<p>I try to avoid the “domestic vs international” debate altogether because it has different meanings in different contexts. For financial aid purposes, an international student is one who is not eligible for federal financial aid. For academic purposes, an international student is one who was educated abroad. For statistical purposes, an international student is a “nonresident” alien.</p>
<p>The most important news is that US citizens are eligible for federal financial aid regardless of where they live. Depending on the financial situation of your family, you could be eligible for up to $5,500 in Pell Grants, $4,000 in Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant Grant and $5,500 in subsidized loans. </p>
<p>Federal financial aid and college-administered aid (in the form of need-based grants or merit-based scholarships) will probably account for most of the assistance that you will receive. As the two previous posters have said, you have two options: you can go straight to a four-year college, or you could attend a community college and then transfer.</p>
<p>I am inclined to agree with katliamom that the community college route may not be your best option. Community colleges are great if:
- You want to earn a credential that will lead to a job very quickly. (e.g. a one-semester EMT certificate or a two-year accounting degree)
- You do not qualify for much financial aid and want to save as much money as you can before you attend a more expensive 4-year university.
- Your high school record has some blemishes and needs polishing before you can be a competitive applicant at your target universities. </p>
<p>However, as katliamon said, financial aid for transfer applicants (including domestic transfer applicants) is in short supply. In particular, many of the transfer admission agreements between community colleges and their state public universities - which may be great for state residents - might be too expensive for an out-of-state student.</p>
<p>You might receive more financial aid if you apply as a first-year applicant to 4-year universities, including private universities. Private universities might have higher “sticker prices” than public universities but they also award more financial aid. The selective private colleges in particular are rich enough to follow a “need-blind” admissions policy: applicants are admitted regardless of their ability to pay, and are offered sufficient financial aid to let them attend. (Though some colleges have a much more generous understanding of “financial need” than others…)</p>
<p>There are some financial aid calculators online that might give you an idea of how much aid you might expect, but applying for need-based aid is always rolling the dice. If you’d like more security, you could apply for merit-based scholarships, though that would require that you attend a university “below your league.” Several universities guarantee full-tuition scholarships to students with a 90th percentile SAT or ACT score, for example.</p>
<p>In the end the best strategy is probably mixed: apply to several universities with need-based aid and a few with merit-based aid, and maybe a community college as a backup plan. Then you can compare offers before you decide which to attend.</p>
<p>If you’d like to learn more about the financial aid process (e.g. how to locate universities with academic scholarships), you might get some good advice here: [Financial</a> Aid & Scholarships - College Confidential](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/]Financial”>Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums)</p>
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That’s a great GPA! American colleges will care about what classes you have taken (were they the most rigorous classes available to you? how advanced are they compared to American high school classes?), how you compare to your classmates (pretty well if that 4.0 GPA is any indication), and whether your test scores (SAT or ACT) are in line with your high school grades. </p>
<p>Most American colleges would be content with, “got highest grades in the most rigorous courseload available” and not care so much about how advanced your courses actually were. That’s because the American high school curriculum is not standardized and colleges have adjusted to catering to students from a wide variety of backgrounds: there are remedial classes for students from weaker-than-average backgrounds and the better-prepared students are allowed to skip the introductory classes. </p>
<p>However, a small number of tippy top universities do impose very high minimum requirements for admission. MIT, for example, expects that their applicants have taken calculus in high school. If you wonder whether your high school work is sufficient to qualify, you can email the admissions office and ask.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>