I’m International Student from Russia but whose background is half African and Half Georgian (Europe). I’ve been already three semesters (and three short sessions) at SMC with Business major and my GPA is now 4.0. I’m fluent In Spanish, English and Russian and I have knowledge of French and currently learning Korean. If this is relevant, I’m female and I’m 20. I’ve lived in Africa for 11 years and in Russia for 8, what made me fluent in those languages. I worked on campus while I was full time student and I got to have two jobs simultaneously. I also participated in some clubs in college.
Due to my financial situation, I’m in need of financial aid when I’m going to transfer. I know chances are small being international student (it’s higher for master and doctorate) but I am holding a hope, I guess.
I heard that private universities are more generous with international students than public ones. What chances do you think I have to apply, and possibly succeed with getting financial aid, at USC, Columbia and even Harvard? Stanford I’m actually afraid to apply even though they offer a great help.
Any university suggestion? For business and economics approach. I really need to focus on those universities that offer full financial aid or at least 60/70% to be covered. I can’t afford even 20K universities and for us internationals it’s not less than 20K for the cheapest ones.
I also thought to apply as a freshman if the chances are higher to get financial aid but my achievements are stronger as I started college I think. As a freshman I only have my achievements from High School and back then besides my good grades I didn’t do that much of extracurricular (I finished my HS in Africa).
Why do you want to transfer now, and to the US specifically? You already know that it’s easier to get funding for a US degree at the graduate level. Why not finish your degree at your current university and apply to graduate school in the US? If you really want to go abroad as an undergraduate, could you do it via an exchange agreement through your current university?
I’ll be happy to elaborate more on your financial options if you give us a bit more context.
USC’s largest scholarship for transfer students is 1/4 of tuition. That doesn’t appear to be enough for you, so I’d scratch it off of your list.
Columbia will only accept international transfer applications from American or Canadian universities. (Columbia is also notoriously bad with financial aid for international transfer students.)
American universities would NOT LET you apply as a freshman if you have completed a significant amount of university coursework already. Not if you change majors, not if you move to a different country. You would have to lie and risk having to repay your financial aid + have your degree revoked + lose your job if you are ever found it. Better to be honest up front.
I agree that transferring is unlikely to work in your case – there is very, very little aid for international transfer students.
A better idea is to finish your education and then apply for a graduate program in the US. Many/most PhD programs are funded, meaning you don’t pay tuition, and you earn a small stipend - enough to live on.
Is SMC Santa Monica College? If so, the international students office and the transfer counselors there should be able to help you out. That SMC is only a two year institution, so surely the people there have worked with students like you in the past!
I also don’t think you will find any decent financial aid as an international transfer student. If you are currently at Santa Monica CC, then you should be able to transfer without an issue. Your issue is cost.
The UC’s are full fees at $60K and USC will cost you $72K a year. Most of the privates run at those costs. There are colleges in the midwest and upper north (Montana, the Dakotas, Idaho) that may have some funding or have reasonable prices.
Were you unaware that you would pay full fees at most US universities? It was important to set up a budget before arriving to the US because being “hopeful” that money would eventually materialize doesn’t pay bills.
Being accepted at a CC, as an international candidate, makes you a full pay student at future US colleges and universities, no matter how much you work. (I didn’t think international students could legally work full time unless they were OPT.)