<p>Hello everyone, I am international student from Turkey studying in a private highschool in US. The problem that I am having is that I will most likely be unable to pay the whole tuition+room+board without getting some kind of aid. My family can probably contribute around $15-20k to my college expenses, maybe even up to $25k, excluding travel and personal expenses. I was thinking that I can get the rest by getting half of it from merit aid and other half from financial aid. I was wondering how bad this situation affects my chances of getting in, my stats and schools that I am applying are below, please give me your opinions.</p>
<p>GPA : 3.51 (Full IB Diploma in a non-native language, also my grades have improving trend)</p>
<p>SAT I : Math : 730 CR : 680 Writing : 500 (but will-re take to improve writing and also other ones)</p>
<p>TOEFL : 109</p>
<p>EC's : Pretty good actually, varsity swimming, equestrian, volunteer experiences in bunch of projects(in navajo reservation,old people's homes etc.), coming from a school that puts a lot of emphasis on service (around 300 hours so far). Also have some work experience in some large firms, bunch of extracurriculars on summer too.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering if I will be able to get aid from the colleges below, and if so, how much my need will put me in disadvantage.</p>
<p>Bates
Colby
Colgate
Earlham
Emory
Hamilton
Macalester
Providence College
Skidmore
St. Lawrence
Union
University of Rochester
Hofstra University</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Are you a senior now?</p>
<p>Will yoir parents pay $20,000 a year, or is that the total for all four years.</p>
<p>You need to check the colleges for deadlines for merit aid consideration. Many have December 1 or December 15 deadlones for admissions applications to be considered for generous merit. And some have separate merit scholarship applications with those December deadlines. You may have missed some already.</p>
<p>What sort of visa are you on, as you are already a resident? Will you qualify for fafsa? </p>
<p>Yes it is $20,000 per year and I am a senior. Most of the colleges that I am applying to say that they consider you for merit while they review your application, I haven’t encountered a specific merit aid deadline so far.</p>
<p>I’m on F-1 visa, so I’m unable to get federal aid :(</p>
<p>Hey, $20,000 per year is pretty damn good. It’s tough that you can’t get federal aid, but honestly it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference; if your parents can spend $20,000 a year then it’s likely that they have decently high income which would mean that your only real source of aid would be unsubsidized Stafford which is for small amount anyway. </p>
<p>I don’t know much about most of the schools on your list but I do have some familiarity with St. Lawrence. If I’m rememering correctly, they do have some full scholarships that are available for international students. However, to my understanding though you have to apply and be admitted before you hear more details; it’s not something that you can apply for cocurrently with your admissionsa pplications the way it is with some schools.</p>
<p>EternityWarrior - Your own HS guidance counselor might have some ideas for you about which places are likely to admit you with merit aid. Unfortunately, as an international student, there just isn’t a lot of money out there. If you want to attend college here in the US, you need to find places that will guarantee you aid based on your stats and/or that are within your budget. Start by reading through this thread: <a href=“Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Links to Popular Threads on Scholarships and Lower-Cost Colleges - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums; You will need to check each of the colleges/universities on the lists to find out if their scholarships are currently available for international students.</p>
<p>Your sat & grades wd qualify u for an automatic full-tuition Presidential Scholarship at University of Alabama, even for an int’l student hurry though. I think the application deadline is 15-dec.</p>
<p>@GMTplus7 @Mom2CollegeKids Someone said it was too late for internationals at Bama . Is that right M2CK?</p>
<p>@EternityWarrior I think you are a little late to apply to some of these for merit aid. If you are considering Bates and Colby then you may want to add in University of Maine - Farmington as a safety. 31K with an automatic 8K merit scholarship. Brings you to 23K but you can try for more scholarships. According to locals, it is a public LAC with excellent teachers in a cute college town.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure UA has offered the scholarships after the deadline. It is worth a try. But this student should be able to find colleges that will close the gap since they can pay a pretty good chunk, no?</p>
<p>This is an international student. All bets are off for need-based and merit-based aid, except for at the small number of institutions that guarantee to meet full need for international applicants (and even then, what the institution considers to be need and what the parents believe the need to be are two different things), and at the small number of institutions that guarantee merit-based aid for international students.</p>