need more insight on scholarships

Paying for College
1

<p>1st and foremost, I'm an international student, so it's super hard for me to find money for colege. And I'm already in college (sophomore)</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I had a crap GPA (3.3) after 1st semester. I did better (3.8) second semester, and brought my cum. GPA up to 3.49. I realize that the GPA is very important. But do they look at the trend of your performance? Also, what else do they look for and how much weight do they carry? eg. campus involvement, sports, job, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>where can I find scholarships that are not sponsored by my college? Fastweb used to seem appealing to me, until I haven't found a single freaking scholarship I'm qualified for.</p></li>
<li><p>How brilliant do you have to be to be competitive for those super big scholarships like... Well more importantly, what are some of the super big scholarships for college students, and how competitive do you need to be to stand a chance?</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>Realistically, you’re very unlikely to get much of any scholarship or merit funding as an international students trying to transfer to a US college with the gpa you’re reporting.</p>

3

<p>There are VERY few private scholarships offered to int’l students in the US…especially for students who are already in college.</p>

<p>where are you currently going to college?</p>

4

<p>what’s a good GPA? I go to iowa state
If I do well this fall, I will have a 3.64
If I do well this fall and this spring, I will have a 3.72</p>

<p>again. Do they look for trends in the GPA? I completely F-ed up the college classes I took in high school. I’ve been doing better and better. If they don’t, will they look at it if I specify how my grades have improved in the “additional info” section.</p>

5

<p>You need to find out from your major department if they have any scholarships that you can apply to?</p>

<p>Are you needing these scholarships to cover your costs?</p>

6

<p>yes, my family doesn’t make much money, and our financial situation is worsening, and tuition is increasing.</p>

<p>I think what my engineering department does is that they have us fill out 1 scholarship application per year, along with FAFSA (which I’m not qualified to fill out because I have no green card). With that 1 application that we fill out, the department looks at it and selects certain scholarships for which we are qualified. I think it’s the same way with the international office. I think this is the only way for me to get scholarships. Unless there is some other scholarship sponsored by my college that is independent of the applications that I just talked about.</p>

7

<p>Your best bet is to discuss this with someone in your engineering department. Perhaps there is some departmental scholarship that you would qualify for. Most scholarships are given to incoming freshmen and are also renewed for these students as they continue through school. There aren’t that many awards for upperclassmen…although there some departments do have money for very high (think…top of the class) upperclass students.</p>

<p>As an international student, you need to discuss your schools policies on awarding these scholarships. If they require the FAFSA, then perhaps international students are not eligible to receive them. Go and ask…</p>

8

<p>You need to look at your courses and see which ones you enjoy and where you have excelled. If they point to a major and/or discipline, you should check out the departments that sponsor those areas and see if there is any money there. My son chose his major accordingly which netted him some merit and award money, along with a research grant for the next year. Available only to certain majors, sponsored by a department. Many schools have this sort of thing. You need to find if yours does, and where the money lies.</p>

9

<p>You need to discuss this with your engineering dept and the FA office.</p>

<p>This thread makes me wonder how many int’l students come here for their first year, but then can’t afford to continue. I’ve noticed a bit of a trend to some of these threads. Some int’l kids have scraped enough money together for the first year, but think they’ll get the remaining years paid for with outside scholarships. It’s just not likely.</p>

10

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<p>Those grades are acceptable, but they’re not really good enough to compete for most of the major scholarships that you can find on Fastweb. Fastweb’s scholarships are hypercompetitive due to how easy they are, especially the largest ones, to fill out. Your best bet is to focus on smaller grants – these can be applied to the very smallest expenses (a handful of books, a parking or library fee for a semester or two) which have much less competition since most people overlook them. These aren’t too reliable, but if you work hard and dedicate your time to filling out these applications you might be able to pick up one or two that could ease your burden.</p>

<p>School-based scholarships are going to the biggest one that you can get, barring federal loans. How is your citizenship process going? If you are not planning to become a citizen, you should really consider looking into the possibility of applying to become a dual citizen of both the U.S. and the foreign country. That could eanble you to pick up an alien registration number (or to dispense with the need thereof) making you eligible for the bare minimum Stafford unsubsidized laons that can save your student debt since your only other bet is to scrape together money from earnings and private loans, a pathway that is unreliable and precarious due to the possibility of failure to qualify for the loans therein.</p>

11

<p>I doubt the student could get his residency status in time to make a difference.</p>

12

<p>Perhaps the student should try, rather than simply assuming, I think.</p>

13

<p>You might try looking locally at the Rotary Club – sometimes they have scholarships – plus it can be a nice way to meet people from various walks of life. Rotary is International and there are often people there who are well traveled. You might enjoy the group on many levels. </p>

<p>Are you eligible for any on campus work/study? Two options that are not GPA related are to be a Resident Advisor for a dorm or to work in the dining hall. The RA jobs are work but can be reasonable pay or sometimes the board fee is waived. Dining hall jobs are hard but often available whatever hours you want to work and you may get “eats” as part of the job. Don’t be too proud for one of these jobs if it gets you your degree. </p>

<p>Also ask the different departments (math, engineering, physics) if there are any paid tutoring opportunities. This is not the same as being a TA or lab assistant – also ask about those (usually reserved for grad students but sometimes available to hard working juniors or seniors). </p>

<p>Tutoring might really fit the bill if there are other incoming students from your home country. You have some special background and you could use it to help others AND get paid. </p>

<p>Please don’t beat yourself up over the GPA. You are doing great – particularly if you are new to the US. Only here on College Confidential are the majority of students in the rarified 3.8 + GPA range. </p>

<p>You are right that Fastweb is . . .kinda a lost cause for most people. There are just too many teeny scholarships that are too specific ($200 for a left handed violinist from Omaha. . .). Too much time can go up in smoke chasing down impossible to win dollars. </p>

<p>You are going to be far ahead if you are the eager, polite beaver who is knocking on professors doors and asking “can you give me any advice, please?” Get them to start thinking your name first when an opportunity comes along. </p>

<p>If it were me, I’d have a color or a hair style or something else (not too bizarre) that helped me stand out in the crowd of 400+ students. I’d be smiling and charming and the total “nice” guy that everybody knows. And I’d let everybody know that I am ready to work for a few bucks. Move a sofa? Sure! Mow a lawn? You bet! (You should skip babysitting unless you are naturally terrific with kids) – because personality counts. </p>

<p>I think you’d get further down the road with that approach (where absolutely everyone in the department knows your name and your situation) than sitting in your dorm room hunting phantom scholarships. Think about it. If you have 20 professors and 10 TA’s and 5 departmental secretaries and 100 fellow students knowing who you are and what you are working to accomplish, then you have 135 sets of eyes and ears unconsiously at work on your behalf. When an internship or a work/study or a summer job comes up, your name will be in their mind. </p>

<p>That sort of networking is invaluable – and it overrides the occasional B or C in coursework.
Good luck!</p>

14

<p>thanks mom. I appreciate the good advices.</p>

<p>I’d just like to clarify somethings. I’ve been in the U.S. for 10 years. I basically grew up here. My family is having trouble with the green card, and I doubt we’re going to get it anytime soon. I’m also living at home right now, with my parents. We can’t really afford anything beyond tuition and books.</p>

15

<p>You may have to wait to return to school when you have green card status. It’s unlikely that you’d get a scholarship big enough to pay for your tuition within the next couple of months.</p>

<p>Are you paying in-state or out of state rates?</p>

<p>How much would a CC cost?</p>

<p>How did you pay for last year’s tuition and what was your plan for the following years?</p>

16

<p>Mom2collegekids, it’s not just the international kids. So many families manage to scrape, borrow and spend for that first year, and they just make it. THen comes the bill for the next year! Usually higher. Gotta look beyond that first year as a family. Kids don’t do that, so parents need to point this out. Borrowing $20K total for a college education is reasonaable. Per year, it is a whole different story.</p>

17

<p>^^^</p>

<p>Right. I agree. I think too many kids think, “Oh, I’ve got the first year covered,” without thinking of how they will pay for the following years. </p>

<p>In the OP’s case, if he did have the cash for the first year’s tuition, he should have spent some of it on two years at a CC and in the meantime save money for years 3 & 4 at a university. There’s no point to spending your only chunk of money on year 1 and then have nothing for years 2, 3, & 4.</p>

<p>Yes, we tell kids this all the time. And, we also tell kids/parents not to rely on big loans for year one because you may not qualify for years 2, 3, & 4.</p>

18

<p>The rules for work for international students are not easy. If I am not mistaken, with a student visa you can work on campus only.
OP if you don’t have a green card I assume you have a student visa, is that so?</p>

19

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I think the student has a visa related to his parents’ status in this country since he’s been here for 10 years. So, that probably isn’t a student visa. If his parents have a work visa for the US, then he may have some kind of dependent visa. </p>

<p>my family doesn’t make much money, and our financial situation is worsening, and tuition is increasing.</p>

<p>However, from the statement above, I’m not sure what the parents’ status is. I could be wrong, but I thought that aliens who have visas to work here must have jobs that make decent incomes. But, I could be wrong.</p>

20

<p>My dad’s income is around 30k. My mom’s income used to be around 30k, but she can’t work anymore due to Visa expiration or something. So our family makes only around 30k/year now.</p>