After a long time of research, I have done my best to try to build a college list where I might be able to seek full financial aid as an international student, as I would not be able to afford college any other way.
I have 3.99 GPA, took the maximum number of A level courses available at school and my extracurricular activities, I assume, are reasonably sufficient, with multiple leadership roles, and all my activities focusing on either business or education. I am planning on majoring in business. I have not taken the SAT yet, but I am aiming for 1500+, or at least 1450+.
Here is the colleges I am considering to apply. Pretty much all of them are super selective so I am looking for colleges that would be more target and preferably safety colleges that still can provide me with full financial aid. I realized that colleges that meet 100% needs of admitted students sometimes do not incorporate international students or I might have done my research poorly.
The list:
Dartmouth College
University of Pennsylvania
Vanderbilt University
Rice University
Cornell University
Williams College
Washington University in St.Louis
Georgetown University
Tulane University
Emory University
New York University
Georgia institute of Technology
Washington and Lee University
Boston College
Wake Forest University
University of Richmond
University of Texas at Austin
Trinity University
The George Washington University
Rhodes College
Lehigh University
Wellesley College
Middlebury
Franklin & Marshall College
I will be removing some of them to make spots for more safety and target schools. Please help me out with your recommendation of colleges and I will appreciate your comments on my current list.
Thank you!
For us to give you good advice, you’ll have to tell us what you are looking for in a college (location? Size? Particular major? Etc) and also what sets you apart from all the other excellent students out there – what else, besides good grades, do you bring to the table?
It appears as if you really haven’t researched this very much, but rather listed some schools you heard of and would like to attend(for free).
Most of your list doesn’t work. Maybe start here:
And understand that these schools are very competitive. Best advice is to find schools that are affordable in your home country and apply to U.S. schools with low expectations. Sorry.
I agree that there are really no safety schools for international students who need full financial aid.
I agree. There are only seven colleges that are both need blind for admissions AND guarantee to meet full need for all accepted international students. They are:
Amherst College
Harvard University
Bowdoin College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Dartmouth College
Brown University plans to join this list in 2025.
This list above is highly competitive with admissions for international students in the single digits.
At the other colleges that meet full need for all admitted international students, your level of financial need will be considered when your admission is considered as they are need aware.
You might hit the lottery jackpot and get accepted at one of the schools on your list with enough aid to attend, but this cannot be counted on…at all.
I hope you have some sure thing colleges on your application list in your own country.
In addition to @thumper1 list, you should find schools that promise to meet aid for those they admit - like an F&M. It’s just that they’re unlikely to admit you because you cost too much whereas others who apply don’t. They are need aware.
UT Austin is a public - they’re not going to give you money.
This is right on Trinity’s website:
Trinity is need-aware when reviewing international applications, which means we take into consideration a student’s financial circumstances when making admissions decisions. Applying for need-based financial aid places you in Trinity’s most competitive applicant pool. For students enrolling in the Fall of 2022, the admit rate for all international students was approximately 10.8%. Admission is even more competitive for students who demonstrate significant financial need. Applicants who can contribute at least $35,000 USD per year towards their educational expenses are the most competitive for admission.
So they are not admitting many - overall admissions was 28% but 11% for international - and they’re saying - come with money or don’t come at all.
So you need to go school by school and see who really would even consider you at full aid.
You need significantly lower ranked schools. You have a chance with your financial situation only in school where you will be absolutely the top student. It would be very tricky. Those schools usually do not have a lot of money to give…
I would focus on schools in your country…
Also you did not tell about your country of origin. This is a big deal.
Say some schools look at diversity. For a example, if you are from Kazakhstan, or Nepal and want to study art or social justice it is one situation. If you are from China, India, Vietnam, or Nigeria and interested in popular majors, it is totally different situation.
Please note that the specific colleges named in this site are only examples of those that pledge to meet the full demonstrated financial need of all accepted students, irrespective of nation of origin:
Just so you understand - full demonstrated need for one college is totally different from the other… I get it, that you probably have nothing, but some schools can look differently at the same numbers… As a result, expected contribution vary a lot between schools no matter what they say…
That is great! You are some diversity :). However, see my previous comments. It is extremely competitive. There are millions of smart kids from all over the world without money. You need to look for colleges in Mongolia or other countries too. If you get full ride - great, but probability is slim to none.
What do you mean by “need full aid?” Does that mean you need colleges to cover 100% of expenses, because that is unlikely to happen.
If however, your parents can afford a portion of your expenses, say ~$10K per year then there are many colleges someone can apply to. The strategy is then to find colleges that are cheap and fits the budget, which are not the ones you have listed.
Look into Berea College, which admits only students who need full-ride aid, including some internationals, and meets that need through a combination of grants and an on-campus work program. A business major is offered.
OP can probably contribute nothing except cobble together the plane ticket with help from relatives and friends. Average household income in Mongolia is under $2,000 PER YEAR so even if OP is middle class it’d only mean something like $6,000 yearly income. OP doesn’t have the luxury of having preferences wrt environment, university size, etc.
So only “meet full need” and, most likely, “need blind/meet full need” colleges would work (the super reach super rich universities from that small list also help with plane tickets and let students borrow warm clothes for the winter because they truly want the best from the entire world) and these are incredibly competitive. @DB1118 : you’ll need to prepare for the SAT or the ACT and do as well as the top 1-2% American test takers. Are you ready to do what that takes?
A business major is NOT necessary to work for a business; that’s why elite colleges don’t offer it. What is your strongest subject in school, where you also have related extracurriculars? What A-Levels and are you expecting A or A*? Did you take iGCSEs or OLevels and if so, which ones/what results?
Suggestions:
Berea: they may admit ONE student from Mongolia. All their students have incomes under 65K (meaning: working class in the US). Excellent academics and outcomes.
once you have a SAT score, automatic full rides for scores available to internationals would be safeties (they’re very rare) and competitive full rides for scores would come into play (such as McDermott at UT Dallas). Once you know that score we’ll be able to help. Some scholarships aren’t open to internationals though.
strong universities that welcome internationals, although they are slightly less well-known and may only take one or two students in your financial situation - Grinnell, Denison, Dickinson, St Olaf, Kalamazoo… Odds there are very low because they don’t have the same budget as the “need blind/meet full need for internationals” colleges.
My strongest subjects are essay based subjects such as business and history. Academically, I was doing pretty well on the Business subject and few of my extracurricular activities are related to it, so I just assumed to major in it without giving much consideration. So I am considering other majors such Public policy as well since I am addressing issues in Mongolia and how I want to contribute to solving them as a part of my story in my essay.
My extracurriculars are quite generic. They include:
President of Student Council, head of student led school website, MUN delegate staff chair, Podcast host and creator, Volunteer English teacher, Business tutor. I also participated and many business competitions and created business models. Also founded one at school which became an annual tradition and worked as the judge. Next year, I will be organizing School Shark Tank and hopefully work as the shark as well.
Here are my IGCSE grades:
IGCSE - Chinese (A*)
Mathematics (A*)
Physics (Coordinated AA),
Chemistry (Coordinated AA)
Biology (Coordinated AA)
ICT (A* - Top score)
Business (A* - Top score)
World History (A - Top score)
FLE (B)
I have taken the AS level exams and predicted grades are:
Physics - A
IT - A
Business - A
Chinese - A
Mathematics - B
I will be taking A level Business, IT and Mathematics in my upcoming senior year. I do not think I can make to the super top schools though I am willing to give it a try. At the same time, I am also concerned that I might not end up anywhere. Real depressing.
Add Yale to this list of colleges that meet full need for all international students AND are need blind for admissions. Oops…I left that one off in my earlier post!