International student w/ financial aid

<p>I really need help cutting down my college list! I intend to major in chemistry, material science or chemical engineering... I AM international (living in US, Korean citizenship) and WILL be requiring a lot of aid (40~45K a year income)
Any suggestions on SAFETIES, etc?</p>

<p>SAT: 2290 (CR 690 WR 800 Math 800)
Gpa: 4.29 weighted, 3.875/4.0 Unweighted</p>

<p>My list so far...</p>

<p>Dartmouth
Pomona
Carleton
Swarthmore
Grinnell
Macalaster
Middlebury
Oberlin
Rice
Williams
Vassar
Columbia
UPenn
Northwestern
WashU
Haverford</p>

<p>You should cross off Northwestern, because it doesn’t give you aid. Columbia is a very high reach, I don’t know if it’s worth applying there.
I’d say keep Dartmouth, UPenn and Swarthmore, because they’re good with aid and your stats are quite good, but remember out of these, only Dartmouth is need-blind.
I can’t really help with the others since I don’t know them much, but I’m going to add that for internationals requiring a lot of aid, there are no real safeties.</p>

<p>^Northwestern does give FA to internationals; but the admission is need-aware. I would keep it as a reach because it’s the strongest in chemistry and engineering (esp. material science) on that list. </p>

<p>OP, your list is heavy with LACs but most LACs don’t have material science or chemical engineering.</p>

<p>[Financial</a> Aid for International Students: Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University](<a href=“http://www.ugadm.northwestern.edu/financial-aid/financial-aid-for-international-students.html]Financial”>International Student Aid: Undergraduate Admissions - Northwestern University)</p>

<p>Did that aid always exist? I’m pretty sure that last year, they stated that they don’t have aid, or that it’s limited to about $5000 a year and it’s unrealistic to expect more. I actually didn’t apply because of that. Anyway, sorry for the mix up.</p>

<p>Very, very few US colleges are need-blind for internationals. There are 6 of them, I think, and they are all super selective. Many state universities do not offer need-based aid at all to internationals.</p>

<p>There are no real safeties for you. You’ve compiled a pretty good list of schools that are relatively generous with aid to the internationals they do accept. Dartmouth is need-blind. All the others are need-aware. All are very selective.</p>

<p>Consider some of the slightly less selective colleges listed on the following site:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16338544[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=16338544&lt;/a&gt;
Most of these are LACs that do not have their own engineering programs.
I believe Trinity and Union are the only two LACs on the list that do.
So do Brown, Stanford, and Penn (but these are super selective schools).</p>

<p>To maximize chances of getting at least one acceptable offer, you may need to apply to fairly many colleges.</p>

<p>When an int’l can’t pay much, then there really aren’t any safeties. If there were, then a gazillion students would apply to those schools and then instantly they would be hard to get into.</p>

<p>For some int’ls who can qualify for a full tuition scholarship but then they can pay for at least room, board, books, fees, insurance, travel, and personal expenses…some of those students can find some safeties. </p>

<p>There are no safeties for int’ls that are going to cover virtually all of the COA.</p>

<p>Find out if you are considered in-state for tuition and fees in the state where you are currently living and studying. This might vary by institution within your state, so check them individually. And do check the community colleges. Often they have completely different residence policies than the 4-year institutions do.</p>

<p>There is a very short list of colleges and universities that guarantee merit aid for certain grades and test scores. Read through the list here, and check each to find out if that is offered to international students as well:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html?highlight=bobwallace&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Also, take the time to work through this thread to see which of the scholarships you might be competitive for, and to verify which are open to international students:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Lastly, sit down with the USCIS website, and figure out if you can study in the US in your current visa status, or if you will need to convert to an F-1 at some stage. Remember that you will not get an F-1 if you cannot demonstrate to the visa officer that you do have the full Cost of Attendance covered at your colllege/university, and that you do not intend to remain in the US after graduation.</p>