Some target schools to be considered

College Search & Selection
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I have been looking at some target schools in US with over 50% acceptance rates but haven’t really been able to choose anyone of them as an international student.
Some recommendations for some good universities for STEM subjects.

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What are stats? One person’s target is another person’s reach. It all depends on what type of student you are.

What is your annual budget? Do you need financial aid? This is typically the biggest problem for international students. The schools with the best aid are all very selective with admission rates in the single digits.

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I am still in my sophomore year but I have been ranked 1 in my freshmen year of high school and I have pretty good extracurriculars and honors in state level and regional level competitions.
Yes I will be applying for financial aid. My parents can contribute $15,000 per year.
I am still in the early phases of my application process so I not really having every score.

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A couple of things: first, you are too early in the process. You need to know your sophomore and junior year grades, plus SAT/ACT scores before you can start figuring out which schools to apply to. Second, as an international applicant requiring substantial aid there are really no targets in the US for you because acceptance without affordability is the same as a rejection. There are only a handful of schools that are need blind and meet full need for international students and they are all very hard to get into.

Over the next couple of years work on keeping your grades up, doing well on the SAT/ACT (yes many schools may still be test optional by the time you apply, but as an international applicant applying with scores will help you if you score well), focus on extracurricular activities, leadership, etc.

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Also, if your user name is your real name you may want to change it. Read:

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That’s not a lot. My suggestion would be to look for state schools that offer good aid. Those will approximate safeties but the budget will be tight.

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This is an international student. I don’t think there are any safeties in the US due to non-resident status plus financial need.

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Which state schools offer a high level of guaranteed aid to international students?

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Added the “international” tag to the thread.

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True but scholarships are available to bring costs down.

There are several, but all competitive. Some are close to guaranteed. Look up Carr Academic Scholarship at Angelo State.

Here is one that is competitive:
https://onestop.utk.edu/scholarships/first-year/international-beacon-scholarship/

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To the OP, this is good advice.

Your accomplishments to date are excellent so keep up the good work. :grinning: While this is early in the process, there is no reason you can’t spend a bit of time learning more about US colleges and universities, especially the ones you are not familiar with. There are many excellent schools without the international name recognition of the T10. For example, some liberal arts colleges that offer aid to internationals are actively working to improve diversity so would be worth some research. It was also discussed on CC recently that some of the historically black institutions are working to increase diversity and have support and financial aid for international students.

All of this to say that while I would not classify any US school a safety or target in your circumstances, there will be reach options worth taking a shot, especially if you look outside the “usual suspects”. But you have time. Please come back and update us. :grinning:

(edits for clarity)

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Universities with the highest percent of international students:

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/most-international

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Mizzou has automatic merit aid for international students, Missouri S&T may as well. Not sure if they would meet the threshold for “high level”.

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For the OP, here is a link to the University of Missouri (nickname: Mizzou) scholarship and cost information for internationals. From what I can find, the automatic scholarships will only reduce cost by $5-$10k (leaving approximately $35k-$40k per year). I didn’t easily find out if Mizzou offers need-based aid to international students but it does not appear so. Without that this university would not meet OP’s budget and would not provide a “high level of guaranteed aid.”

Mizzou - International Student Costs and Scholarships

I am not suggesting Mizzou but since it was mentioned above am using it as an example of the type of research to be done by this OP. Personally, I believe an international will have better success of affordability at privates instead of publics but am happy to learn from others if I am off base.

Once the OP has another year of strong grades and test scores it would be worth researching some of the competitive scholarships at publics and privates but that is premature and the OP is currently asking for “targets” (a term I am using loosely).

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