We are based in India. My son homeschooled for the last 2 years of high school. His predicted GPA (unweighted) is about 3.0 He has a SAT score of 1430 . He plays the guitar and has been qualifying consistently for the Abrsm exams. Colleges we are considering are:
UNC Chapel Hill
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Oregon
University of Purdue
Bard college
University of Puget sound
UC Davis
UC San Diego
BU
NYU
Occidental college
St Lawrence University
Kalamazoo
The UC’s use a specific weighted GPA (Capped weighted) and for Out of state or International applicants, they need a minimum 3.4 Capped weighted GPA to even apply to the California UC’s.
If you are able to calculate his GPA using a 4.0 scale, then here is the UC GPA calculator. UC’s only use 10-11th grades in their GPA calculation for the a-g course requirements.
https://rogerhub.com/gpa-calculator-uc/
There are 3 GPA’s that are calculated by the Rogerhub calculator: Unweighted, Capped weighted (needed for eligibility) and Fully weighted.
If his Capped weighted GPA is below a 4.0, UC Davis and San Diego will be tough admits.
2019 UC capped weighted GPA averages along with 25th-75th percentile range:
UCSD: 4.16 (4.03-4.28)
UCSB: 4.16 (4.04-4.28)
UCI: 4.13 (4.00-4.25)
UCD: 4.13 (4.00-4.26)
Don’t try to convert an Indian grading system directly to a 4.0 scale. It’s not apples to apples.
You can look up a school’s average SAT scores and grades on their common data sets along with acceptance rates. Just google the school’s name and common data set. The information is in section C.
Also be aware that for certain majors, admissions may be more competitive than a school’s overall acceptance rate and international acceptance rates typically are 1/2 of what they are for domestic students.
Most of the public schools on your list also don’t provide aid to international students.
Do you have any budget constraints? You son won’t qualify for need-based financial aid.
What does your son want to study? Does he want to attend a large university, a mid-sized university, or a liberal arts college? (You have some of each type on this list so it’s hard to tell what he’s looking for.)
Most of the schools you list would be unlikely to admit an international student with a 3.0 unweighted GPA. Puget Sound could be a good target, as it’s a good school for musicians and has a relatively high admit rate. His GPA is below median but his SAT is above median, and full-pay international students are attractive to them for the money they bring in.
But there are many schools he could get into; it all depends what he’s looking for in a college. It’s hard to infer, from such a diverse list, what his criteria may be.
Thanks! Yes, it’s a diverse list. His previous school principal and college counselor suggested that small liberal Arts colleges maybe better for him. But he was keen on slightly bigger universities as some of his friends are there. I am aware that he will not qualify for need based scholarship or perhaps even merit. We will be looking at taking a loan. And oh, he’s looking to study psychology with maybe a minor in music.
Oh thank you! I wasn’t aware of the common data set. Will look it up.
It’s true that many schools are harder for international students to get into than for US domestic students. But it’s not true of all colleges. International students who can full pay are valued by many schools that don’t have Ivy League level endowments.
However, if you will need to take out loans to pay the full “sticker price” for a private university, you might want to look at some public options that are less competitive and less expensive than Chapel Hill and the UC’s.
The US News site tallies the US schools have the largest international student communities relative to their size. This can be a good indicator of places where your son might have an easier adjustment, as well as of schools that may not be more steeply competitive for international applicants. These colleges cover a wide range of size and competitiveness:
National Universities: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/most-international Clark University in Massachusetts is particularly well known for psychology, has a strong reputation without being prohibitively competitive, and is relatively small (2200 undergraduates) with 13% international students. U of San Francisco is mid-sized - under 7000 students - has 14% international students and good programs in his areas of interest. Seattle University and Loyola Marymount U could also be worth a look. If you figure out that his weighted GPA really looks a bit better than the conversion you used in your initial post, then Brandeis and University of Tulsa could be good choices - both accept many international students and are good mid-sized schools were a student isn’t as likely to fall through the cracks as at a huge university.
Liberal Arts Colleges: https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges/most-international Earlham, with 22% international students and a campus culture that shares a lot in common with the more competitive Quaker-founded schools (i.e. Haverford and Swarthmore) could be a great one to consider. Lawrence, Bard, and St. Olaf are particularly good for musicians. (St. Olaf is too competitive in the regular cycle, but they have Early Decision I and II, with an 80% ED acceptance rate.) Also in Minnesota, the Morris campus of the University of Minnesota is a small public liberal arts college with a total cost of attendance under $25K/year - maybe worth a look if the loans you’re considering aren’t easily manageable. (Morris students with good grades can also transfer to the Twin Cities flagship university, which can be a reassuring option if he’s worried that four years at a small LAC could feel too confining - but in the meantime he’d have two years in a more intimate community with small classes and lots of support, and avoid debt as well - and doing his whole degree there would cost 1/3 of what the most expensive private colleges cost.)
Hope that helps -
Most of those schools are not worth $250,000- $275,000 of debt.
UNC-CH is a non-starter
What is the goal of going to college in the US? That will help to identify colleges where he can get in, and that represent better value for him.
Are you applying for financial aid through the schools? Many schools are not need blind to international applicants. I do not know how state universities, the UCs are on this issue—whether they admit international students need blind and simply not offer any aid, or reject if need to great or they have too many needy international students.
Is that anticipated loan going to be obtained in India?
Thank you! This is super helpful.
The California UC’s are need blind and do accept International applicants but you will be full pay. They offer little to no financial aid so expect to pay $65K/year to attend.
“Many schools are not need blind to international applicants.”
Except for Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, and Amherst, no schools are need blind for international applicants (though some schools make exceptions for Canadian and Mexican applicants).
Would not recommend taking out a loan. ROI would be positive for colleges in the T20, but your child probably wouldn’t be a viable candidate. For colleges farther down the list, you may be better off going to college in India, and then coming to US for masters degree.
Another option is to have your son attend a 2 year community college in the US. Prices are much cheaper. And many have articulation agreements with local state universities. Then transfer to the 4 year college. In some states, he may even be able to establish state residency in 2 years. This strategy would be much better in terms of cost.
This student would be paying OOS costs for a community college…plus would need to find housing, and plan to pay all living expenses as well (food, utilities, personal expenses, travel). Is this within the family budget?
Taking out loans for four years of college will be well more than $100,000 even IF he attends community college. Where will these loans come from because you won’t be able to get them in the U.S.
Where did I miss the family income and assets? How do we know they won’t qualify for any need based aid anywhere? They won’t qualify for federally funded aid, or aid at CA publics…but what about institutional need based aid elsewhere?
What is the annual family income?
Agree with @thumper1. Even the cheaper community colleges in remote areas will be in the range of $15-25K per year (including tuition/room/board/books/etc).
As an international, you won’t be able to get federal student loans. Your son may be able to get a student job, but that will only cover about $3-5K per year max. Do you have 100K USD (~ 72 lakh INR) available? You’ll need to have this readily available. Many colleges will require this money to be in an escrow account.
All colleges will require that this student complete a certification of finances which clearly shows that the money IS at the ready to pay for at least one year of full costs here. Without that…this student will not get a student visa to study here.
So…does this family have a full year of college cost money that they can prove they have? Approved loans can be included…but they must be approved.
Thanks! This is helpful
What does your son plan to do with a major in psychology and a minor in music? Are they such hot fields in India that it’s worth paying well over $200k for an undergrad degree? How much of that would you have to borrow? If we knew a rough budget someone may be able to suggest some affordable schools.
- Is the 3.0 your calculation based on Indian grades or did he actually get this? (In the US it’s a decent but not extraordinary GPA).
- If 3.0 is his ‘true’ GPA not an approximation, then Kalamazoo and UPuget Sound are high matches, perhaps actual matches if his curriculum was rigorous as his test scores would suggest, and St Lawrence a reach. Everything else is out of reach.
- what’s your budget before any loan?
- look into Clark - excellent for psychology, a high match; St Olaf’s, excellent for psychology and nationally ranked for music, a reach; Luther and Concordia-Moorhead, which would be easy matches.
For larger LACs, look into College of Charleston, UNC Asheville, Wilkes honors college of Florida.