<p>I am an "international" student on a family VISA who has been living in the United States for 10 years. I consider myself an American, even though college admissions categorize me as an international student.</p>
<p>Even with good grades and scores, I'm really worried about financial aid that I will be deprived of because of my status. :( </p>
<p>Can anyone give me tips for international students who have been living in the states? I can't seem to find information on students of my situation.</p>
<p>And are public or private colleges better for students of my situation with lower financial situations?</p>
<p>This might seem random-but a nice way to KNOW you will get financial aid is to look into schools that offer merit scholarships. Some schools in the west (Montana, Wyoming) can tell you on their websites exactly how much scholarship money they will give you from SAT/ACT scores. </p>
<p>When it comes to private vs. public all I can really tell you is that public tends to only be an advantage in price if you are instate-which if you’re international-you’re not. On that note…I would recommend you make sure you are actually “international.” I know that may sound stupid but if your parents have been paying taxes to the state you will probably qualify for instate. (I’m not really that knowledgeable on this topic but when i filled out applications I remember it asking me for information to determine if I would qualify as instate-the questions like what state was your license earned in and where you pay your taxes what state is your car registered in were used to determine whether you got instate tuition)-not whether or not you had a visa.</p>
<p>I hope I helped (seriously check the instate thing though because if you’re not international instate schools would cut your cost down A LOT-like 10,000 + a year)</p>