I don’t want a full ride I just want full need but yeah I get your point. So what are some good schools Paul2752 other than the ones Marvin100 mentioned (thanks btw).
There are only 5 colleges in America that are both need blind in admissions and provide full demonstrated need to international students. They are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Amherst and MIT. They are all extremely difficult to get into, but you have a chance at them if the rest of your record is as good as your test scores.
@marvin100 “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.”
Actually, Amherst is need blind for internationals, but it is the only LAC that is. Nevertheless, you are correct that other top LACs may be interested and generous, especially the very wealthy ones like Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona and Grinnell.
Yeah but I’m really interested in computer science 
is it true that no LACs have CS as a major?
No, @HelpMeImLost . All of those schools have CS, and it’s quite good at some of them. Carleton is also known for excellent CS, and I’ve known internationals who have gotten significant aid there as well.
(I’ll add Vassar as another school that’s given generous aid to at least one or two high achieving internationals I’ve known)
Aha nice. Thank you so much
@Helpmeimlost
As mentioned demonstrated need depends entirely on how much need your family is able to demonstrate. Need based aid is difficult for internationals to predict. Net price calculators generally don’t apply, and your estimated family contribution is impacted by comparative standards of living, exchange rates and complex income streams. Some colleges’ financial aid departments will give you a reasonable indication of how much you might be eligible for. Contact a few and see what kind of responses you get.
This list is not exhaustive (I’m sure there are others) but it’s a good starting point for “guarantee to meet full need for internationals.” I’d have to agree that limiting your geographic range to California puts you at a severe disadvantage. You need to widen your net.
Amherst, Brown, Chicago, Colby, Dartmouth, Davidson, Duke, Grinnell, Hamilton, Harvard, JHU, MIT, Macalester, Middlebury, Penn, Pitzer, Pomona, Princeton, Richmond, Rhodes, Stanford, Swarthmore, Vanderbilt, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Williams
In addition many colleges, including Harvey Mudd and CMC, offer merit scholarships to internationals; however, the amounts received vary widely. These colleges (again not all-inclusive) offer merit aid to internationals:
Alabama, Babson, Bard, Carlton, Chicago, CMC, Clark, Davidson, Dickinson, Duke, Emory, Fordham, Grinnell, JHU, Harvey Mudd, Howard, Kenyon, Louisiana, Miami, Mt. Holyoke, North Carolina, Northeastern, Notre Dame, Rhodes, Rice, Richmond, Rochester, Scripps, Smith, Syracuse, Tulane, Trinity U, Vanderbilt, Wooster, W&L, WUSTL
As mentioned, small and medium sized colleges in the midwest, in the south and in rural areas anywhere don’t get that many international applicants, especially from the middle east. Demographics, diversity and life experience are important admissions factors. Your background will function, in effect, as an EC. Think about what you can contribute to the campus community, both in and out of the classroom, and make sure you expand on that in your essays, recommendations and resumes.
Each school’s Common Data Set, section H6, presents statistics on aid to international students.
Unlike the statistics for domestic students elsewhere in section H, section H6 (for internationals) does not differentiate between need-based aid and merit awards. For many LACs, the H6 average awarded dollar amount is quite high. Examples from the 2014-15 or 2015-16 CDS files:
$59,674 Williams
$50,530 Middlebury
$48,867 Haverford
$43,264 Macalester
$39,680 Grinnell
@tk21769 - you can also get the absolute number of awards from section H6 of the CDS which is helpful.
Tufts will give need based aid to internationals, but it is not need blind.
From Tufts Common Data Set Section H6:
Tufts awarded 127 international students aid (at an average of $53,193)
For context:
Williams awarded 94 international students aid (at an average of $59,674), which is a higher percentage than Tufts, given that Tufts undergraduate student body is about 2.5 times the size of Williams.
Amherst (which claims to be need blind) awarded 159 international students aid (at an average of $58,477), which would be an even higher percentage.
Ideally you would want to know how many internationals applied from your geography to each school to get an idea how difficult it is to get these awards, but I do not know where to get this info.
This is what you’re facing…
Schools that might give you a large merit scholarship would still have remaining costs for an int’l. Even if you got a full tuition award, each year you’d still have to come up with:
About …
$15k for R&B
$3k for personal expenses
$2k for health insurance
$2k for books and fees
$2k for travel from abroad
Even if you got an award that covers tuition room and board…you’d still need to come up with about $10k per year to satisfy the req’ts to get your visa.
If you started at a CC, then you’d really be screwed when you’d go to transfer since few schools give much aid to int’l transfer students…very few!
What is R&B? And aren’t books and fees part of the cost and is covered (sometimes) by FA. I’ve seen people get that before.
R&B= Room and board
Full tuition means the costs to be authorized in class, using the classrooms, labs, the computer labs, the tutoring center, the library, and of course benefiting from a professor’s and classmates ’ insights.
Fees are often tacked on for using the gym, printing, etc. There are also costs for parking or laundry.
Room and Board covers housing in a dorm and the food you eat on campus.
A scholarship that covers tuition, fees, room, and board is called a ‘full ride’. Those are very rare and typically imply very high test scores. Look at Howard, ncsu, Lsu, for automatic full rides for stats, at washington&lee or unc for competitive ones.
Some universities consider your parents’ income and assets but they take very few students with high need and those ought to fill an institutional need. The level of financial aid you need is taken into account in the decision and if you can pay less than 25k it’s harder for you, and I’d you can pay less than 12k it’s an uphill battle.
Finally, there are five universities that don’t look at how much money you need when they admit you. They want the best students in the world. At those world-famous schools, they’ll cover books etc. If you can’t pay for them. But they really only take students to are exceptional, Best in the World at something. Your odds are 1% there.
So, apply to a variety of colleges.
https://■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■/pulse/us-higher-education-institutions-awarding-most-financial-yoko-kono this could also work
@MYOS1634 It’s important to clarify that LSU only offers its scholarships to internationals graduated from US high schools
Exceptions also may occur in HYSM
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1881717-dear-international-students-seeking-financial-aid-you-can-do-it-p1.html
OP apply open-minded and expect the best and the worst case scenario, you’ll be fine.
Thank you everyone. 