<p>Let me first introduce myself. I am an international student considering UW-Madison as one of my four choices. University of Wisconsin-Madison is a public university and that what gave rise to this problem. When I visited the university's website, it read:
[quote]
international students are expected to pay for their educational expenses
[/quote]
Now the problem is I am from a family background with an annual income bracket of $15000. In my country I didn't have to pay at all for my high school studies as my fees were covered up by the scholarship I got from my school. But now this is different. Now, how do I pay for an world-class education at Madison? Are the merit-based scholarships enough to back me up?</p>
<p>Besides that I have another query. There's a rumor in my friend circle:
[quote]
when you apply to colleges, the colleges can sort out applicants before you send your financial application. How? By jotting down the ones applying for fee-waiver requests. If you applied for fee-waiver, the colleges come to the decision that 'He can't pay this simple fee, so how is he going to pay the college tuition fees? I might need much aid in this time of financial recession!'
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I hope I get a clear message on the first query. And I hope we are proved wrong on the second.</p>
<p>It is your responsibility to come up with the funds. UW gives very little merit money, it is highly unlikely you would be eligible for any. US banks are unlikely to loan you money. You likely can’t work in the US to pay your expenses with a student visa. You could investigate private scholarships through places that offer them in your country. You could borrow money in your country- but consider the huge debt and your chances of paying it. The US government will not issue visas unless the person can prove they will not become a burden to this country. As a student you have to show you have the funds to pay for your expenses- tuition, fees, room, board, travel and any other expenses. UW is warning you that you can’t expect any of the usual sources of financial aid US students may be eligible for. There is no sense in spending money on the application fee and other needed paperwork if you won’t be able to pay for the education.</p>
<p>Many students in this country wish they could attend UW (or other schools) but don’t because they and their family can’t afford it.</p>
<p>Since UW expects you to find your own support it doesn’t make sense for it to pay for your application if you couldn’t attend due to lack of funds. A fee waiver means someone else is bearing the cost of evaluating your application.</p>
<p>hmmm. It seems money is really the factor to achieve an UW-Madison education. Well, my bad! I think UW-Madison is not for me but I will still respect UW-Madison for its education though people like me can’t achieve what they want. I though about taking loans but now it seems next to impossible as how do I repay it after my BSc.? Well, farewell, Wisconsin! :'(</p>
<p>Decibel–no offense, but there are many, many domestic students who can’t achieve what they want because of the cost at UW-Madison & other top-notch institutions, many parents who can’t provide that for their children, so their children attend elsewhere, colleges they CAN afford. </p>
<p>And also, many parents (like myself) who have sacrificed financially so our children CAN attend UW-Madison. It ain’t easy & I’ll be paying it off for many moons to come, but that’s how strongly I believe in this school.</p>
<p>‘People like me’? What do you mean? Do you have stellar grades & stats and are an under-represented minority? Certainly there are US schools looking to fill their quotas that will cut you a break on those points alone.</p>
<p>In this country, a college education is not a birthright, it’s a privilege. And we in the middle class, even with bright children who have worked very hard, have the ‘privilege’ of paying full freight to these top schools. But that’s our choice.</p>
<p>@jnm123: Thank you for your reply. First of all, ‘people like me’. By this I meant ‘Yes’ those with stellar grades, crossing the 590 mark out of 600 in all international exams they have sat for, receiving awards from the state’s ministers and having others (the government) to pay their tuition expenses all along. But still can’t live their dreams due to monetary reasons. It feels like a sting when all your achievements fall short to make your dream a reality. I took Wisconsin to be the favorite in the field I wished and still wish to pursue my studies and also began filling out the forms when my hopes ended with the creation of this thread.</p>
<p>Second,
I liked this line very much. When you wrote ‘it’s not a birthright’, this really made sense. I am not one of those who were gifted with special academic talents but I am one of those who has by the rolling of years perfected his abilities to reach the point where people can’t tell the difference between the anomalies and the norms. At this point my battle seems a lost one as I find nowhere to hoist my flag up. It’s really time for me to re-think, re-plan and re-dream.</p>
<p>Excellent statement, jnm123. I might add it was a rude awakening for many elite school grads to discover that with the more current needs blind admissions their offspring were not getting into their alma mater (overheard an airport conversation many years ago- people like me would have gone to HYP et al instead of them, perhaps, if policies had been different in my day).</p>
<p>OP- you do have academic abilities, it takes innate ability as well as hard work to reach the top. I have often run into gifted people who don’t realize what average is, especially those from outside the US who are used to being with academic peers in family and schools (here most would be at the local public schools with all ability ranges). However, given the world, or even many countries’, population, there are many thousands of each age in the top 1%. Therefore you can’t expect places to want to finance your education.</p>
<p>IF your dream is to someday emmigrate to the US you can do so for grad school or other training beyond college. Or you can attend US grad schools more easily funded than as an undergrad to return. It is good to have dreams, but reality means a very different life than we imagine as teenagers.</p>