Spot on, @austinmshauri.
I think what’s upsetting to jym626 is some international students’ idea that US colleges SHOULD be awarding financial aid to internationals. There is the EXPECTATION that, hey I have great stats, I SHOULD be going to a (preferably elite) American school.
That’s what bothers some posters here. Americans have no expectation that their high stats will give them full rides in South Korea. But somehow the reverse applies in South Korea.
GMTplus07 once wrote: “This is US college, not United Nations college.” That sums it up.
I must say I was reading/using ’ stingy’ to mean ’ not generous’, not implying Scrooge.
As @MYOS1634 said, I was using the word “stingy” to imply nothing but the dictionary definition. If you took offense at the connotations of the word, I certainly did not intend for that specific word or my post as a whole to sound accusational and I apologize for any misunderstanding. Again, I think the fact that US schools give little aid to internationals is a completely rational and understandable situation.
On a tangent, most of the international students I’ve seen certainly do not expect full rides at US colleges. In Korea, at least, studying abroad is seen as a privilege, and students who are studying in the US (since it’s more expensive here than most other places) are thought to be not only academically qualified but also of a wealthy background. I’m not sure what kind of uninformed international students have been lolling about here with an attitude, but we certainly do not expect handouts. The lucky few who do get near full rides or full rides are the ones who have worked exponentially harder than anyone else for that scholarship and they would definitely not take that for granted, either.
@koreanstudent - as @austinmshauri eloquently explained, the term “stingy” has a negative inference. To many people, and in a generic sense, stingy is a derogatory term. It implies miserly, unkind or basically cheap. None of those are very nice terms and the implication is what comes across whether you intended it or not. It may reflect the difference between a natural born English speaker vs those who are not. The dictionary definition does differ from the sort of slang inference the term takes on.
@jym626 Well, seeing as I’ve already been made aware of this, and I’ve already apologized for any misunderstanding, I’m not sure what more you want me to do, and none of these extra posts are any help towards the OP’s original question, so I’m going to stop replying on this thread. Sorry for using the dictionary definition of a word. Perhaps we should all start a petition for Merriam-Webster to add potential implications of the word on their search results.
So to say the schools are “very stingy” can be seen as derogatory. Maybe not intended by you, but how it can be read by others. Along those lines, what we say may be interpreted by readers differently from what we intended. My annoyance at the description of the US schools being portrayed as “very stingy” to internationals was interpreted as feeling “insulted” (that was in a post that has been removed) or “upset”. Those are not the words I would select to describe my feeling of annoyance.
OK @koreanstudent, now sarcasm has been injected into your comments 
( hard to tell if you are serious or kidding). That’s fine, but be aware of its implications. No one is asking you to do anything. This is a conversation and an opportunity to discuss how comments can be seen or interpreted. The point is that the words in take on different meanings other than what is the “dictionary” definition.
In another thread, there is a link to an article about a biracial student who was living in Germany and did not know that the German word for black was a slang, and unfortunately used as a derogatory term for black people.
Like @koreanstudent said, none of these extra posts are any help towards the OP’s question. But thanks for your original post!
@jym626 Freedom of speech and expression. Understand that for a second.
“stingy” = unwilling to give. True or false? - True
I don’t see what the argument is anymore. Connotations are relative.
Now please, for OP’s sake and for any other international student following this thread, don’t argue about it anymore. Stop.
Okay so:
Princeton SCEA vs Stanford REA vs MIT EA?
If I apply MIT EA then I can apply EA somewhere else. But then REA and SCEA give a teeny teeny boost in admission chances. But Stanford is need aware whereas Princeton and MIT are need blind for international students.
Those are the facts. Help me out.
Thanks.
Lol, @gigichuck, you bring up freedom of speech, ( a US issue, not a nigerian one, AFAIK) then try to shut down conversation. Doesn’t work that way. But nice try. Not. Best to understand the connotations of words or slang expressions in the country you hope to spend time in or you might find yourself in an uncomfortable situation. And for the umpteenth time, posters have suggested you come back when you have real standardized test scores to report, not “hopeful” ones. Otherwise you are just chasing unicorns.
@gigichuck: MIT or Princeton for EA. But as jym626 says, a lot rides on your next SAT/ACT score.
Start looking at merit aid for different levels (ie., what colleges have near full rides for a 30 ACT? 28? etc.)
@MYOS1634 - OP says she does not yet have any standardized test scores yet. She seems to currently be aiming at the elites. Agree, as many others have said, that if $ is an issue, she needs to widen her net.
Take your bickering battle to private messages. I am tired of getting notifications.
@paul2752 , you could un bookmark the thread. I don’t see it as bickering, rather some posters trying to educate about word meanings in the context of American speech vs. foreign interpretation of words.
@paul2752 I don’t believe anyone but moderators can tell other posters what they can or cannot post.
@jym626 I don’t have money to take the tests more than once, so I have one shot to make it count. This thread IS to help me widen my net. I’m looking at the elites because they meet 100% demonstrated need. If you know any other school, by all means suggest it to me. I’ve taken every suggestion here into account and I’m still building my list accordingly. I can assure you that I’m not chasing unicorns. You could take my projected test scores as real and help me out. Or you can do what you did the first time and ignore me. I don’t mind.
I tried (and obviously failed) to shut down the conversation because it was apparently heading nowhere. I also do not understand your statement about Freedom of Speech and Expression being a US issue, not a Nigerian one. But feel free to explain yourself.
“I don’t have money to take the tests more than once, so I have one shot to make it count.”
I assume therefore that you are going some preparation (such as classes or at least studying from a book). Preparation can help a lot with SAT and ACT scores.
Yup. I’m using Khan Academy. @DadTwoGirls