<p>I already know that most scholarships require you to be a U.S. citizen, but I have also heard that there are some scholarships for people studying abroad.</p>
<p>However, my situation is a bit more complicated.</p>
<ul>
<li>I live in US, and I am able to do so because my application for permanent residence is still pending (was never rejected).</li>
<li>I am currently in an American high school. I am not sure whether going to college from my high school would be considered "studying abroad."</li>
</ul>
<p>As for merit, I have 2350 in SAT, 800 in 4 subject SATs, 3.97 unweighted GPA, and numerous academic extracurriculars (most notable: captain of the math team).</p>
<p>Any constructive advice will be welcome. Thanks.</p>
<p>EDIT: Also, how is my outlook on getting financial aid from any colleges?</p>
<p>Colleges do give financial aid to permanent residents, as far as I can tell, but this is dependent upon your income. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I will apologize to anyone in advance who works for Immigration:</p>
<p>Go in there and shake the officer in charge of your file the hell up. Refuse to leave until this is resolved. You have to go to college; this is no time for bureaucracy to dick around with your future. Oftentimes, if you have not yet heard back after a long period, they have misplaced your file or put it at the bottom of the pile. Like I said, go there in person and get this done.</p>
<p>The OP has clearly said they are not a PR and therefore will be seen as an international. Depending on the state of residence, they may be considered in state at state schools.</p>
<p>With those stats on of the few schools that meet need for intnls may be possible. Search the site for a list. Post on the intnl board for info on schools generous to intnls, with these stats you should do fine.</p>
<p>You are an international student for financial aid purposes until you qualify to file the FAFSA. Read through the list of statuses that would permit you to file, you may fall into one of the limited number of non-citizen and non-permanent resident categories.</p>
<p>Since you are completing HS in the US, your guidance counselor can help you find places where students whose academic and EC profile is similar to yours have been accepted in the past, and where they have been awarded merit scholarships. This will give you some guidelines to work from. Your guidance counselor can also help you find out if you qualify for in-state tuition and fees at any of the public colleges/universities/community colleges in your state. The rules may be different for 2- and 4-year schools.</p>
<p>To get a rough idea of how much money your family may be expected to pay for your education, run your financial information through the EFC calculators at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and at [College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board) If you find out that your family can afford tuition and fees for international students at the colleges/universities on your list, you won’t have to worry so much about financial aid. If you find out that your family can’t afford this, you will need to get serious about finding colleges/universities that offer good aid for international students with your profile.</p>
<p>Until your green card comes, you are not a permanent resident and will have to apply as an international student. You need to contact the colleges on your list as to whether they give financial aid to internationals and how they determine need. You will not be filing FAFSA because you are not eligible to do so. You will be limited to those scholarship that the college itself provides and for outside awards, only if those scholarships allow internationals to have them.</p>
<p>Talk to your parents about how much they can afford to pay for your college. This will give you the price range for your financial safety schools. Also by using the estimated international student calculators, you can see which school can possibly give you enough so that you can make this work. No sense in applying to a school that feels your need is $10K and your parents cannot pay the cost with just that amount covered. Unless, there are some merit awards in the picture as well.</p>
<p>Because your stats are very high, you might have a good chance for merit awards at those schools that permit international students access to those monies. So, in addition to those schools that can possibly give you enough financial aid, you should add schools where they will very much want you because you would be very much a top student there, and would be willing to pay for you. That may be your best shot at getting money. </p>
<p>That doesn’t mean that you can’t apply to reaches as well, but bear in mind that those schools that tend to give generous aid usually are highly selective, and often do not give merit money, so you need to qualify for the amount of aid you need after going through acceptance mill. Again, with your stats, you do have a chance of getting through these gauntlets, so do give it a try. </p>
<p>If your parents’ income is middle class or so, you really are not missing out from what FAFSA can generate for you. You probably would not qualify for PELL (which is for very low incomes) and the max for that is about $5K. And you can’t get Stafford or other government loans, including parent loans.</p>
<p>I’m from the Philippines and just got married to a U.S. citizen. My papers for Permanent Resident have been with the government for 2 months now. But I so want to go to online school already and am looking at scholarship/grant opportunities. Am I capable of having one?</p>
<p>Having applied does not mean you have had PR granted. Until the app is approved, you are not PR even if you meet all of the requirements. It has to be checked out and go through the whole process,because there are times when people do not qualify. </p>
<p>I think that if you are approved, but have not yet gotten the green card or whatever paperwork, you may be able to go on ahead with the FAFSA but not until the approval is given. Even then, different schools required different levels of proof.</p>
<p>cb- why do you want to go to an online school? Are you talking about an online class from a brick & mortar school, like a CA community college that offers a particular class online or are you talking about an entirely online experience? I am not an expert, but I do not sense much respect for online education from the people I know. What are you trying to accomplish?</p>
<p>It takes a while to get used to being married, and if you have just moved to the US, it will take a while to get used to living here as well. Wait until your paperwork comes through to go to college. Don’t try to do too many new things all at once.</p>
<p>While you are waiting for your green card, spend some time learning more about your educational options and good ways to pay for your studies. </p>
<p>Hopefully your high school counselor will be knowledgeable about schools that give merit awards or good need-based aid to internationals. If not, start searching the internet.</p>
<p>I know a student who accepted a full-ride merit scholarship to a regional university when the PR did not come through before she finished high school. When it did come through early in her freshman year, she sent out transfer applications to top universities that gave generous financial aid. She was quite successful, with acceptances and with good need-based aid. There isn’t much merit available for transfers, though.</p>