Right now I only have 30k for university and the university I’ve been accepted to (spring semester) is asking 10k per semester for journalism. I’m an international student by the way. I plan on working extremely hard the first semester and try to get the best gpa I can (aiming for a 4.0) and then transfer to a better need blind school like Syracuse. I will work at the university too to save up money. My toefl score is 107/120 high school gpa wasn’t that good so I applied to a state university. I’m gonna give SAT before leaving in December for the university. The risk here is if I don’t get accepted both times when I try to transfer I might have to come back to my country without a degree and will have wasted a lot of money but I’m fully determined and motivated to work my hardest. Slipped up in high school and I’ll never do something like that ever again. Should I take this huge risk?
Transfers don’t get very good financial aid. International students get even less. International students can only work limited hours on their college campuses because the visa limits how much the student can work.
How did you come up with this plan???
How do you plan to pay for 8 semesters when you only have money for 3 semesters?
What is your understanding of the term “need blind”?
Do you realize that the Cost of Attendance at Syracuse for internationals is $67k per year?
http://financialaid.syr.edu/costofattendance/international/
If you only have $30k, how will you pay $67k per year for 4 years?
No, absolutely not. There are universities in Europe that have zero tuition where you can get a bachelors degree in three years, and use the $30k to pay your cost of living. There are also plenty of universities in the U.S. that cost less than $10k per semester. Students in the US who plan on transferring often start at a “community college” for the low tuition, among other reasons, and then transfer. You shouldn’t spend all your money on an overpriced university that you plan to leave, cannot afford to stay at, and all to take freshmen year courses you could get somewhere else much cheaper. Have you looked around for a community college?
In Wisconsin there is a guaranteed transfer program from the regional branches of U Wisconsin, and special programs for international students. That could be another option for you.
This is a terrible plan. Having a lot of hope is not a plan. You need to make a 4 year plan, not one based on fantasy. Instead, apply for fall admission at a college you can get a package you can afford for 4 years.
@Madison85 yes I do realize it’s 67k per year im saying I can only go if I get a scholarship. Need blind schools don’t look at your families income when considering your admission.
The 30k my parents have given me are the startup. Hopefully this will give them time to save up more money. And yes I do realize you can work for a limited number of hours on a student visa. The money I make won’t be going towards my expenses, my parents will be paying for living and food. I’m gonna work to save up as much as I can. If this does not work out I can apply to universities in Europe for transfer too. Community college is a good idea but I figured there will be a better chance of me getting accepted if I went to proper university
I have a lot of extra curriculars and have also done an internship for the United Nations I just need to get my gpa up now
@mommyrocks thank you for the advice I will look further into the university of Wisconsin
Need blind refers to admissions. You only get generous financial aid when the school has the monies and the policy to “meet full need” or quite liberal merit aid and you meet those qualifications. While Syracuse has some merit awards, it is not a “meet full need” college. When you have a risky idea, you have to dig for the details, to make a wise decision. This would alarm me:
"Syracuse University also offers merit scholarships up to $6,000 for entering transfer students.
Merit scholarships for international students are limited. Selection of scholarship recipients is made at the time of admission."
adding: Syr doesn’t seem to be need blind for internationals. You really need to do the research into this- and what these colleges look for in successful applicants.
Correct. But that has nothing to do with whether Syracuse or any other school would provide you with sufficient financial aid to attend, even assuming you were admitted. I agree with other posters that this plan makes little sense, especially the part about your family magically being able to save up a vast amount of money it doesn’t now have. There’s the risk you won’t be admitted plus the risk you won’t be able to afford it. Seems foolish to me.
That was info for the 2-year University of Wisconsin -Richland Center campus which boasts all of 556 students. The city of Richland Center has about 5,000 residents. About 98% of applicants are admitted. For internationals, the average TOEFL is 61 (about 20th percentile).
Is this what you are coming all the way to the US to experience?
@Madison85 what else am I to do, universities in my country are not nearly as good and I only speak English and my native language. So the options for me were to go to USA or UK and they rarely ever offer aid to international students in UK. it’s either try to get a scholarship, study at a mediocre American university or do undergrad from my country which won’t be of the same stature as a degree from USA.
NEWSFLASH: They rarely ever offer aid to international transfer students in the US!
What if you don’t get in? That’s a real possibility.
What if you get in, and they don’t give you a financial aid package, an even larger possibility as an international transfer student.
I’m sorry but this plan sounds very foolish. You don’t have money to attend for 4 years. You can’t possibly earn enough money, on a limited Visa, to pay for your tuition. As a transfer, your financial aid options are toast.
AND, your chances of getting a job in the US, after graduation are very, strongly limited.
Ouch does it hurt to be a little nicer? I know my plan is a bit off and foolish that’s why I posted here for suggestions and help. Yes you’re right aid is rare in USA but almost non existent in UK. Anyway is there someone that could give me a better recommendation, my major is journalism
Sorry, you asked for help, trying not to be rude, and we’re trying to explain to you what will happen when you get here. It happens, sadly, all too often when international students run out of money. You don’t want to end up with no money and no degree.
Can you defer your acceptance and take a gap year to try to get into another university?
The best funding comes in freshman year. Transfers basically get nothing.
Go to the links on the left of this page and do a super match. Try to find a university that will fund you with your stats.
Alright I will, thank you for the help 
I’ll start applying to more universities for spring.
Everyone here has given you sound advice; it may not be what you want to hear, but I recommend you listen. Your current plan is not practical.
That aside: what do you plan on doing with your journalism degree once you have it? Is your plan to return home and work as a journalist there? Are you in the EU? Journalism is a ROUGH, dying profession; the odds of your finding a job in the US are basically nil–there are more qualified journalists here in the States than jobs, so there’s no way any outlet would sponsor a work visa for a foreign national. If your plan is to get a journalism degree in the US and then return home, your career prospects, at least, may be sunnier with the visa issue removed; however JO schools in the US are cost prohibitively expensive and most of them don’t offer aid to internationals.
If you’re an EU citizen, despite the UK not offering aid to internationals, your 30K would nonetheless go a lot further there. Uni is actually cheaper in the UK, on the whole, and you might find that 30K seed money + taking out some loans will take you far there. And if you’re EU, you’d at least be able to work in the country where you got your degree/interned/established networking connections. That said, I don’t recommend anyone take on debt for a journalism degree–it’s deeply impractical. It’s difficult to find jobs, the ones that exist don’t pay much, etc. And if you’re not EU, then the UK wouldn’t be practical either, as you wouldn’t qualify for jobs once you graduated (and work visas are even harder to come by in the UK than the US!)
And here’s a secret: you can become a journalist without attending journalism school. We’ve set up this system where it’s the Thing To Do, but journalism is a trade. If you can find an employer willing to train you with some patience, you don’t need a degree. If having a college degree of any kind is required in your country to get a job (any job), then go local, and major in a writing-related discipline, or something related to the type of journalism you want to do (ie: political science, etc.). Learn to freelance. Get internships. Write a lot. The smartest thing you could do because of visa related hurdles you will face is to try to find a way in in your home country. Try your local paper or news station and go from there. You may find, in actually talking to some journalists locally, that none of them have fancy JO degrees from the US. There are more practical and affordable pathways to the career!
@proudterrier No I do not belong from Europe and I don’t plan on becoming a journalist. I will come back after completing my degree for the civil services exam in my country. I’ll try applying to a few more colleges and hope they give me aid. If I don’t get it I guess I’ll just study two years in my own country then apply for transfer
Your plan does not make sense - applying to colleges, hoping for huge merit aid, but in your own words you messed up in high school and have a bad GPA, and haven’t even taken the SAT yet. (It’s ‘take’, not ‘give the SAT’).
Only 6 colleges out of thousands in the U.S. guarantee to meet need for internationals. You won’t get admitted to one of those.
How would a U.S. college degree in journalism help you on a civil service exam in your country (what country are you from?)?
@Madison85 UW-Richland Center is all about strategy. I know an international student who was having trouble being admitted to the level of university she wanted to attend because of low SAT scores, but now she’s about to graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison without ever having had to submit her SAT scores. How? By starting at Richland, making good grades, and then using their guaranteed transfer program to UW-Madison. And Yes, that is what she came to the USA for – a degree from a well-respected high-ranking university. The OP is also having difficulty getting admitted to her choice of universities so I offered up the plan used by some other international students. Richland should be more affordable the first two years as well, and in the meantime her family can look for additional funding options to help pay for UW-Madison when the time comes. That’s called a “back door” into the university. Even the Ivies all have back doors btw.
Also, to the OP – you are mistaken to think that you can only go to programs in the USA or UK because of English language. There are many degree programs in other countries taught in the English language. For those in Europe, look here:
http://www.bachelorsportal.eu/
Search by language of instruction and cost here:
http://www.bachelorsportal.eu/search/?q=lv-bachelor&order=relevance