I am an international student (not US citizen nor permanent resident). I am currently a senior. I joined my recent high school in NJ at the beginning of junior year. Before that i studied in another school. Almost no colleges will give me need based aid. The merit scholarships are very limited. Even the state school is quite expensive without any aid at all. I dont want to take the community college route. What do i do?? (my parents’ income is around $75,000 so I cant apply to Questbridge)
Checking for clarity…
You are not a citizen.
You can’t get need based aid.
You haven’t found merit scholarships.
And you don’t want to go to a community college.
What are your SAT or ACT scores…and your GPA?
What is your state of residence?
What kind of visa are you currently here on?
Have you applied for permanent resident status?
College here isn’t free…for most people. They have to find the school they can afford to attend. You are no different.
Some states grant instat status to students like you and others do not. Does yours?
What is wrong with the community college option if nothing else is affordable?
What country are you from? Do you have affordable options there? You might need to apply to affordable options in your home country.
International students with exceptional stats can sometimes get very good aid at the very top universities (a few of which have very large endowments), but there are a LOT more international students who would like to study in the US than there are spots and funding to allow them to do so.
Universities in the US tend to be very expensive compared to many other countries. Many US citizens cannot afford the university that they would like to attend. Most US universities do not give preference to funding non-citizens.
Many students don’t want to ‘go the cc route’ but that’s the only option for them (many students do choose community college route and like it very much). They don’t know what they want to study, they can only afford cc, there are medical reasons they can’t live away from home.
You have very limited options too. You will not get any federal aid. You might get state aid, including instate tuition.
You could always get a job and save up to pay for school.
As for CC, I wouldn’t count it out just yet. Two years at a CC knocking out the 60 lower division general education units is way cheaper than it would be at a 4 year.
I went to Community College.
Somehow, I managed to survive. I went on to earn my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and have enjoyed my life-- personally and professionally-- in the years since.
The short answer to your question is that you’ll have to find a way to earn the money you want for the things you want. In this case, you want a college education. It’s not cheap, especially if you opt out of the lowest priced options.
How many people are in your family? Are you sure $75k gross income is too high for Questbridge?
Many international students I know took the CC route and transferred to 4-yr universities after a couple years to save money. What is wrong with that?
@RedLari and @bjkmom - The OP is an international student and can’t probably can’t hold a job in the US right now.
Don’t be so quick to write off the CC route. A friend of my daughter’s went to CC in NJ and recently was accepted to Columbia. The CC didn’t seem to hold him back. Lots of bright kids take the CC route due to financial reasons. The reality is that if you work hard and apply yourself the CC route can work out.
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Need-based aid goes to the lowest income students. Most US citizens can’t get need-based aid.
Merit scholarships are few and far between for ONLY the tip-top students, and even then, they are limited. Many are only for US citizens.
State schools are stretched thin because they are funded by the instate taxpayers. They need to recoup what dollars they can through tuition.
No one is forcing you to take the CC route. It is the least expensive and most effective. It also is a very good route for students who don’t have many options.
What to do?
You don’t have money to go to a 4 yr. US university. Correct???
You don’t want to go the CC route, correct???
It looks like you could:
Return to your home country and get your education.
The problem is solved because you won’t pay an expensive foreign tuition.
Would your country provide full scholarships to US students?
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Are you graduating from a HS in that state and would that qualify you for instate tuition and state grants?
Without your state and your GPA/test scores we can’t provide you with more answers than that.
If you can’t hold down a job in the US, that’s all the more reason to consider the cheapest options available.
My point was this: I think there’s this misperception among a lot of kids, both domestic and international, that there’s this immense pot full of money somewhere with their name on it. And if they can just find the pot of money, someone else will pay for their college education, just as someone paid for their elementary and high school educations.
And that’s simply not the case.
Once you finish high school, life changes. For the most part, for many people, it becomes time to start paying for the things you want. If mom and dad can help you out, great. But there probably isn’t a line of strangers willing to open their wallets to help make your dreams come true.
So that means that many kids may have to lower their expectations. Nope, it’s not fair that someone else can afford a $60,000 a year school and that I’m suggesting that you go to CC for $7,000 a year.
It means getting a part time job where and when you can get one, to pay for that first car and that college education, and later on, your wedding and your first house.
But that tends to be life in the real world. Adults tend to pay their own way. And “adulthood” tends to begin sometime close to high school graduation.
^ Strictly speaking, parents, when able, are expected to pay for college tuition. With 75k, unless there are 3 or more children, the family should be able to pay instate tuition to a commutable college, and if the student is exceptional to excellent, there are merit scholarships or meet-need colleges.
However, even in countries or States where tuition is free, parents and students still need to pay rent, buy food, figure out transportation costs and books… So if this student is looking for help, it exists, bit if the student wants a free ride, then that’s another matter.
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My point was this: I think there’s this misperception among a lot of kids, both domestic and international, that there’s this immense pot full of money somewhere with their name on it.
And if they can just find the pot of money, someone else will pay for their college education, just as someone paid for their elementary and high school educations.
And that’s simply not the case.
Once you finish high school, life changes.
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Yes, and it’s hard for many to accept that they can’t just pick a favorite school and magically funding will appear.
Why and how did you end up in the USA?
“Adults tend to pay their own way. And “adulthood” tends to begin sometime close to high school graduation.”
My older daughter sometimes says “being an adult is lousy” (often using a more colorful word to mean “is lousy”). She is joking of course, but being an adult does bring some responsibilities which are not fun to deal with, such as figuring out how to pay your own way through life.
Hi everyone, thanks for all your comments and suggestions.
I ended up in the US last year as my dad got transferred here.
My unweighted GPA is 3.7 (on a 4.0 scale) and my SAT score is 1500
Within the last year I made it on the varsity cheer team, got elected to the executive board of a school club and hold the position of a section editor on the school newspaper.
My school is known for its academic rigor and cut-throat competitiveness.
I took 3 honors classes last year (straight As on all). I am taking 2 APs and 3 honors this year.
And to those wondering why I do not want to take 2 years of classes at a community college and then transfer to a 4 year one, it is because international students who transfer get NO form of aid/scholarships. The little chance I have of getting a merit scholarship will be blown away if I take the CC route. It is not that I look down upon CCs, it is just a lot more trouble for someone like me.
Additionally, I cannot work in the US and that rules out a part-time job or taking a gap year to work and fund my own education.