Match me: Indian student planning to apply to US universities with full financial aid or high merit scholarship

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

Please reply if you are reading this because I genuinely want help, PLEASE. I will be applying for financial aid.

Demographics
Indian student currently In Grade 11/Junior Year studying in ICSE Board.

Gender/Race/Ethnicity (optional): Asian

Intended Major(s) Computer science / Engineering

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

Unweighted HS GPA: Here we follow 100 Percentage system, I got a 90% in Grade 9 and 97.5% in Grade 10, Expecting 95+ in 11th and 12th.

Class Rank: 7/176

ACT/SAT Scores: 1510

Coursework
No APs given as our school doesn’t give us the option to give AP or A levels.

Awards
All India Global Quiz - Silver Medalist/Runner-up
With over 35+ schools from across 15 states, I was the runner up of the 2nd edition of India’s largest quiz for high school students.

International Awards for young people- Silver Medalist
IAYP is an initiative by the Duke of Edinburgh In order to felicitate exceptional talents across the globe. I have cleared the silver level.

Allen Scholarship Assessment test
Received a 50% (3350USD) Scholarship to study at ALLEN Career Institute India on the basis of an entrance examination of Science and Maths.

Honours and Scholars Award
Was the recipient of this award from my high school for showing academic excellence, 97.4% in board examinations and leadership skills.

SAEVUS Eco-Achievers Quiz
Bronze medalist 2020-21 and All India Rank of 52 in 2019-20.
Conducted by SAEVUS Magazine partnered with Wildlife Institute of India.

High Commendation in Interschool MUN and 3rd prize in Elocution competition

Extracurriculars
Head Boy (2020-21), Deputy Head Boy (2019-20)
Elected by and lead a body of 1200+ Students. Organized 15+ Events, solved student problems and helped in policymaking.

Yale Young global scholars programme
Got into YYGS and attended a two weeks seminar in Connecticut USA in the field of Innovations in Science and Technology.

New York Academy of Sciences
With a 10% Acceptance rate, 1000 students internationally are selected by the NYAS to collaborate on tech and AI related projects

Europe meets India (EUMIND)
Lead Researcher (2019-20), Team Leader (2020-21), Mentor (2021-22)
Working on simple yet important topics that affect humanity globally such as Water Crisis and Unemployment with dutch students.

School Basketball Team Captain
Playing Basketball for 5+ years and represented the school in over 15+ Competitions including the JR.NBA.

Founder- Tech Snippets
Weekly magazine on technology and innovations in AI, ML

School Commander(2019-20),House Commander (2018-19)
Lead the march past event and won the prize for the same.

Essays/LORs/Other
(Optionally, guess how strong these are and include any other relevant information or circumstances.)
Both my LORS will be well personalised and intriguing coming from my very close teachers.

Cost Constraints / Budget
I come from a lower middle class background and neet significant financial aid, merit scholarship in order to attend
EFC IS 10K USD
School

Please suggest me some good university for my profile that will accept me with high financial aid /scholarship.

I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE TO APPLY SUGGEST ME COLLEGES FOR MY FIT.

2

Applying from India with near full need along with the CS major is going to be tough. While your marks/stats are high, there will be thousands of students from India who look very similar.

The top colleges will accept students from India, but they are often nationwide toppers. Being at the top of your HS is amazing, but may not move the needle much. These selective colleges are the ones that give the most aid, and based purely on need. These are colleges like Ivy league, Stanford, Chicago, etc.

There are many US colleges that give out aid based on merit. But the total cost of attendance will still be greater than $10k per year. You might consider applying to colleges where Indian diversity is low. These colleges might be willing to give you money. Schools like historically black colleges, colleges with strong religious affiliation, or small liberal arts colleges.

GOod luck

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Be sure to apply to schools in your home country as well. Despite your qualifications, finding a full ride (or near full ride) from a US college will be quite challenging.

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So any suggestions about where should I apply with 15k efc?

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You got advice in your last thread. What was wrong with it? Why are you asking us again? What factors should we know about so we don’t give you the same advice you didn’t accept last time?

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Last time it was a chance me…this time I want people to suggest me a good fit

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Is it that 10K what your family can actually afford to give you annually? Because the reality is, the only work that you could legally do in the US is work-study through your intended school, and even if you got a full tuition scholarship, you’d still have a tough time paying room and board, along with travel expenses.

9

Look at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and at Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, as well as Temple University.

SIU-Edwardsville has a competitive full tuition scholarship that is available to international students, here: Financial Aid - Scholarships, Awards and Grants | SIUE

SIU-Carbondale offers a tuition rate equal to universities in certain foreign countries, based on a Memorandum of Understanding, here: Scholarships | Center for International Education | SIU (“Qualified students may also be able to receive our alternative tuition rate through some of our partner universities. We have agreements with other colleges all around the world to give scholarships equaling the resident-rate of tuition to their students.”) and here: Memoranda of Understanding | Center for International Education | SIU

(For the latter option, I don’t know whether tuition rates based on the MOU with the listed schools from India would get you where you need to be financially; but it might be worth a look.)

With regards to Temple University, here is some information about scholarships for international students: Scholarships for International Students | Temple University Office of Undergraduate Admissions

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Well, you got seven (at least) school suggestions. What was wrong with them? Don’t make us guess, because we will guess again the same way we did last time, and that clearly isn’t working for you.

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Hey, It is 10k excluding Stay and Personal expenses

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How have you determined the $15k efc? CSS? Using a school’s net price calculator? These may not be accurate for an international student as many assume federal aid or loans which you aren’t eligible for. You would have to go to each school and see if they have a calculator for international students.

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which schools do you have in mind? (if any)

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Also, be sure to account for the required health insurance fees not covered by ANY scholarships or grants. Depending on the school, assume $2K to $6K per year, not covered by any funding. This is the family’s responsibility.

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