I don't have a Counselor, need help

Chance Me / Match Me!
21

VERY IMPORTANT…you will not be able to establish residency for tuition purposes at any school on the above list for subsequent years UNLESS your family moves to that state before you start attending. And read the rules carefully, because at some places, your residency for tuition cost purposes is established when you are accepted…and stays that way for the duration. In other words, at some schools, if you are accepted as an out of state student, you can’t ever change to instate status.

Straight talk here. Where is $50,000 to pay for your college coming from if your parent income is only $40,000. Your parent claims they can pay $10,000 MORE per year than they actually earn? I’m sorry but that makes NO sense…unless they have VERY VERY significant assets. If that is the case, find that out. How will your family pay their living expenses if they are using their FULL income plus $10,000 annually to pay for you to go to college? That makes NO sense…at all.

I don’t normally do chances threads…why ED to UVA? They have very limited acceptances for out of state students.

Understand that YOUR application for admission will be reviewed along with others from your region. There are tons of extremely well qualified students from India and that region who apply to u.s. colleges every year.

Do you plan to apply for financial aid?

22

Purdue is extremely stingy with merit money, especially for engineering and your SAT score is low for them as well.

For any school that admits by major, don’t look at the overall acceptance numbers, look at those from the college of engineering.

23

Penn State is a very costly college for OOS students. VERY.

The max guaranteed aid for completing the FAFSA is a $5500 student loan, and whatever portion of the Pell Grant you are qualified for. The max Pell is $6000 or so. Completing a FAFSA gives you nit a dime more than that.

UVA also uses the CSS Profile, and you will need to complete that form as well to get need based aid from that school.

@happymomof1 what’s that place that helps U.S. citizens overseas with college stuff? I think this student could use their help.

@justbehonestwme make sure YOU are fully honest when completing those financial aid application forms. Saying your parents can pay out of pocket $50,000 a year when they only earn $40,000 a year would indicate that they have some decent assets as well. Those assets WILL be considered when you apply for need based aid.

I have to ask…where is that $50,000 they can pay coming from if their income is only $40,000? How will they pay their living expenses if they are giving more than they earn by 25% to you every year.

24

If $50K is all they are able to put towards college expenses in total (over the 4 years), since you won’t get instate status at these schools for undergrad, you need to rethink your list. Be sure to also consider travel expenses. And required health insurance. That’s usually a few thousand dollars.

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The net price calculators should be used with caution since the parents earn their income in India.

26

You wanted a “chance me”. Well, your chances are slim to none on those schools as OOS engineering major. Lottery tickets and high reaches, as engineering major. Look at your test scores and where they stand in terms of the student body and you can be assured that engineering is even more selective. Uf , Virginia Tech and Purdue are reaches for you. And they are not going to give you any of their money.

The only things you might get from the federal government are the. PELL grant, subsidized loans and possible work study. PELL maxes out at about $6k and if your parents have assets that can pay out $50k a year , I don’t see how you’ll qualify. The loans are for $5500 freshman year, some of that interest subsidized till you graduate if you qualify. Yes, you can work, through work study or otherwise, but as a full time student, that will be limited. All of that is not going to add up to enough.

You can do a lot more than just hope. You can research these schools’ selectivity, cost and state residency. You can see that they are not good possibilities in any of those departments. You want to gamble a little, and apply to them, fine. But recognize them for what they are and if you are serious about studying here in the US , get some realistic affordable choices on your list too.

If your family seriously can and are willing to pay $50k a year for your education , there are plenty of schools that are possibilities. If you are serious about getting the cost down by obtaining state residency, there are states where this is possible. Not the ones you have chosen.

Also your major is highly selective. My close friend son was shut out of Purdue’s very prestigious Aerospace Engineering Program when he applied there. He was shocked as he got his app in early and more than made the upper quarter of students at Purdue. The accept rate back then was in the high 70%. As it turned out, this program is probably the most selective of its kind in the country. It had about a 10% select rate. It’s not easy to get info on select programs at schools, but it’s something you should know because your stats are not way up there. You need to research further. Engineering itself is highly selective with accept rates often lower than the composite given to a college.

Start looking at schools where your stats stand out the other direction— as a good pick, and some where it’s easier on your parents’ bank account. Advice is to add Alabama ( check out the various campuses) on list, note if any merit at any would come your way. Look at less selective schools , possibly in states other members have recommended as possibilities to get state residency. Keep these original schools on your list if you do please. No reason not to have lottery tickets too.

27

You are a US citizen living abroad. This means that you must have had established residency before you left. What state was that? Were your parents US citizens as well? Or only you? Did your parents file any state taxes?

You should focus your efforts on that state’s university, as you will be considered an in-state resident for tuition purposes.

28

Arizona and Arizona State could be possibilities for Engineering.

Arizona might give some sort of merit that will make the costs close to in-state depending on GPA/SAT scores.

Iowa State could be another potential candidate for Engineering. Look into it.

29

It doesn’t necessarily work that way. OP should ask parents if they have maintained any residual residency in a state and check out if any schools in that state will take that connection as in state for tuition purposes. At this point, we do not know whether parents are even citizens.

I grew up overseas, and my parents did not maintain any relationship with any state so I had no state residency when it came time for me to apply to college. My parents preferred to sever those ties over paying state income taxes while they were overseas. They had no intentions to return to the state they left, and did not return there either. They were typical of expats— I remember.

So it’s something OP should investigate, but since no state is mentioned as a “home”, I get the just that there is none.

30

@sgopal2 - In most cases, US citizens living abroad do not have any in-state residence for tuition and fees purposes. What they do have is in-state status for voting purposes. That can be claimed in the state of last residence, or in the case of citizens born abroad, in the state of the citizen parent’s last residence.

@justbehonestwme - One useful source of information for you is the EducationUSA website, and the advising center closest to where you live now. If there are no counselors near you who have worked with a US citizen recently, they have colleagues at other advising centers who have. EducationUSA is a not-for-profit organization that is supported by the US State Department - in other words by income taxes paid by US citizens worldwide. Any fees that might be charged will be very low, and will go directly to the support of that particular advising center.

https://educationusa.state.gov/
Advising Centers in India: https://educationusa.state.gov/find-advising-center?field_region_target_id=&field_country_target_id=306&field_center_level_value=All

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@sgopal2

Not sure where you are getting your. Information but an undergrad student residency for tuition purposes is dependent on where the student’s parentesides now, not where he resided years ago.

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@thumper1: I read somewhere that US expats are considered residents of the state that they formerly lived in until they repatriate back. One cannot be ‘stateless’ and a US citizen at the same time.

33

@sgopal2 OP’s parents may not necessarily be US permanent residents/citizens depending on visa status.

Green card holders cannot maintain residence abroad for more than 6 months out of the year. So not likely that the parents can claim residence in a US state as a permanent resident.

34

There is a distinction between domicile and residence. At least in military families. A US citizen always has a place of domicile within a US state, regardless of whether they live within the US or not. The OP stated that he/she is a US citizen.

The rules vary widely among each US state in how they determine residency for tuition purposes, so the OP might consider investigating if this would be possible for their last state of residence.

35

@sgopal2 That is purely poppycock. Family members here live out of the country. Their kids lived out if the country with them! When it came time to apply to college, they had NO instate residency status for tuition purposes because they did NOT reside in any of the states. Period. Oh…and they own property in three states as well…but they don’t live there. They live abroad.

Families that live abroad and are citizens have certain rights…but state residency isn’t one of them for tuition purposes.

The exception to this is for military families…but for regular expats who are U.S. citizens, it is highly possible that they don’t have instate status anywhere.

You are tying to take the guidelines for military families and apply them to everyone…and that simply isn’t the case.

36

@thumper1: I don’t mean to be argumentative, but we honestly don’t know enough here. The OP has not replied, so there really is not enough information to make a determination. Some states allow residence in-absentia and others don’t. Its not just for military families.

If you don’t believe me, google “Can a US citizen be a resident of NO state” and see for yourself. Sorry I can’t link directly here.

37

We absolutely do not know enough to make any assumptions. We don’t even know if the OP’s parents are US citizens.

I assure you that it is very possible not to be a state resident when you are an expat. I was in that situation and know plenty of others in the same. It’s also possible to remain a state resident. Military are pretty much forced to do so, and regulations are easier for them. A lot of the time for civilians, it’s a matter of not paying state income tax. You can have residency for voting without maintaining residence for tax purposes.

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@justbehonestwme said in post #14, “Nevertheless I do have safeties like Pennstate, [UMaryland]collegePark”; these are NOT safeties, but are reaches for you.

39

There is another poster posting about being a resident of 2 states, b/c her parents are separated, her dad is military and has one identified state of residence, and she lives with her mom in another state. She insisted she can claim to be a resident of both states, but if she lives more than 50% of the time with mom in a different state (and will graduate from HS in that state) how can she claim to be a resident of the dad’s state? I don’t know who declares her as a dependent in taxes (assuming they file separately) but for FAFSA purposes moms is primary residence.

40

Schools determine who can get in state residency for admissions and tuition. Not FAFSA dependency rules, not IRS dependent rules, not divorce decree rules, not even State rules for voting, library card, drivers license, taxation, etc. Two different state schools can define residency different ways. It’s up to the school.

The rules for in state residency for Tuition can even conflict with that for state financial aid and scholarship and National Merit status.

That’s why, each student, parent, person has to check at each school. As general rule, a student has in state residency for tuition if a parent has been living there for a year. (Some don’t even care if it’s a year). It’s supposed to be the primary residence for the parent.

It gets even trickier because checking up and enforcement of these rules can vary widely

I know a number of military and a number of divorced parents whose kids can get in state tuition at more than one state.