<p>Hello guys!
I'm an international student (from Russia), and I'm gonna apply to some American undergraduate colleges for the next fall (2015)
The issue is that I'm looking for colleges that can give a full-ride scholarship. If it's even possible.
My TOEFL score is 116/120, ACT is 32/36. GPA is about 3.8/4.0. I have completed an international exchange program and have lived in the USA as an exchange student for 1 academic year (attended a high school).
Can I hope for anything? Could you please advise me any colleges that are well-known for providing full-ride scholarships to international students?
application process takes a lot of time and money, so I'm trying to make a list of really possible options for me</p>
<p>Thank you so much for help, guys!</p>
<p>I am sorry to say but scholarships to American schools should go to American students. Lots of American teens with excellent qualifications are forced to give up their dream school because they can’t afford it. And we parents pay for our kids to study abroad. If any foreign student deserves aid it’s the undeniably poor student from an underrepresented region like Africa or Asia with no opportunities for education in his own country. Apply for a Rhodes or Marshall after 4 years in any college anywhere in the world that your parents can afford.</p>
<p>There are some non-full-ride scholarships available to intl students, but I dont think any are truly full rides. There are some that will provide full tuition, but your family would have to pay for room, board, books, fees, health insurance, intl and domestic travel, personal expenses, etc. </p>
<p>Even the merit scholarships that cover Tuition, room, board, books, will still require your family to pay for health insurance, personal expenses, travel, etc (about $8k per year). To get the visa to come, you would have to show that you have all costs covered. </p>
<p>You have good stats, so you can try the few schools that promise to “meet need” for intls, but those are super hard to get into. And, even those will expect you to contribute something…health insurance costs, intl travel, and likely your personal expenses. </p>
<p>How much can your family contribute towards college? </p>
<p>Is your family low income, needing need based aid? Need based aid is NOT based on your stats, but is based on your fmail financial need. You would not be eligible for U.S. Federally funded need based aid, but some colleges do provide need based aid to international students.</p>
<p>How much CAN your family contribute annually to your college costs? </p>
<p>Keep on mind that even if you get a “full ride” someplace, YOU will still need to pay some student contribution on all likelihood. Colleges typically do not find personal expenses, travel, etc. the student contribution can be several thousand dollars.</p>
<p>And lastly, for need based aid…many of the most generous colleges are need aware for international students. This means that your ability to pay for college will be considered with you application for admission.</p>
<p>Re: post #1 reply…there are colleges that give scholarships to international students. Some give merit awards in the same way as for U.S. Citizens or permanent residents. Some give less scholarship money to international students, and some don’t give merit awards to international students at all. Ditto need based aid. </p>