Information:
International (from Middle East)
GPA: 3.9 (or 3.95 not sure)
SAT: single sitting 800/800/700 (CR)
Math Level 2: 800
Physics: 800
Bio: soon
TOEFL: soon
APs: might take like 3 senior year (my school only offers them in senior year)
ECs: meh
Essays: above average
Recommendations: above average/very good
I lived in the US for 6 years if that make’s a difference.
I’m looking for colleges in California that are known to meet full need for internationals (not just on paper but actually meet full need and be actually affordable). If anyone can make a list based on experience or just list a few that would be great. Thanks in advance.
In Calif, there is probably only a couple of schools that meet full need for int’ls… Stanford and maybe Harvey Mudd? Stanford is need aware for int’ls. Not sure of Harvey Mudd.
None of the UCs will give you the aid you need.
I’m not really looking at the top colleges or UCs and I know that there are no need-blind colleges in Cali for internationals. I’m just looking for full-need for all undergrads.
Soka University of America apparently is the only college in CA that is both need blind and claims to meet full need for international students.
Six CA colleges are need blind for US applicants and also claim to meet full need:
Claremont McKenna
Pomona
Harvey Mudd
Soka
Stanford
University of Southern California
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission)
Whether these schools “actually meet full need” and are “actually affordable” may be impossible to determine, since “need” and affordability mean different things to different colleges and families. However, these 5 presumably tend to give better need-based aid (and may have lower net costs in many cases) than other private colleges that don’t even claim to meet full demonstrated need.
You can try using the online net price calculator to estimate costs for any college that interests you. Also check each school’s Common Data Set, section H, for need-based aid and merit award statistics (including for international students).
It is the “top”, most selective colleges that tend to give the best need-based aid.
http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2015/09/14/colleges-that-report-meeting-full-financial-need
If big money is an absolute necessity, then u need to expand your severely myopic geographic requirement beyond just California, and focus on getting money first.
Agree with @GMT plus7: If you are in need of a large amount of financial aid, you cannot be too picky on your school location. You are at a huge disadvantage by limiting your options and it may result no acceptances anywhere come Spring. I would also look at the International thread, to see if there are any good college suggestions for you.
Since you’re coming from the Middle East, your present location doesn’t logistically restrict you to CA.
I already checked other states/areas and I have a few colleges in mind already but I wanted to have some safeties(if that’s even possible) in CA.
There are NO SAFETIES for int’ls with huge need in Calif (or most anywhere)
If there were, the domestic students would first grab all the seats.
The good news: Your stats are great. Are your grades as good?
The bad news: An international student needing tens of thousands of dollars in aid every year for four year needs to be open to going just about anywhere in the US. You will greatly increase your odds by applying to schools in parts of the country off-the-radar for the masses of internationals applying to the US every fall. That means, the American south, northern states, and central states (often called mid-west.) Competition for the West Coast and the Northeast is fierce; and as mom2collegekids wrote, in super-popular California there are no safeties. There are plenty of amazing international students applying there who don’t need FA.
Start researching schools here:
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Many of the colleges with the best aid for international students are small liberal arts colleges that are relatively unknown outside the USA. The Claremont colleges in California (Pomona, Harvey Mudd, Claremont McKenna …) are good examples but so are dozens of other LACs throughout the country. These schools generally offer majors only in the arts and sciences (not architecture, engineering, nursing, or other pre-professional fields) but tend to provide a high-quality undergraduate academic experience in the fields they do teach (with smaller classes than you’d get at research universities and total focus on undergraduates).
http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges
OP, could you elaborate on your CA safeties?
I don’t have any that’s why I’m asking. 
Sorry, misinterpreted what you stated about CA safeties… Unless you can pay around $8-10,000 for tuition at a California community college (not including Room/Board/Transportation), you will not be able to find any safeties.
That would be great only if it included all expenses but as you said it probably won’t.
Wait what did you just say community college so basically there are no good safeties haha
Here is a link to a California community college which shows tuition rates and expenses:
http://www.mtsac.edu/international/tuition_fees.html
For comparison, the cost of attendance for a Cal State:
http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/international/fees.html
I’ve known high achieving kids who got $ at Macalester, Trinity (San Antonio), Wesleyan, Hamilton, Williams, and Amherst. These schools aren’t need-blind for internationals, but they have $ and are motivated to bring in kids with top grades and scores.
Yes. There are no feasible safeties for an international applicant who needs a full ride in California. This is what we call a reach. Time to broaden your criteria.
You need to expand your geographic choices. There are some schools that would give at least merit full tuition, or even luckier, virtually full ride scholarship. Of course they are NOT in CA