US Citizen, living aboard, desiring US college admissions with financial aid - what chances?

Paying for College
1

Hello,

I am a US citizen who has been living and schooling outside of US for pretty much the entire school life.

I appeared for the SATs in May '17 and got 1490/1600 (Math 780, Critical Reading/Writing - 710) in the first attempt. My SAT Subject tests results - Math II, Physics and Chemistry are awaited shortly. I have been a straight A student all my school life especially more so in grades 9, 10, 11. Currently am in Grade 12. My school curriculum is not IB or any other internationally known standard. However, I have taken the required number of high school units/courses in English/Math/Sciences/History. I did a month of summer internship at a software company working on their social media outreach section. I do have a US Social Security Number.

I plan to start college in Fall of 2018. I’d like to pursue a study in Mechanical Engineering.

The annual income of my parents (only one parent works) would be around US$ 50000 before tax (got this from them).They have some assets, not sure exactly how much.

Am I eligible for financial aid?
if so, what sort of financial aid am i eligible for?
I read about FAFSA - am I eligible to fill in a FAFSA? If so, when is the FAFSA due?
Is it wise for me to consider colleges with Early Decision? I ask because financial aid is very important in my plans to pursue college in the US, without which it simply becomes unaffordable.
What type of colleges do I stand a very good chance of financial aid? State Universities? Privates? Small schools? etc?
Any other consideration I should keep in mind while shortlisting colleges?
Does it make sense to give the SATs again to improve the score to improve the chances of financial aid?

thanks,

2

You are eligible for Federal aid and you will need to apply by using the FASFA.

You will be considered out of state for any US college/university, so if you need much financial aid to attend, then you would need to target schools with good FA (need based and/or merit based).

Do you have any geographic preferences? Large urban schools? Small Rural schools? Privates/Publics?

How much can your parents pay/year? This $$ number is important so you know how much aid you need to fund your college education.

3

Look at the scholarships for University of Alabama…all the campuses. They offer mechanical engineering, and might have merit aid that will help you.

4

Alabama, main campus and Huntsville, are good suggestions. In addition, look at schools that meet a large portion of need.

In particular, on Big Future you can hone in on colleges that offer mechanical engineering and meet 80 percent of need or more. Start there, then filter down by size, location, test scores, etc. When the list is of manageable size, go read the financial aid pages. Run the net price calculator to see an estimate for cost after aid. Check what financial information will be required and what the deadlines are.

5

Do you have permanent residence or citizenship in whatever country you are currently living in? If so, which country is that?

6

As a US citizen, you are eligible for financial aid at US universities generally, but you will not get the lower tuition and sometimes better financial aid that state universities offer to their state residents.

7

+1 Alabama. You might consider taking the ACT as well.

8

[QUOTE=""]
You are eligible for Federal aid and you will need to apply by using the FASFA. is there an upper limit to what FAFSA pays out? I read somewhere that in cases like mine it tops out at approx 5000/year

Do you have any geographic preferences? Large urban schools? Small Rural schools? Privates/Publics?
Haven’t really thought about this. Will it make a difference? Like I had mentioned earlier, fin aid is important in my plans.

How much can your parents pay/year? This $$ number is important so you know how much aid you need to fund your college education.
Good question: need to ask them clearly :slight_smile: I guess around $15000/year

[/QUOTE]

Can I send mails to the email addresses I see in the colleges fin aid web sites? Do they address any specifics or reply back mostly in generics?

9

@FamousFive

Look on the college websites for merit aid. At Alabama, there is guaranteed merit aid for stats. If you could get full tuition…the $15,000 would cover your remaining costs.

10

FAFSA does not pay out anything.
It is the online form that helps you determine how much $$ in FEDERAL LOAN$ you can borrow- that’s where the $5000/ year figure comes in] AS WELL AS how much financial aid [in grants or loans] COLLEGES are likely to offer you.

Those colleges that ALSO require the PROFILE online financial aid form- which tend to be mostly private, more expensive colleges in the US- may be more generous with FA offers, but they also tend to the the colleges with more competitive admissions.

https://profileonline.collegeboard.org/prf/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv

http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/cssprofile.phtml

“What is the CSS profile used for?
The CSS PROFILE is the financial aid application used by the College Board. Many colleges, universities, graduate and professional schools, and scholarship programs use the information collected on the CSS PROFILE to help them award nonfederal student aid funds.”

https://www.google.com/search?q=what+are+the+profile+colleges%3F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8

11

No, this isn’t right.

Everyone who files a FAFSA is eligible for $5500 in loans (assuming dependent freshmen which it sounds like the OP is). It will help in determining whether you’re eligible for sub or unsubsidized loans.

If the OP’s parents can pay ~15k/year, they are likely outside of Pell grant territory (which tops out around an EFC of 5300).

12

Re: Alabama



Note that this year’s largest automatic for stats scholarship has a higher test score threshold than last year, and is for a fixed amount rather than the value of tuition (that rises every year).

13

Everyone can get unsubsidized loans. FAFSA determines if you can get loans whether the government pays any interest for you while you are in school.

OP in addition to federal loans, you can get college financial aid or scholarships. Run Net Price Calculators at each school.

Alabama scholarships http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php
Huntsville scholarships http://www.uah.edu/admissions/undergraduate/financial-aid/scholarships/merit-tuition-scholarships

Example net price calculator (each school will have a different calculator and may offer a different amount of aid)
http://case.edu/financialaid/resources/net-price-calculator/

14

are your parents US citizens, permanent residents? Are they required to file US income taxes? if yes, they should get their tax information together.

15

@ucbalumnus

i don’t follow - what is “largest automatic for stats scholarship”? is that like a cut-off or threshold? And has that gone beyond my test score and giving SATs again might help?

@sybbie719

no, they are not

@romanigypsyeyes

so this means the FAFSA tops out at $5000 in loans.

16

@FamousFive I have to ask the obvious question: If your parents have a total income of $50,000, then why do you want to go to university in the US? Pretty much any other country in the world is going to be more affordable. You already have US citizenship, so you don’t need to meet and marry an American if you want to move here after graduation.

17

RE U of Alabama
here are the SAT cut off numbers and scholarship amounts that are automatically awarded for SAT top scores- your 1490 DOES qualify for the Presidential Scholarship IF your GPA is 3.5+

UA Scholar

A student with a 30-32 ACT or 1390-1480 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA, he or she will be named a UA Scholar and will receive $76,000 over four years ($19,000 per year).
Presidential Scholar

A student with a 33-36 ACT or 1490-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive $100,000 over four years ($25,000 per year). Students graduating with remaining scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.

http://scholarships.ua.edu/types/out-of-state.php

yes the FAFSA loans that the US government subsidizes for you , as a US citizen, while you are in school top out at $5000/ YEAR. .
other loans can be offered [ essentially to your parents] by the colleges, as part of your financial aid package- [run the NPC’s at individual colleges to see who much “need” might be offered to you. But be careful- your “need” is defined by the college- not by what your parents think they can spend. EFC is what the college expects YOU to pay.
private parties can also be tapped for loans, but avoid these like the plague as the interest rates are too hi to be affordable.

18

As a US citizen, you need to calculate your EFC and run the NPC on a few colleges.

What area of the world are you from? Because you may be considered underrepresented, in which case it helps with some universities, or over represented, in which case you need to be willing to attend a college where your geographical origin is not over represented.

19

University of Alabama used to award the value of full out-of-state tuition for 3.5 / 32. Now, it is $25,000 per year (which is slightly less than full out-of-state tuition, and does not increase as tuition increases) for 3.5 / 33.

To get the value of full out-of-state tuition needs a 4.0 / 36 now (also gives some other benefits).

20

@FamousFive

What @romanigypsyeyes is trying to tell you is that the FAFSA does not give out money. The only thing that FAFSA does is determine your eligibility for federal and in some cases, state aid.

Federal aid consists of grants in the form of Pell and SEOG, Federal work study and loans

Maximum pell for families with a 0 EFC is $5920 and the amount goes down from there. an EFC of $5328, will net you a $606 pell grant for the school year. An EFC of $5329 means that you are not eligible for Pell.

SEOG funds vary by school and are not guaranteed to any student.

As a freshman, you can borrow a max of $5500 (if you have a financial need $3500 will be subsidized, meaning the interest is paid by the federal government while you are in school. The other 2,000 is unsubsidized meaning that the interest accrues).

Since you do not have state residency anywhere in the U.S. you will not be eligible for state aid.

From filling out the fasfa, if you have a 0 EFC, the only money that you are guaranteed is a $5920 Pell grant and a $5500 loan. This will not make a dent in covering the cost of you attending school in the US.

Most schools provide financial aid on the basis of Cost of Attendance - EFC = Demonstrated need

for example if the school cost $65,000 a year and your EFC is $5,000, then you have a demonstrated need of $60,000

Most FAFSA only schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need. The overwhelming majority of schools in the US do not meet 100% demonstrated need… The schools that do meet 100% demonstrated need will require additional information in the form of either the CSS profile or their own financial aid forms.

Your response to me, no they are not is very vague. I do not understand what this means

are you saying no your parents are not US citizens or permanent residents?

are you saying that your parents do not file US income taxes?

are you saying your parents are not required to pass US income taxes

please clarify, so that we may be able to assist