<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I'm starting this thread mainly out of curiosity, wondering if there are any other Germans around here planning to enroll in US colleges starting in 2014. (Or am I the only one? :) )</p>
<p>If so, what are your plans and where are you applying, and how far are you with your application process?</p>
<p>Greetings from Germany, liebe Grüße :)</p>
<p>Hello LittleBird, how about you give us some of your own plans? 
I agree with you - you can’t be the only one.</p>
<p>Okay, here we go: :)</p>
<p>I graduated high school less than 2 weeks ago (Abitur), and I am taking a gap year while working on my college application.
Colleges I’m applying to: USC (dream college), UChicago, possibly NYU and Columbia (I am not 100% sure about the last two, especially Columbia, which might be a bit of a long shot).
Majors I’m interested in: English, Journalism, Studio Art, but I’ll probably start undecided and maybe later decide on a double major-minor combination of the three.
I already took the SAT I in June and got a 2100 (730 CR, 710 W, 660 M); retaking in October to raise my scores and increase my chances of getting financial aid/merit scholarships, esp. since I can’t afford the tuition and USC only gives merit-based aid to international students.
TOEFL: planning to take it in September, not yet registered
SAT IIs: Considering, taking 'em in November/December if necessary</p>
<p>I am spending my summer with family in NY, planning to visit NYU and Columbia, study for the remaining tests and start with the Commonapp stuff (Essay etc.) as soon as I’ve made a definite decision about where I’m applying.</p>
<p>“I agree with you - you can’t be the only one.”</p>
<p>…until now, it looks like I am… :(</p>
<p>
If you need financial aid to attend, you are applying to the wrong schools.</p>
<p>NYU won’t give you any financial aid at all. USC won’t give you more than a half-tuition scholarship, which is the maximum for international applicants and would still leave you with $40,000 per year to pay out of pocket. Chicago only funds a handful of international students each year (~15) out of probably several thousand financial aid applicants. I don’t know the precise numbers of Columbia, but your odds there probably won’t be much better.</p>
<p>Are you sure, b@r!um? I researched carefully, and I REALLY hope what you’re saying is not true…
UChicago says (quote from their website):If you apply for financial aid and you are offered admission, you will receive a financial award in the form of grants and scholarships that meets your full demonstrated need. Where did you get the information that they only support 15 students? (<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/international.shtml[/url]”>https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/international.shtml</a>)</p>
<p>USC: International students do not qualify for need-based financial aid, but are eligible for merit-based scholarships (which, in my understanding, includes Trustee and Presidential scholarships). ([International</a> Students - USC Undergraduate Admission](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/inter_students.html]International”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/undergraduate/apply/inter_students.html))
The odds of getting one of these are really low, i know, but maybe it’s worth a try?</p>
<p>NYU: Financial aid to international students on our New York campus is only available for incoming freshmen. If offered admission, international students will be required to submit a certification of finances demonstrating that they will be able to fund their four years of study through a combination of their own funds and any financial assistance we may provide. Students should not submit a certification of finances or bank statements until after they are offered admission. ([International</a> Students](<a href=“International Applicants”>International Applicants)) Okay, this is only for the first year, so chances are that I can’t afford that.</p>
<p>Columbia: Although financial aid is available for international students, candidates should be aware that their applications are read in a more selective process than are other candidates’. Columbia admits a large number of international students who receive a substantial amount of financial aid. ([Regular</a> Decision - International | Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing](<a href=“http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/application/rd_fo]Regular”>How To Apply | Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing)) (I also just heard of some new policy where Columbia expects no parental contribution from families with an income of 60,000 dollars or less, which I would qualify for. Not sure if this applies to international students though, but they DO have financial aid).</p>
<p>Please tell me I didn’t make a mistake by understanding it that way??? :'(</p>
<p>UChicago: look at their Common Data Set. UChicago currently supports a total of 57 international students on financial aid. That makes about 15 students per year. (Also don’t get the logic of their financial aid policy confused. IF you are offered admission, you’ll be offered financial aid. However, applying for financial aid will put you at a disadvantage in the admissions process.)
<a href=“BigFuture College Search”>BigFuture College Search; (Click on the link “for international students.”)</p>
<p>Ditto for Columbia: they have a bit of financial aid for international students, but applying for financial aid will put you into an applicant pool that’s even more selective than admissions in general.</p>
<p>NYU is notoriously bad with financial aid in general and financial aid for international students in particular. In fact, they have published articles saying that they view international students as “cash cows.” According to their Common Data Set, they are currently not supporting a single international student. <a href=“Research with Human Subjects”>Research with Human Subjects; (section H6)</p>
<p>I think you are right and I was wrong about USC. I misinterpreted a comment in their merit scholarship description, which lead me to believe that these are only for domestic students. </p>
<p>Dumb question though: if your family is making less than $60.000 a year, how would you pay for USC even if you were offered a full-tuition scholarship? You’d probably need about $20.000 a year for room and board, flights, health insurance, etc. On-campus jobs pay $8-$12 an hour, so you’d earn at most $4.000 during the school year, probably less.</p>
<p>I have no idea, to be honest. I haven’t quite figured out if I could get a student loan as an international student and how much I’m allowed to work in the US without being a permanent resident. I know I have a real problem concerning the money. Though I might be getting some support from family (aunts/uncles), I was going to try to keep that amount as small as possible (obviously, wanting to be independent and not wanting to borrow a huge amount of money without knowing when I can pay it back) My aunt (who lives in the US and helps me with the application process) said I should just apply first and see how much financial support i get. I’m getting a job in fall, so I might be able to earn the fees for the remaining standardized tests and application myself (which is already expensive enough).
Do you think I should still try? Or is it not worth the effort at all and I should give up on the whole thing? Going to one of these schools (especially USC) is really my dream, as cheesy as it may sound. Maybe I’m naive, but isn’t there anything else that I can do? Because all those colleges have, like, hundreds of international students, and there’s no way they’re all rich millionaire’s kids, right?</p>
<p>
Oh, you’d be surprised. Most international students at American universities are either from well-off families or countries that pay for their students to study abroad.</p>
<p>What are your priorities if you don’t get into these universities? Would you rather study in Germany or at a less selective university in the US? If you have your heart set on the US, there are other colleges that are much more likely to offer you significant scholarships/financial aid than the ones you selected. Liberal Arts Colleges might be a good option to consider, for instance.</p>
<p>Another option would be to attend a California community college for two years and transfer to USC (or another university). That way you could save money and probably increase your chances of admission. You would however miss out on a lot of the “college experience”, most of which happens in the first two years of college.</p>
<p>Okay, here’s the deal: the US college system has a lot of advantages for me personally. For instance, in German universities, you have to decide on your major right when you start college. Changing it is way harder than in the US and there is less emphasis on liberal arts and core curriculums. In a US college, there are way more opportunities to pursue several different interests (combining majors etc.), thus, I could do a major-minor combination of English, Journalism AND Art, which would not be possible in Germany. Another aspect is the aforementioned “college experience” (including on-campus housing, activities etc), combined with my “dream” to study abroad and move to a bigger city (I live in a small town).</p>
<p>However, going to college in the US would only really be worth it if I get the opportunity to attend an excellent college that provides academic possibilities as good as or superior to those of German universities. I wouldn’t go to a random community college or a school with less academic qualities that’s easier to get into simply for the sake of studying in the US if I can get a significantly better education for free (!!!) in Germany. In that case, I would rather live with less “freedom” and go to a German university, because after all, I need to attend a college and get an education that is recognized around here. Chances are that I won’t stay in the US forever and a “walk in the park” college experience at an easy school wouldn’t help me much in my home country. Also, my worries about an all-liberal arts school are that there might be a lack of specialization that would be put me in a disadvantage compared to highly specialized German college graduates (I’m not sure about that though).
My plan B would be to start college in Germany and then go abroad for a year. Obviously, this would only be one year instead of 4 and I couldn’t fully transfer to a US college.</p>
<p>I talked to my family again, and we came to the conclusion that I should try to get into one of my “dream schools” (USC, UChicago, Columbia) to see how much financial support I get. In case I get accepted, we will see how much we can afford without me having to start my life with a debt of several ten thousands of dollars. If I get rejected, or it turns out I have to pay full tuition, I will go for plan B. (I hope that sounds sensible to you guys).</p>
<p>Sorry to disappoint you, but your plan is pretty much of a dream. Even if you get a place where you do not have to pay tuition, you will need more money for health insurance, room, board and books. There is very little chance you can earn so much money with an on-campus job.
You should start college in Germany, pick a university with several partners in the USA so that you can get free tuition for a year or apply for a DAAD scholarship. Then it is rather easy and inexpensive to go to the USA for a year. If you are an outstanding student you might be able to go to graduate school in the US afterwards.</p>
<p>Well, it’s not like there is NO money, just little. My parents may not earn much (since my mother hasn’t been able to work for a while and my dad is retiring next year), but there seems to be a fund that one of my aunts has for me with a considerable amount of money for my education. So there might be a chance that I can pay at least the room and board etc.</p>
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<p>My family didn’t have any money either. I had around ~5-10k available for my college education, most of which I had earned myself. I went to a community college in CA, very soon found a job as a tutor an on-campus (~$12/h). I also did some private freelancing on the side (I was a CS major). That paid for my room+board, and some of my tuition. Due to good grades I also got a small merit-based stipend from my CC. I transferred to UC Berkeley, where I got a job as a course grader, became teaching assistant with salary and full tuition coverage, worked in a research lab, and eventually got a merit-based scholarship.</p>
<p>Grated, it’s a bit easier as a “technical” major, but I believe there always is a way to do what you want, you just have to be resourceful about it, and do your best. I didn’t get any of the above because I am “smart” (I’m not). I could do it because I spent a lot of time and resources on making connections and finding the opportunities. For example, when I first arrived, I emailed every professor at my college about my situation, described my previous experience, and asked them if they had anything for me. That’s how I got my job, and later also my position as a TA. Giving up on your dream so easily would be pretty stupid.</p>
<p>Just two ideas:
<p>“Giving up on your dream so easily would be pretty stupid”.
Thank you so much, Thomas. I always feel like everybody is just telling me how impossible my dreams are and I’m glad to hear that there are people like you who found a way.
Do you think a community college would be a better option for me? I hardly know anything about those; are they good (academically)? I heard somewhere that the education you get at a community college is rather similar to the last year or two of the German Gymnasium (high school) and way easier than four-year universities. Is that true?</p>
<p>Also, stupid question on the side: how do you do the quoting thing when you reply to messages? There is that “quote message in reply”-option underneath the quick reply, but nothing happens when I check that.</p>
<p>UC, NYU - Go on with it, kleinervogel95! P.S: If I where you, I’d try the ACT instead of the SAT, it’s way easier for gymnasium kids!</p>
<p>Thanks Is it really easier? I already bought extra books to study for retaking the SAT in October, plus I still need the TOEFL plus SAT IIs… I think taking the ACT and getting accustomed to yet another test format now would be too stressful, I’m already under time pressure with the other ones… (plus, the next ACT test date is only in October, after the SAT).</p>
<p>ACT offers September testing for Internationals this year for the first time. Better stick to the SAT if you don’t want to buy more prep stuff (:</p>
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<p>Yes, academically it’s a lot easier than most 4-year universities, especially if you study something in the humanities. The classes itself are easier, and there is a less competition as well. However, the first two years are mostly general education (not specific to your major) classes anyway, so it doesn’t matter much how “easy” they are. Since you will be transfering to a 4-year university after two years you will be taking all your interesting upper-division (major) classes there. And when you get your degree it’s from the 4-year-university, no one will care about how you got there, and that you spent your first two years at a CC. How you do in the last two years is what matters.</p>
<p>Is it better for you? I don’t know, but it may be a possibility if you don’t get into your top choices with financial aid. I certainly don’t regret going to CC, it was a great time. In fact, I had a lot more fun there that at my 4-year-university. IMHO the worst thing about CC is that you won’t get the traditional “college experience”. There usually aren’t any dorms, and most people are commuting, and many are part-time students. I was somewhat lucky as I lived in a co-op close to a big university where I got a lot of the “college experience” without actually being a student there.</p>
<p>One problem is that, as a transfer, you don’t have access to scholarship money, so if you go the CC-> State U route, you need to have the full amount required of international students (be aware it’s a lot more than for in-state - logically, since the state university is paid by instate taxes).</p>