@momrath thank you for your suggestions, In your list I’d checked four before and I think work for her, I’m gonna check the others.
Fortunately she does not stay still, she is always with dance classes, soccer team, rowing, softball, debate team, and she is very sociable and worried about others, I think she needs to look for an activity that she likes to do for volunteering, and next year she can start to work few ours.
Thanks again.
As a former international HS student, undergrad, and now a grad student, applying to colleges in USA requires a very good strategy regarding finance. In my case, I wouldn’t hqave been able to attend school if my good HS friend hadn’t told me about U Alabama that no one, not even my counselor, mentioned.
@paul2752 thank you for your suggestion.
An advantage your daughter may have as an international student studying in the US, is the opportunity to speak in-person with admissions officers at colleges that interest her. Since she’s at a well regarded public school in her state, it is likely that many colleges will send representatives to visit her school directly. She will also be able to sign up for in-person interviews and college events in her area. These visits and events will mostly happen early in her senior year but other things start in the junior year. Knowing that they’re coming up and being prepared to sign up for them early can be helpful.
These in-person connections can be especially valuable at the great colleges listed by @momrath above.
@Otterma , thank you, great point.
I always assist to all school activities, I’ll be pending from colleges fairs.
I think this is very helpful, I have some experience, because her older brother is in college, fortunately with a great scholarship from his in state commute college, he is happy there, he want to live at home.
He didn’t let me help him with his applications, we don’t knew the options that him had, and his public school counselors didn’t do it a good job, they don’t talked about this option to the only public College in their same city. I knew about scholarships options attending college open houses.(It’s your excellent point).
I’d dont knew about CC at his application’s time.
Today I’m trying to do it better for her, because she is so smart like her brother, but She like work more hard, she make a lot of sports, and she wants all college experience.
She is new in her school and She is doing great this year, she is like fifth in her course of 325 and her school in tenth place in state.
Thanks to the help than I received here in CC in the las 2 years, I know she’ll have more options.
Be this the time to thank you all for your help and share your experiences.
This is an amazing journey that I am enjoying a lot.
It’s very stressful for a student and his family if the parents can not fully support the student’s education. We live in PA. And only UPitt will consider my son as “in-state” for Tuition ( as we have approved I-140). Penn state and Temple informed us that without a green card a student will be considered “international” for tuition purposes. So far my son has been accepted in engineering at Purdue, University of Minnesota Twin cities, Rochester Institute of Technology and UPitt. None of those universities will give any financial aid (even if our EFC is only $23000). RIT offered a merit scholarship ($20000 per year) and denied any additional Financial aid. All the private universities and colleges he applied are need aware and from my research I found that his probability of acceptance reduced drastically as he applied for financial aid. As for example Bucknell’s acceptance rate for US students is around (32%), for international students it’s 8% for international students applying for aid it’s even less. Cornell enrolls about 300 international students each year. However, only 30 international students receive financial aid. Duke has informed him, as a international student seeking financial aid his chance is less that 4%.
@PA student’s dad
With my older son was difficult, because he don’t let me help with her college selection.
He applied to 9 College, was accepted in 8, but just one was affordable for us.
A great college give him their most high scholarships and insisted a lot to have him as student, but money was a big concern.
Thank goodness he receipt a great scholarship from state College (his safety), we were so stressed and receipt the scholarship notice in mailbox on may 1st.(Decition Day).
I know that probably is a little early, but I’m doing my homework to have more options to my daughter.
You can’t be successful in college if you are thinking how can pay the next year.
I don’t know if your son can have a gap year
waiting to have his green card?
I can understand how my son feels when he sees all his peers ( with lower stats ) are easily getting selected to some top and some good colleges with great aid and he is almost getting nothing, and we can do nothing being stuck in green card backlog that would take at least 30 more years without any change in the current immigration laws. Lately, found one great option for all international students (like my son) is to apply to some good German Universities (Germany doesn’t have any tuition for domestic as well as international students). However, a student needs to proficient in German language. May be, I will ask my son to take a gap year, study German language and prepare for IIT entrance exam and apply again in the next year.
Can your family afford four years of college in the US if your son starts at a community college? Studying in Germany will not be cheap if your child needs a year or two of intensive language instruction before beginning an academic program.
@“PA student’s dad” :
What does your son want to study?
OK, engineering. Have you looked in to Capitol Technology U? They have scholarships too.
And yes, a family like yours pretty much needs to look for schools that offer large merit scholarships for high test scores (Bama, UA-Huntsville, others).
What stats does he have?
Is he close enough to commute to Pitt?
There’s a few English-language options if your son is really interested in pursuing his education in Germany.
One would be Bachelor’s degrees entirely taught in English. There aren’t very many of them, but here’s one: https://studium.hs-ulm.de/de/Seiten/Studiengang_CTS.aspx?SearchCategory=Bachelor;
Another set of undergraduate degree programs is aimed specifically at international students who may be intending immigrants. The degree program starts out in English and then transitions to German in higher semesters, with concurrent German language courses required along the way. Here’s an example: https://www.htw-dresden.de/de/fakultaet-elektrotechnik/studium/electrical-engineeringelektrotechnik.html
Here’s a search engine for “international” degree programs taught at German universities that you may find useful: https://www.daad.de/deutschland/studienangebote/international-programmes/en/
The last cheap option would be a “Studienkolleg.” These are year-long transition programs offered to international applicants who don’t quite meet the requirements for admission to a public university, particularly students who haven’t completed calculus or lack German language proficiency. The curriculum for an intending engineering student would include German as a foreign language, calculus, and a review of high school physics, chemistry and computer science (with an emphasis on subject-specific language skills). Since all courses are taught in German, admission to a Studienkolleg does require low-intermediate (B1) German skills, but that’s significantly less than what’s required for regular admission to a university (B2 or C1).
@happymomof1, thank you for your post. I also suggested the option of community college for first two years. But my son was upset. May be a gap year and trying for some better options in the next year!
@PurpleTitan , he wants to study Mechanical / Aerospace. We didn’t know about Capitol Technology U.Now the college application cycle is over ( particularly the chance of getting any scholarship). We are hoping that he will get at least one affordable college.His stats are good --Unweighted GPA 3.97, SAT 1550, 3 subject tests with high scores, 8AP and average ECs.
Right, a gap year and applying to schools that offer merit scholarships is an option.
Your son has to realize he has to play the hand he is dealt but that he could achieve his goals. BTW, UA-Huntsville has ties to aerospace. I thought their aerospace engineering is strong? However, where would he look to work after graduation? Not being a US citizen, it would be tough for him in the US.
What can your son do during a gap year that would make him a more viable college applicant at places your family can afford? Would your family be able to save the equivalent of one year worth of what the colleges have expected you to pay this year so as to have a bit of financial cushion in the next application round?
Take a look at the community colleges in your state. They should have formal transfer agreements with the universities. Some of them might even have dorms so he wouldn’t necessarily need to live at home. Check them for merit scholarships. Happykid’s community college has a number of different scholarships. She earned one that covered her tuition and fees there for four semesters. Scholarships will probably have an application due date in the spring, but admissions for the fall semester probably do not cut off until the day classes start. Your son has time to think through community college as an option.
I’d be careful with the community college transfer route. There’s the danger of aging out of H-4 status before enrolling at the 4-year school and getting stuck with an out-of-state tuition bill.
This reminds me. An international classmate from college was trying to get a PhD in aerospace engineering. Most programs told her that they wouldn’t be able to fund her because funding came from sources that required US citizenship. She did end up finding a program that she could attend, but even there, she faced restrictions on which projects she could touch as a non-citizen. ITAR and all.
I think it will be better for him to change to student visa ( F1) after enrolling to any college as he will be able to work on campus. Otherwise, at 21 he will have to change to F1. We will be visiting Upitt in April and I am trying to set up an appointment with the financial aid office to find out any aid or affordable loan they can offer. In the mean time we will be waiting for decisions from all other schools he applied.
So where does he plan to work after graduation?
If Germany, uni there may make sense.
If Canada, ditto.
Latest update, he is waitlisted at Georgia Tech, Colby and Casewestern. Rejected by Wash U & Swarthmore College. Received a merit scholarship ($2000 per year for 4 years) from Upitt.
Update on 3/22/2019.
Accepted to University of Miami, Florida ( Aerospace engineering) with presidential scholarship ($30K per year for 4 years).
Rejected by Northwestern. Waiting for remaining 9 decisions in the next week!