Help to build a reasonable college list

Re post #17 Here is the Pitt NPC https://pitt.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx

Thanks Mwfan1921 for Info.
Unfortunately this link is not open to Canadian Citizen.

As response to post#19, yes they come from Collegeboard website. Then we are thinking to apply some outside student load to fill that gap.

Your D is a student at a high school in Virginia but a canadian citizen? Is that correct? Or are you a canadian citizen and D is US citizen?

Response to post#23
Yes, I am a Canadian Citizen with H1B working visa here, as my daughter is with H4 (dependent). Permanent residency (Green Card) seems a tedious processing, maybe another 2 years?
Actually at this moment, not very sure whether she will make application for International student. I assume she could apply VA school as an in-state student.

http://www.schev.edu/index/tuition-aid/in-state-residency/financial-aid-policy-and-procedures describes Virginia residency for tuition purposes.

I just checked for you. And I would look long and hard at McGill. Not only affordable for Canadian citizens it is especially so for Québécois. I mean really incredible.

And there is merit available. With your daughters profile it would be a great match school.

Good luck/ Bon Chance. FWIW.

Response to post #25: The definition of in-state is clear. Thanks for sharing.
Response to post #26: McGill is a great school, definitely. As an alumnus, I am always persuading her to think it over. Thanks for reminding.

I am sure you are aware that your daughter would pay the low Canadian tuition rate at Canadian universities. If she was born in Québec it would be the very low Québec rate.

Your D will only receive instate tuition at any Virginia public college until she is 21…when she loses H4 visa status.You will have to work with whatever school your D is attending (and perhaps an attorney) to choose the best option from that point forward.

Response to post #29:
Yes, this is an awkward condition, as the permanent residency application is still under a long waiting list.
Now we shall be facing the reality. As I visit the Collegeboard Net Price Calculator’s Citizenship Status, I notice some colleges (such as JHU, Cornell, UVA, U of Michigan) being with “Canadian Citizen”, then I wonder whether NPC works with Canadian Citizen.

You should research schools that offer generous financial aid to international students (many U.S. schools do not). Grinnell springs to my mind, but I’m sure some people will offer other options.

For the private schools when applying you are going to have to call every one of them…some will require applying as an international student (which tend to have lower acceptance rates, sometimes dramatically so). Knowing this might help your D better target, maybe even eliminate, some schools.

Yes, aging out of the H4 visa can be tricky, but whatever school she attends their international administrators should be able to help work thru the pros and cons if she doesn’t have a green card by then. I think most students transition to an F1 visa, but I am far from an expert on this.

With the uncertainty in your daughter’s situation, looking for merit is a good way to proceed. As you search for, and apply to, colleges, make sure you pay attention to merit scholarship priority deadlines. These are often a little hard to find compared to other deadlines listed on Admissions web pages. For instance, students who apply at Grinnell or University of Southern California should apply by Dec. 1 for priority scholarship consideration. And for Purdue, students should apply by Nov. 1. These deadlines are often overlooked by busy high school students until it’s too late.

@sunquebec If your daughter does not have US citizenship or a permanent resident visa (aka “green card”), then she is an international student. Some state schools give in-state status to international students on other types of visas who live in the state, some do not. I do not know what the situation is in Virginia. A tiny handful of very selective schools (such as Harvard) provide full need based aid to international students. However, other US schools are very likely to charge you as an international student, and most give very limited aid, if any, to international students. This is likely to seriously impact the affordability of most of the schools on your otherwise very good list.

Any Canadian citizen, whether living in Canada or not, pays Canadian tuition at universities in Canada. The exception are are few schools such as McGill which are even better, and would most likely allow you to pay very low Quebec tuition. McGill would be a great university for your daughter, and given her great stats would be either a safety or very close to a safety. You might also want to consider Concordia and Bishop’s, which are the other two English language universities in Quebec. If you daughter is fluently bilingual (I am guessing based only on your college confidential login name) then of course there are multiple very good French language universities in Quebec which are also worth considering. U.Ottawa offers lower tuition for bilingual students. I don’t know about need based aid for Canadians attending Canadian universities.

Of course waiting to get a green card is another option. As you pointed out, this might be a couple of years depending upon your situation.

Your daughter has an interest in graphic design, but the list of colleges seems to skew more toward the “pre-professional” rather than the “artsy/creative” end of the cultural spectrum.

If you are looking for schools that are strong in graphic design as well as pre-med/health then you might want to
consider Tufts (which includes the School of the Museum of Fine Arts) and Brown (where you can takes courses at RISD).

Is @Mastadon recommending Tufts?

I agree with the arts and vibe commentary of both schools.

Tufts and Brown are off the charts good but run the NPC and EFC. And see if she is applying as an international student within their guidelines.

That would make it much more expensive, potentially, and the admissions pool much more competitive.

And it’s already super high at both Tufts and Brown.

I stand by my McGill or perhaps Western or Queens. You will not be close in US in terms of value vs quality. Especially if you can claim the Quebec native rates at McGill.

Thanks all your inputs! Will include Brown and Tufts.
Seems she shall apply all US colleges outside of VA with an international student status. This is a surprise to me, while good to know at this moment.

@sunquebec,Financial aid for international students is a complicated situation.

NPCs are notoriously unreliable for international families as each school has its own policies and objectives. You have research each individually.

Aside from a handful of very selective schools, most colleges are need aware for internationals; however, if a student is admitted then many will meet full demonstrated need. A few colleges offer merit aid to internationals, but it is rare and and usually unpredictable.

Few public schools offer financial aid to internationals. Some privates will extend their US need blind policies to students who graduate from US high schools. For example, this from Pomona:

Finding others like Pomona should be a priority.

Also, I believe that Canadian applicants are given special status at some schools, but I haven’t researched that area.

It’s misleading for internationals to use US admit rates to determine reach/match/safety. Admit rates for internationals are generally considerably lower than US rates. Admit rates for internationals requesting substantial aid are even lower. All selective colleges admit internationals and all offer need-based aid; BUT (and this is a huge but) schools vary widely in the percentage of internationals they seek to enroll and the total amount of aid offered each year to internationals.

It’s difficult to get clear statistics because few publish complete admissions information; however, by looking at the college’s common data set you can get an idea of which are comparatively more generous with financial aid. I’ve only researched small liberal arts colleges. You can find comparative figures for medium and large universities by combing through their CDSs.

Among LACs, these are some with the highest budgets for international financial aid.
Total Financial Aid / % Enrolled / % Given aid
Macalester USD11.3 M / 11% / 54%
St Olaf 11.0 / 12% / 86%
Trinity (CT) 10.6 / 13% / 65%
Mt. Holyoke 10.5 / 28% / 53%
Amherst 9.1 / 8% / 87%
Smith 8.6 / 15% / 44%
Grinnell 8.1 / 23% / 78%
Middlebury 8.0 / 11% / 55%
Dickinson 7.7 / 16% / 71%
Colgate 7.1 / 11% / 57%

Thorough suggestions on post#38! This implies a more homework to study upon international application.
Will do. :-*