you have any idea whether or not you are a suitable and competitive applicant for ANY college without those scores.
Why didn’t you take the SAT sooner. Is there a date you can take this test sooner? There is a June administration but I’m guessing you missed the deadline for signing up for that one.
I can tell you GT provides very little aid. Early action applications are due 10/15 which is before you will get your test scores returned. October is the last test you can use for early action admissionat GT.
Cal tech, MIT, Stanford, UPenn, Princeton…you don’t even have a SAT score yet. These schools are not a slam dunk for admissions for even students with PERFECT SAT scores. Admission rates for these schools is in the single digits for international students.
Who helped you craft this list? It is either to heavy schools in terms of admissions OR schools that don’t guarantee to meet full need for all accepted students.
This thread is digressing from financial aid…and costs to apply…but really…how on the world does one craft a reasonable application list without SAT or ACT scores.
Before you write any more, you should answer the question in reposnse #1: how much can your parents pay? Take a look at what these US colleges cost.
We don’t know your academic strengths or background, other than a 10th grade gpa. The ECs you list- studying books and winning money for your grades- are not competitive for the top colleges here, the ones that might offer substantial aid to an international. Sorry, but other kids from India are top students and very actively involved in math and science activities, school clubs, service to others, they have taken on responsibilities in their schools/communities, and more.
Yes, you are very late taking the SAT. It gives you no leeway to retake the tests. The colleges you list, maybe except CU, are all fiercely competitive for an admit. CU only offers a few merit scholarships to internationals. NYU is likely to offer no money or very little. And so on.
I am taking SAT as soon as October 6th this year, the only late part will be my subject tests thats on November 3rd of this year, my TOEFL will be done too by next month… Talking about the cost, I think they can pay about 15000 USD for my total education and maybe have to take a loan, I hope you must be getting that the US Tuition costs are “Relatively”
higher in Indian Standards…
