<p>I just wanted to vent here.. I'm an F2 Visa holder with a Korean citizenship (no SSN).</p>
<p>I've been in the US for eight years and pretty much grew up here. My English is almost flawless and not to brag but I perform pretty well academically in one of the most competitive high schools in the nation (2290 SAT, 3.88 gpa). The only difference between me and my American peers is probably the status... </p>
<p>A while ago I was told by a UCSD college professor in his chemistry lab (where I interned for about a week) that I could no longer intern/volunteer for him just because of my F2 status. I attended the UC COSMOS program recently and was forced to pay the full fee $3000 with my dad only making ~40K a year, while many of the students there whose parents earn much more got a significant amount of financial aid (having to pay ~$750 or none at all). I was not eligible for aid because our family does not pay income taxes due to our F Visa status. My parents had to pay $525 dollars last year for my 5 AP tests due to the same reason, while many of my peers only had to pay $5 for each tests or none at all. </p>
<p>I may sound like a complaining brat, expecting too much benefits as a foreigner, but I'm just SO fed up with the disadvantages that us internationals have to suffer... I especially feel annoyed when I see other Korean immigrant friends WITH a permanent residence or a citizenship don't try hard at all and waste their given resources ("Can you just give me your green card if you don't care about getting an education.... please!!!"). I honestly try really hard and have tried hard in all of high school years to get to where I am now, (I'm now an incoming senior) but seeing that it's almost impossible to get into many prestigious colleges that I want to attend just because I'm an international student applying for aid just really frustrates me. </p>
<p>I just feel really anxious and stressed going through the college application process, and I feel a lot of pressure on my back writing these essays especially because my family will probably need a LOT of grants...</p>
<p>Apologize for my rant lol. Anyone else out there who feel me?</p>
<p>I’m in the same situation as you are… Only difference is that I’m staying the u.s. only 3 years… But still, we get too many disadvantages…</p>
<p>I think I’m gonna give my dream of going to the Uchicago up because of financial reason and go back to my country…it’s pretty ironic that I wanted to go to a good American college because I wanted to be an investment banker and rich but unable to go because of money…</p>
<p>Don’t expect financial aid if your family isn’t even being income taxed. Where do you think federal and state aid mostly comes from?</p>
<p>Why have you not considered returning to Korea? It is one of the 4 Asian tigers and one of the few developed nations in Asia. The reason I ask is also because of your temporary status. What will you do if you graduate from the USA? There is no guarantee you will find an employer to sponsor you for a work visa.</p>
<p>@Deradox
I think he should look for private schools, not state colleges where financial aids are coming from colleges.
And Korea is not a developed nation. Only developed nations in Asia are Singapore and Japan.</p>
<p>Your ignorance is astounding. Korea, Taiwan, Brunei, Singapore, Japan, and Israel to name ones off the top of my head are all developed nations.</p>
<p>Korea has the 12th highest human development index in the world, higher than even Singapore.</p>
<p>Anyways, yes, that is also an option for them. But as I am wondering, has the OP thought about what they plan to do after graduating due to their temporary status.</p>
<p>@Sikorsky
indeed Korea produces a lot of technology stuffs, but that doesn’t mean Korea is a developed nation. If you see GDP per capita and other indexes, it’s conspicuous that Korea is not as fully developed as Singapore or Japan and other developed nation.</p>
<p>It’s a developed nation period, it is within that block of countries. It’s GDP per capita is higher than Greece and 1 lower than New Zealand, I guess they aren’t developed nations too in your eyes.</p>
<p>OP, the benefits you want come with paying taxes. That’s where the money to subsidize students comes from. Plus, lots of students on CC attend schools where they are expected to pay the full price of AP test.</p>
<p>Foreigner12, finish your junior and senior year of highschool first. Learn some stuff, open your mind (is this because you’re from Japan?) and check your facts before posting things.</p>
<p>I’m sorry OP and sorry for everyone who was annoyed by my posts.
I’m pretty sure everything happened because of me who can’t even write English in proper grammar. I guess I was believing my AP macroecon class too much.</p>