<p>Hi all! I'm an international student from the Netherlands and I'm pretty much set on studying in the US. Currently I am in my junior year, so I still have some time to carefully consider my options. My top choice at the moment is Princeton. Other universities that I'd like to attend are obviously the usual suspects: Harvard, Yale, and so on. I'm also considering small LAC's such as Amherst and Williams. </p>
<p>I realize they're all really selective and I might not get into any of them, so I am looking for safety schools to apply to. I am interested in natural sciences and engineering, so I'm looking for schools with a strong program in either of them.</p>
<p>I will apply for financial aid, so that's a factor as well.</p>
<p>I’m from Bangladesh and looking for safeties as well, but I’m in my senior year. I’ve found that safeties need to cater to ALL of the three basic needs (at least for me): Major, affordability without aid and realistic chances of getting accepted based on your stats.
Some places to search using these filters would be collegeboard and collegeconfidential. There are others, and i’ve found that not all engines list EVERY university under the criteria, so I’d advise trying multiple college search engines.</p>
<p>I’m gonna tag along and save myself from starting my own thread. I’m looking for universities/colleges that have the following:
Major: Computer Science OR Economics
Total Cost of attendance for internationals: $25000
Stats: above average. I’ll post if any1 asks.</p>
<p>How much aid do you need? Or to put it another way, how much can you family pay? Start with that figure. Then run the college-matching search engines for institutions where the tuition and fees are USD 12,000 less than what your family can afford. If you find some, those would probably be financially safe (provided you can keep your housing, meals, personal expenses, books, materials, and transportation under USD 12,000 each year). Whether or not they are academically safe is a completely different issue.</p>
<p>There are many threads on this topic in the Financial Aid Forum and in the International Students Forum. Go to those forums and scroll down until you find them.</p>
<p>Most LACs, including Amherst and Williams, don’t offer pre-professional degrees like engineering. Some offer 3/2 programs, but very few students avail themselves of that option for many reasons. If you are serious about engineering, then these aren’t the best choices for you.</p>
<p>On the other hand, many LACs have very strong science programs. Take a look at Grinnell and Macalester, both of which have approximately 11% international students and strong financial aid programs. Grinnell’s sciences are especially strong, and the facilities are palatial.</p>
<p>Geez, no ‘safety’ schools for me then. My family won’t be able to contribute more than 10k a year. Guess I’ll have to shoot for the top, or just go study in my own country then. </p>
<p>Maybe I need to redefine ‘safety school’. I think I mean a school where I have a reasonable chance, whereas Harvard would be a reach. So maybe an admit rate of 30% could be considered a safety for me. </p>
<p>I’ll look intro Grinnell and Macalaster college!</p>
<p>“I’ll look intro Grinnell and Macalaster college”</p>
<p>Why? If you’re looking at top schools, these aren’t going to really satisfy you intellectually. You might be more interested just applying to the entire Ivy League and maybe the top three or four ACC schools.</p>
<p>*Maybe I need to redefine ‘safety school’. I think I mean a school where I have a reasonable chance, whereas Harvard would be a reach. So maybe an admit rate of 30% could be considered a safety for me. *</p>
<p>??? </p>
<p>Schools that have a 30% admit rate may be need-aware for int’ls or may not meet need for int’ls or may not give any/much aid to int’ls. </p>
<p>Getting accepted is only a small part of the battle when you have lots of need…especially if an int’l.</p>
<p>Think about it…if a school “met need” for int’ls and it had a highish admittance for int’ls, then soon a gazillion int’ls would be applying there and suddenly the admit rate would drop.</p>
<p>Your other option is to look at schools that give out non-need based aid also called merit awards, however these are competitive and typically they will award between 10,000-20,000.
It wouldn’t be enough to make a $55K education affordable. Some of these are schools with engineering such as Case Western, RPI , WPI etc.
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<p>Did you take a look at the information on guaranteed merit-based aid in the Financial Aid forum yet? If you qualify for some of the big scholarships like that, the USD 10,000 your parents can pay will be enough. Not all of the merit aid is available to international students, but some is.</p>
<p>You also should pay a visit to the closest office of [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov%5DEducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov) The counselors there will be able to tell you which colleges and universities here have accepted students like you recently, and whether or not those students received the amount of aid that you need.</p>
<p>" If you’re looking at top schools, these aren’t going to really satisfy you intellectually."</p>
<p>I disagree with this statement. There is admittedly a wider range of intellectual ability and achievement at schools outside of the most selective schools - and faculty have to ensure that there are course offerings that meet everyone’s need, but an intellectually demanding class at a top LAC is sufficiently challenging that even the HYPMS students would find plenty to sink their teeth into - and you have the additional benefit of faculty mentoring early on if you are really at the top of the class.</p>