Racism in a covert way exists anywhere and Indians don’t care about it. Just walk away. The worry is if it becomes aggressive and violent. Worry is also because I lived my life in USA in Hawaii and California where it was almost a situation of reverse racism 
But yes as long as the environment is safe it is not a problem.
Yes I agree. My suspicion is that for international students every University evaluates the savings differently. For example in India there is no public health cover or social security so dipping too much into retirement savings may not be comfortable for everyone.
Some Universities have asked us only to submit asset statements. Some Universities didn’t want asset statements but only the annual income statements. Only two Universities asked this additional question about how much can family pay.
So my logic (may be flawed) was I have submitted my CSS/Asset/Earnings truthfully. If University decides the eligibility based on that, it is great. If they ask me how much you can pay then I will mention what we can pay from our yearly earnings. If that is low then hopefully they will come back and give us an opportunity to adjust. Now if that happens or not we will find out over next couple of months.
Yes. In any case they give varied answers!
Thanks much for suggesting these schools. We are keen on Morris. SUNY Geneseo looks interesting too. Any advice on which one to apply to if we can’t do both would be appreciated.
We did finalize on FAU Wilkes and applied there. Thanks much for the suggestion. Hopefully this happens to be one of the good low cost college where he gets an admit + merit.
Thanks for so many actionable suggestions. We have done FAU honors and now debating between SUNY Geneseo vs MN Morris. Any guidance there for Biochemistry with research focus?
Would you be able to guide on St Olaf Vs Kalamazoo? That is one decision we could make in addition to SUNY vs Morris
I’m not honestly qualified to answer from an academic POV but I’d choose Geneseo as it’s “closer” to society. And a bit larger - 4K vs. 1,300 or so. And 1,300 for me is too small (but that’s me, not your son). It’s similar in size to Grinell. Both will be frigid 
FAU Honors is smaller - FAU is big but Honors is at a separate small campus. Not sure how “life” will be there - but I know it will be warm.
But from an academic POV, I’m not qualified - I imagine both are fine. It looks like Morris exceeds your cost desires (meaning it’s a winner for you) while at Geneseo it likely will. Others, perhaps, could guide you acadmically.
From an access POV (major airports), Geneseo appears much closer.
Best of luck.
Thanks. All opinions are definitely helpful as a factor in final decision making.
Would you be willing to pay for Geneseo even if your son receives no aid (merit or financial)? Between Geneseo and Morris, Morris is the only one that falls within the $30k budget without being dependent on any university aid. If the answer is no, then I would grab the sure thing in Minnesota-Morris.
If the answer is yes, then I would probably be more tempted by Geneseo. Looking at Google Maps, Morris is much more isolated whereas Geneseo in the Finger Lakes region and is a little over a half hour from Rochester, a town with a population of more than 200k. Fewer students transfer out from Geneseo than Morris (20% vs 30%) and Geneseo has the higher graduation rate, which is often a reflection of the student’s financial situations, but can also be a reflection of the preparedness for college. The number of biology and biology-related majors at Geneseo is higher as well (but that also means more competition for the plum research or other opportunities).
That said, Minnesota-Morris also has its positive points. If your son is looking for a small liberal arts school, Morris has about 1300 undergrads while Geneseo has around 4700. Morris’ student:faculty ratio is 11:1 compared to Geneseo at 16:1. Morris’s student body is more racially diverse than Geneseo’s.
So, if you’re willing to pay the sticker price for either, the question is, which one does your son prefer? Has he read through the course offerings to see which one has classes he’s more interested in? Has he read the faculty bios to see who’s doing what kind of research? Which faculty have research that interest him more? Has he looked at what living options are like on each campus? Clubs? Differences in course requirements, and does he have a preference for one or the other? Has he done the virtual tours for both campuses? He’s the one who would be spending several years of his life there, so to me it’s really up to him.
Kalamazoo - shows $42K merit on their NPC for you.
Kalamazoo has a fine rep, is small, Grinnell size, but sits near Western Michigan U, a larger public - in a small city but it is a city.
St. Olaf - on the CC, people love. It’s in a small town, near but not next to, Carleton College.
K says they come in at roughly 55-65% of attendance - which perhaps their $42K on the NPC meets. St Olaf says - Based on the student’s citizenship status, we are unable to estimate his/her student aid. Please contact the financial aid office for information regarding student aid for international students.
K is “safer” based on what they show - but given you have time, best to call St. Olaf to see because they say they can meet up to full tuition. Plus they are in different environments - which is right for the student - city or not?
Is there any other you can apply - not on common? Then you can free up another spot.
For example, MN Morris doesn’t use Common - but Geneseo does.
Maybe wait til Monday, call St. Olaf and see if they can hit your #. Then if so, apply to Morris and save a Common App spot.
Or if you decide K is too urban, then there’s your answer, etc.
Schools like Bama and UAH as mentioned in earlier posts - have their own apps. Even Arizona you can do through their app instead of Common so you have some flexibility if needed.
Good luck.
International Student Information – Financial Aid (stolaf.edu)
International Students – Admission | Kalamazoo College (kzoo.edu)
This may interest you.
McCollough Scholars – Pre-Medical Studies at the University of Alabama (ua.edu)
We were in the same situation with my daughter - we were at 19 and she wanted to apply to Cornell, Indiana, and Arizona. We never did apply to Cornell but used the Indiana and Arizona apps - just so we could apply to “extra” schools above the common app limit.
Crazy - but we were chasing money too.
Make sure your son would appreciate these choices, not just yourself.
This is what US News had to say with respect to SUNY–Geneseo in terms of its general atmosphere;
Wondering if you ever followed up on the recommendation of Wheaton in Massachusetts, the non religious Wheaton. Their science facilities are excellent.
The transfer rate at Morris may be because they make it relatively easy to do an internal transfer to the Twin Cities flagship campus. (I have no data on where outgoing transfers are going; this just seems like a logical possibility.) The whole UMN system has access to the UROP program https://ugresearch.umn.edu/opportunities/urop . There are research mentoring programs and summer research programs as well. Morris is also a member of the National Student Exchange program, through which your son could experience a semester or a year at a campus in another part of the country, at the Morris tuition rate (or, worst-case, the in-state rate at the host school). https://www.nse.org/exchange/colleges-universities/alpha-location/ (Some SUNY campuses are part of NSE also, but not Geneseo.)
Morris is more of a true LAC experience than Geneseo, but Geneseo is an excellent mid-sized school that is LAC-like in character. Both prepare students well for graduate studies.
Since you mentioned racial demographics and attitudes… Morris is unique in that it is located on the site of a formal Native American residential school (not an admirable chapter in US and Canadian history) and now offers free tuition to indigenous students. So, it has a larger indigenous population than most schools (almost a third of the student population), and strong Native American Studies programs, with a social justice focus around Native issues. Conversely, the Asian population is smaller than at most US colleges (only 2%, although this doesn’t include the international students - China, India, and South Korea are the top three countries represented in that 4.5 percent of the student body). I would expect diversity to be a strongly held value here, and it could be a very interesting setting for your son if he would be interested in learning more about the cultures that are represented.
Geneseo, on the other hand, is 77% white, and has less international representation than Morris; and the domestic students are overwhelmingly from New York State. Both New York and Minnesota each have distinctive regional cultures that have pros and cons but are markedly different.
Neither is objectively better, except insofar as Morris is guaranteed to be in budget whereas Geneseo would be a bit over budget if the desired merit didn’t come through. How important a financial “sure thing” is to you would depend on how you feel about your other affordable options (undergrad in India, guaranteed merit at Alabama, etc.). Apart from the financial difference, it’s really a matter of where your son thinks he might feel more at home - a very individual decision.
Thanks for detailed response and pointing us to the right parameters.
Thanks! There are a lot of details to study here and take action on. Will do so over next 2-3 days.
No we didn’t consider it. Will see if it fits in the lower cost possibilities.
Yeah! Seems like I am re-living my college times more than he is doing!