Should I attend Carnegie Mellon as an international student who plans to enter ECE? Or should I look at other schools?

Chance Me / Match Me!
21

I hope you realize this ED application is a hard NO.

Yeah, I’m considering to downscale to RD (which was my original plan when I first though of just randomly applying to any US university to see if I’d get accepted) if not just outright take the SAT and apply to a cheaper school.

Did I read that you have a plan to pay year one?

Yeah, sort of. I don’t expect it to be that good though.

Realistic or not, how about two, three, or four? Loans and scholarships are not realistic.

You caught me! I don’t know how the hell I’d pay for the following years short of pulling stints that can only happen in television shows!

22

Might I suggest power ball?
Student lives in Peru…

We have an equivalent to the Powerball here in Peru called the TInka. Right now the current jackpot is of $2.7m dollars, so if I somehow win it then that’s more than enough to attend CMU for all four years.

1 Like
23

Just because most US colleges are need aware (they take financial need into consideration when deciding whether to accept a student), that does not mean that you should not try. You have a guaranteed option in your own country due to your excellent academic performance so apply to some US colleges and see if they provide enough financial aid to be affordable to your family. If not, stay in Peru for undergrad and see if grad in the US is a possibility.

We can help with those suggestions. There will be schools suggested you’ve never heard of but that will all give you a very good education. Getting a high SAT/ACT will offer more options so please sign up for that if you move forward. Also talk to your parents about the financials so you can complete the aid forms when that time comes.

You’ll have to adjust your plan but you can still try if you’re open to other options. :grinning: :grinning:

3 Likes
24

Just because most US colleges are need aware (they take financial need into consideration when deciding whether to accept a student), that does not mean that you should not try. You have a guaranteed option in your own country due to your excellent academic performance so apply to some US colleges and see if they provide enough financial aid to be affordable to your family. If not, stay in Peru for undergrad and see if grad in the US is a possibility.

Thanks a lot! I always like it when someone shows me the bright side of things, makes me keep my spirits up when I feel everyone around me’s a downer.

We can help with those suggestions. There will be schools suggested you’ve never heard of but that will all give you a very good education. Getting a high SAT/ACT will offer more options so please sign up for that if you move forward. Also talk to your parents about the financials so you can complete the aid forms when that time comes.

Yeah, I have no issue with that even if it comes as rather shocking at first. I’m very much planning to get the highest SAT scores I can, and I’ve already started talking about the financials with parents, but don’t know much about them… I should research more on aid forms and packages.

You’ll have to adjust your plan but you can still try if you’re open to other options. :grinning: :grinning:

Thank you!

25

So here would be my plan:

  1. Prep and take the SAT in May or June. This gives you time to see your score, and retake in the fall if you think that’s necessary. In the meantime, you will have a ball park score to use when looking at college choices.

  2. Let everyone here know what you are looking for in a college (not prestige, not dream school) but the characteristics you might like. Weather, location, ease of travel and cost of travel, size, activities, etc.

  3. You will need to be open minded with the suggestions offered…but try. Folks here would love to see you fulfill your dream to study here…if that turns out to be financially possible.

5 Likes
26

So here would be my plan:

  1. Prep and take the SAT in May or June. This gives you time to see your score, and retake in the fall if you think that’s necessary. In the meantime, you will have a ball park score to use when looking at college choices.

Going to start prepping now, test will most likely come in June. What should my ballpark score be, though?

  1. Let everyone here know what you are looking for in a college (not prestige, not dream school) but the characteristics you might like. Weather, location, ease of travel and cost of travel, size, activities, etc.

I guess it’d be the following, then:

Weather: In one side, I adjust better to warm (but not over 32C+, and definitely not tropical warm) climates, but in the other, I’d really love to see snow and the four seasons. But specially snow.
Location: California is a hard NO. I don’t think I’d adjust THAT well to the West Coast as a whole though, I’m probably not their type. Aside from Pittsburgh, I also feel like the bigger cities of the Northeast are probably too fast paced for me as well.
I don’t think I’d like Florida’s culture too much either, Southeast Florida feels too much like NYC AND home at the same time.
While I like the Midwest a lot in many aspects, the fact that these states don’t really have much of a Hispanic community makes me a bit worried about standing out.
Ease of Travel: It’s either in a city, a walkable college town or firmly rural, really. Even though I’d love to learn to drive, I believe suburban living is the worst of both worlds if you’re a college student.
Size: Not HUGE (over 15k) but not small either. I want a change of scenery from the small high school I’m attending, so I’d prefer being in a large, but not too large for me to handle school.
Activities: I’d like to join a club - in fact, I wonder what a radio broadcasting club at university would be like. For residence, I’d like to explore a variety of housing options - regular ol’ dorms, greek life, living off-campus maybe? I also kind of want to be close to my professors, just like how I am currently close to my teachers at school.

  1. You will need to be open minded with the suggestions offered…but try. Folks here would love to see you fulfill your dream to study here…if that turns out to be financially possible.

Thanks a lot! I’m definitely looking forward to some unexpected results, and I hope everything goes well!

1 Like
27

Do you need suggestions for SAT prep?

1 Like
28

Do you need suggestions for SAT prep?

I’d absolutely love that!

29

I think you need to be aware that there are lots of poorer students, who are accepted to these top schools, with full funding. The major difference is that they are not international candidates. These poorer students, residing in the US, were born in the US; their backgrounds bring a different perspective to each of their campuses. Plus, they qualify for state and federal funds.

I was such a student decades ago. My nieces and nephews have received exceptional funding with top SAT scores. The problem is that these schools have a limited number of available institutional funds for international students and can’t rely on “typical” US funding sources, so they must use their own dollars. Those funds are finite. Hence the limits on international students who need dollars.

People are not trying to bring you down, we are trying to inform you that it will be tough. For instance, you were unaware that the colleges charge fees per year. You probably aren’t aware that the prices for tuition and fees are subject to go up.

You need to Google “colleges/universities with funding for international students” and then cross out the ones that don’t have your major your major. Beware that these schools may not be in your desired area of the US and will typically be in the South and Midwest. If you have the right stats, and essays, you may get funded.

3 Likes
30

I would recommend that you use Khan Academy or other free resources online to estimate what your SAT score might be. Since $60 sounds like a not-insignificant sum of money for your family, I would wait to see if you score (on practice tests) at least 1350-1400, which is about the lowest test score needed for some of the full rides available (and these will not be at schools in the top 100, but they will be ABET-accredited). If your practice scores are at least 1350-1400, then sign up for the SAT. If not, I would postpone your goals for an education in the U.S. until grad school. Depending on their field of study, many graduate students will have their tuition paid for by the university as well as a stipend if they serve as a research or teaching assistant.

Without knowing what your family is willing and able to afford each year for 4 years and without having any standardized test scores, there aren’t many suggestions I can offer.

3 Likes
31

There is a bright side. It’s why I asked for budget so we can find schools. We know the income is under $40k. We don’t know assets.

Scholarships, unless Peru is different, are not realistic. Not for such a large sum. And you will need to prove finances b4 a school will admit you. We read lots of stories - a school rejects but says if you can provide proof you can pay x $ for four years, we will admit you.

If you tell us you can afford $20k or $30k a year, we can find you possibilities.

And yea you’ll need a test. And confidence is great but perfect, while I hope it happens, is not realistic.

1 Like
32

@Andygp Do you have anything to share with this student since you just went through this process as an international? I know your financial situation was different but maybe you’ll have some tips to pay forward. :grinning:

3 Likes
33

I think you need to be aware that there are lots of poorer students, who are accepted to these top schools, with full funding. The major difference is that they are not international candidates. These poorer students, residing in the US, were born in the US; they’re backgrounds bring a different perspective to each of their campuses. Plus, they qualify for state and federal funds.

Yeah, I’ve known of that for a long time as well. And even if they’re from poorer backgrounds, the fact that they were born and live in the US, where minimum wages and salaries are higher than in my country already puts them above me in chances of getting in, really.

I was such a student decades ago. My nieces and nephews have received exceptional funding with top SAT scores. The problem is that these schools have a limited number of available institutional funds for international students and can’t rely on “typical” US funding sources, so they must use their own dollars. Those funds are finite. Hence the limits on international students who need dollars.

Yeah, that seems about right - and also why only the most elite of schools can even fund international students with aid

People are not trying to bring you down, we are trying to inform you that it will be tough. For instance, you were unaware that the colleges charge fees per year. You probably aren’t aware that the prices for tuition and fees are subject to go up.

Yeah, I know none of you are trying to bring me down, it just sounds like that sometimes. I did know that the prices go up every year, but not that the $79k was per year rather than for all four years.

You need to Google “colleges/universities with funding for international students” and then cross out the ones that don’t have your major your major. Beware that these schools may not be in your desired area of the US and will typically be in the South and Midwest. If you have the right stats, and essays, you may get funded.

Thanks a lot! Funnily enough, I’d much rather be in the South or Midwest than in the BosWash corridor (too fast paced for me, tbh), so it shouldn’t be too much of an issue. I’ll make sure to write down a list of these colleges which offer Electrical and/or Computer engineering degrees very soon!

2 Likes
34

This is not an accurate statement. Only a small number of schools are need-BLIND for international students, meaning that they don’t look at whether or not an international student can pay anything when deciding whether to admit the student AND then promise to meet the full need of the student (even if it’s $80k/year). There are many schools that are need-blind for international students (all public schools, for one), but they won’t promise to meet your financial need. And then the schools that do promise to meet an international student’s need, they aren’t as wealthy as those 7-8 schools, so they are need-AWARE when they select a class, because they don’t have enough money if they accept a lot of students who can’t pay anything or only can pay a small amount.

It’s great that you’re showing flexibility. The more flexible you can be, the more options may end up opening up for you.

3 Likes
35

There is a bright side. It’s why I asked for budget so we can find schools. We know the income is under $40k. We don’t know assets.

When it comes to assets, my dad has a WV Gol (LATAM-only model) from 2009… which he’s planning to sell so he can get a brand new KIA SUV instead. We’re stuck renting, which costs $265 for a pretty spacious duplex. We’ve been trying to get into investing for a loooong time, but never have actually done so. Are there any other assets we must consider?

Scholarships, unless Peru is different, are not realistic. Not for such a large sum. And you will need to prove finances b4 a school will admit you. We read lots of stories - a school rejects but says if you can provide proof you can pay x $ for four years, we will admit you.

Yeah, that seems about right. I don’t think Peru is that different from the US, really - LATAM being so close to the US and all that.

If you tell us you can afford $20k or $30k a year, we can find you possibilities.

No idea about that, really. But I might be able to.

And yea you’ll need a test. And confidence is great but perfect, while I hope it happens, is not realistic.

Indeed.

36

This is not an accurate statement. Only a small number of schools are need-BLIND for international students, meaning that they don’t look at whether or not an international student can pay anything when deciding whether to admit the student AND then promise to meet the full need of the student (even if it’s $80k/year). There are many schools that are need-blind for international students (all public schools, for one), but they won’t promise to meet your financial need. And then the schools that do promise to meet an international student’s need, they aren’t as wealthy as those 7-8 schools, so they are need-AWARE when they select a class, because they don’t have enough money if they accept a lot of students who can’t pay anything or only can pay a small amount.

Thanks for explaining! You’ve explained it much better than I could ever.

It’s great that you’re showing flexibility. The more flexible you can be, the more options may end up opening up for you.

Thanks! I like Pittsburgh because of how Midwestern it feels like, so I’d of course lean more towards Midwestern schools than Northeastern ones. As for the South, the people I’ve met from that region are nothing but friendly, so I highly doubt it would be a bad place for me.

2 Likes
37

I have not read the whole thread but I looked at the OP’s profile. Here is what I feel for an international student:

  1. ECE is close to CS/CE? If yes it will be very difficult to get in at least in near future. In 5 years in my opinion there will be surplus of CS folks :slight_smile:

  2. Perfect SAT score and reasonable GPA is great but without solid ECs top ranked schools will be out of the league IMHO especially if cost is a concern.

  3. I think OP should find places which give merit scholarships to international students (mostly will be lower ranked) and apply to at least a few of them. Cost of attendance less than 25k will be difficult achieve for privates. Some state universities in Texas and Alabama may bring it to @20k level.

  4. Full ride scholarships even in low ranked schools are exceedingly difficult to get for international students.

  5. If cost expectations are less than 20K then only need blind schools “may” work IMHO. But they will be extremely hard to get into.

  6. Having said that a female in STEM from Peru might be demographically advantageous in many liberal arts schools?

All the best to the OP.

2 Likes
38

How would your family afford $40,000 a year for your college costs when that is about their annual income?

39

Here is a list of colleges that offer aid to international students, and on average, how much. Over the next few months, this will get updated with 2022-23 information.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d1ad956be52e800010a2502/t/6313e393ddb48a18cc68275f/1662247828371/Financial+Aid+for+International+Noncitizens+(August+update%2C+2022).pdf

Good luck with the SAT prep. Once you have a score, we will be able to provide better recommendations.

4 Likes
41

I hope this isn’t going in the direction of advertising a test prep service…

2 Likes