i was wondering if there are any advantages for an international student that is willing to pay full tuition with no aid or scholarships? also if one has attended high school for all 4 years in CA and is applying as international, do college admissions ease up on the applicant?
What do you mean “ease up”? If you are thinking of applying to CA UC’s or Cal states, sure they would love to have full pay students, but they are need-blind meaning your ability to pay is not considered in admission decisions. You will be evaluated like all international student applicants.
You do not have a green card or you in the process of obtaining one?
If you want an extra boost for being full pay, then target need aware schools where your money can make a difference.
Not many schools give aids to international students. Cornell used to be need blind when it came to admission for all students, but recently they changed their policy:
Whether you are an international or not, not needing aids is always a plus. Even need blind admission schools do look at student’s ability to pay. Adcoms can often tell if a student would need aids by zip code and parents’ occupation.
Not needing aid is a plus at need aware universities like Occidental, Santa Clara, Chapman…
However it doesn’t help at the UCs and CSUs, since they’re need blind there’s a cap on OOS+ internationals.