You can look for scholarships for an international student that cover everything, but they are few and far between. The reason CC is suggested is because it is cheaper. Yes, you will most likely pay full price for your junior and senior year of college, but you most likely will anyway. There just aren’t that many schools that cover full costs for international student. An international going to college in NJ will likely pay full, OOS tuition for all 4 years. What is being suggested here is that you go to CC for 2 years and a public for 2 years, getting instate tuition for all 4 years. That’s really quite a break for costs. An international wouldn’t get that tuition break.
Your other option is to apply to schools that give merit aid to those with your stats. You need to check to see if those are available to non-citizens/permanent residents. You might be able to find some local scholarships that can only be used instate too, but again check for citizenship requirements.
See if any US schools give merit to international students- my guess is that this is not easy to find
Get educated in your home country
Have your parents fund your education- can they contribute anything?
Go to a CC
See if you would qualify for instate tuition since you are graduating HS in your state.
Unfortunately life is not fair, and that is a very tough lesson to learn. There are many students in the US who also can’t afford to attend 4 year colleges.
I have looked at some such schools. It would be great if CC could help me find some more. Most are either super selective, or not very diverse who are willing to provide scholarships to int’l students to increase diversity on campus.
It will be very difficult to get into a college in my home country with a high school diploma from the US
They can contribute approximately $20,000 per year
Your parents can contribute $20,000 a year? The first thing I would do is contact the public colleges in the state in which you will be getting your diploma and and explain your situation. Are there any colleges that are within commuting distance? What is the cost of these schools? For example, if you live in NYS you could easily attend a SUNY school with that contribution from your parents… if you qualify for instate tuition.
The research you need to do is not difficult, but it is time consuming. I would also meet with your guidance counselor and see if he/she can help you. And… you may have to begin at a CC.
Yes, I am going on a college tour to my state school and plan to ask if I indeed qualify for in-state tuition. The criteria on the website is very confusing. My state school is great and if I qualify for in-state tuition I would be more than happy to go there without any form of aid. However if I don’t qualify as in-state, I will be needing some merit aid. My gpa and test scores are on the higher end of the school’s averages. So I was wondering if it would be reasonable to negotiate with them regarding aid?
You can’t negotiate but if you graduate from a high school in the state, with your stats, you have a high likelihood of merit aid at the instate public (some States will in fact consider you instate for tuition).
Your calculations regarding merit aid at a 4-year college are sound. Considering your stats, it’ll indeed be cheaper to go straight to a 4-year providing merit.
Look at UAlabama, UT Dallas, Miami Ohio, Temple, all of which would provide you with scholarships for your stats. USC Columbia has an excellent honors college but start working on the application because the essays are numerous.
You can apply to Pomona College since it won’t distinguish between you and a US resident as long as you graduate HS here.
What is your home country, and is your father an internationally mobile professional with a decent salary? I would not have have my kids moved at this stage unless the secondment included a package to adress the university costs. Are you in private school being paid for by corporate?
Difficult to study in your home country, or all but impossible? If it is merely dificult and time consuming to work through the process of re-validating your secindary studies, that still could be the best option. Contact the Education Officer at the closest consulate for your country, and get advice about the process.
If your parents can pay 20k each year, then the CC to low-cost public still could be the route to follow. If you commute to a CC, even paying OOS tuition and fees should still be significantly less than 20k. Your parents can put the difference away in savings to help pay for the last two years.
Apply to University of Alabama. They give guaranteed merit aid based on SAT/ACT and GPA. I believe you would get enough aid there that your net costs would be less than $20,000 a year.