<p>I've often come across posts stating that international students can't have financial safeties- or indeed, any safeties at all, if they apply to the US.
However, having gone through the process (and yes, Im going to a state university) I feel that many state universities, with scholarships based purely on the SAT scores and GPA can serve this purpose- and ensure pretty good aid- for students who do qualify on these criteria.
Is this observation valid?</p>
<p>The title should probably be- financial safety for internationals. Oh, well.</p>
<p>Would you mind sharing your list of state schools with guaranteed scholarships for international students? Most of the guaranteed scholarships at state schools seem to be for in-state students only, or limited to a partial tuition waiver for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>I think the “there is no financial safety” mantra applies mainly to international applicants who need help with their living expenses (room, board, etc). Public universities with low tuition costs or tuition waivers are a good option for students who can afford to attend them.</p>
<p>^I don’t have one… This is more of a question.
Okay, let me put it this way. I did not think that State schools gave international students ANY money at all. And yet, I see people getting tuition waivers and having to pay approx $10,000 in many places. Adding on work study and summer earnings, this actually becomes quite manageable.
So… I don’t know if the observation is valid. I was merely wondering if it’s so.</p>
<p>^^^ I PM ed you something… I do think that the State Univs give aid, but after the first year (freshman year)…</p>
<p>Let me speak from experience: do not rely on work-study (technically on-campus jobs; work-study is for domestic students only) or summer jobs to pay for room and board. The minimum wage jobs most college students are working provide just enough money to pay for books, incidentals (clothes, cosmetics, medical expenses, laptop repair, transportation, etc), summer housing, maybe your health insurance.</p>
<p>If you need $10,000 for tuition or room and board, expect to pay $10,000 out of pocket. Work-study and summer jobs might cover the other day-to-day expenses that are not billed directly by the college.</p>
<p>Hey Bary…what about the Co-op program…?? Give us an insight on it…</p>
<p>What sort of co-op program?</p>
<p>I meant- total living expenses including room, board, books, etc. is 10K… Work study makes this even more manageable.
Also, I don’t know- but many colleges offered me work study as part of their financial aid. It doesn’t seem to be for domestic students only.</p>
<p>“Work-study” (or “federal work-study”) is a technical term that refers to student jobs whose wages are supplemented by the American government. Only students receiving federal financial aid qualify for work-study. And then there are regular plain on-campus jobs. Some colleges make a strict distinction between the terms, others use work-study and on-campus job synonymously.</p>
<p>^Okay, I wasn’t aware of the difference. Thanks.</p>
<p>
Unless you happen to receive a full tuition, room and board scholarship, you need a more realistic estimate of your expenses. Here’s what I spend outside of room and board each year:</p>
<p>Health insurance: $1,500
Books: $500
Summer living expenses not covered by room and board: $3,000
Day-to-day expenses (transportation, entertainment, cell phone, cosmetics, clothes, etc): $2,000
Unexpected expenses: $1,000 (something “big” seems to come up every year: one year I had a big dentist bill, the next year I had to fly home to get some visa stuff straightened out, the year after my computer needed to be replaced)</p>
<p>That’s $8,000 a year not including room and board. Most colleges only include $2,000 a year for personal expenses in the cost of attendance, which is unrealistic for most college students. At the very least you need to add summer housing (for 4 months!) if you don’t have relatives you can stay with. You might also need to add health insurance if it’s not already included in the college’s cost of attendance, airfare, and I would strongly suggest you have an extra $1,000 each year for unexpected expenses.</p>
<p>Well, I was not including summer expenses.</p>
<p>I think you should count summer expenses if you count summer income. I have never had more than $1,000 left over from the summer to help with my expenses for the fall semester. Most of my summer income went straight towards summer living expenses.</p>
<p>^ So there was no real gain, is that what you are saying?</p>
<p>Yes, that’s what I was trying to say. Thanks for clarifying!</p>
<p>Part of the reason that many international students do not have money left over from the summer is that we tend to work low-paying jobs on campus, participate in research programs off campus or get a job abroad. Our visa status restricts our off-campus employment options, and many students choose to save their work permit for the first job after college. On campus jobs at my school pay $8 to $9 an hour, and most jobs only last for the official 10-week summer session (there are 5 more weeks to the summer, but the campus is pretty much dead in that time). $8 per hour for 40 hours per week for 10 weeks makes $3200. There’s not much left once you pay for 15 weeks of food and housing.</p>
<p>A few (emphasis on few) international students do manage to earn a fair bit of money though. A computer science friend of mine got an internship with Microsoft that pays $15,000 for three months.</p>
<p>But, (trying to infer from what you said in the other thread) your friend who got an internship at M$ would have used his/her limited off-campus job hours, right?</p>
<p>Also, what do you do in the remaining 5 weeks, if can’t earn and the campus is dead?</p>
<p>Thanks, as always, you are super helpful! :)</p>
<p>Relax, visit friends, travel, whatever your budget allows 
The campus being dead referred mostly to job openings. There are still some students in the area to hang out with, we just don’t have much to do.</p>
<p>And yes, she is using her OPT time for the internship (alas, she is not concerned about staying in the US after college).</p>
<p>P.S. ugwedteu’s post #18 is a reply to this post. I edited my post after he replied.</p>