Going to a college that you can afford is not wasting four fruitful years. You will be learning and maturing and getting a college / university degree that will then open additional doors for you either as an employee or as a graduate student.
you are clearly a very good student. This can all still work out for you.
You can try applying to UMN Morris and Truman State, completing essay and activity sheet/resume+test score by Dec.1 at the latest. The scholarships may not suffice (theyâre competitive and not guaranteed) but you have a shot.
For instance, at Truman State you automatically get a 10k scholarship, thanks to your 1430+GPA, which is not enough as is but may qualify you for review toward another, competitive scholarship with a higher amount.
Troy has automatic scholarships. University of Southern Mississippi, Delaware State, University of Central Arkansas, SUNY Plattsburgh, have been known to offer some scholarships too though thereâs no guarantee theyâll be enough. Apply to their Honors Colleges (some will be by application, others by invitation, and some will invite you to apply or not. Whenever thereâs an Honors college you need to apply to increase your odds of getting a scholarship.)
12k is a very good amount of money about anywhere. Cost of living is just really high in the US. Salaries have increased much faster than in the rest of the world but inflation has been pretty bad too. Therefore, even full tuition scholarships donât go as far as they used to.
In my opinion, you should choose some universities from the above list.
Then, add some colleges that meet need even if theyâre need aware.
For instance, St Olaf wants to see a minimum of 12k from its applicants and itâs excellent for math: right up your alley. Would they deny you based on financial need? Possibly. But worth a shot since you know you meet their minimum budget so your financial need wonât be an automatic ânot possibleâ. Others such as Grinnell, Denison, and Franklin&Marshall have a decent budget for international FA, relatively speaking.
Then you have colleges such as Amherst and Bowdoin, already on your list, where youâd apply test optional and keep your fingers crossed.
Run the NPC to decide where to apply ED (it wonât be exact but itâll tell you if itâs within the ballpark since the number, minus any Pell grant, would be the bare minimum thatâd be expected from your family. If that number is 7.5k, apply ED. If itâs 23k, cross it out ).
Remove Caltech, Vanderbilt, Chicago, etc since your score wonât work there.
You should also register for CampusFrance India and request a DAP ASAP - I just reviewed various programs in English and some are lower cost to begin with, are likely to come with a scholarship, and once admitted you can ask for help with housing costs. Deadline for COMPLETE application is Dec15.
I think all of these count as 1 program
This one is in French but click on âLivret de prĂ©sentation en anglaisâ
Some Hochschule in Germany may have programs fully in English that are tuition-free even for internationals.
Here, tuition is about $3,000/year for internationals
https://www.hslu.ch/en/lucerne-university-of-applied-sciences-and-arts/international/studying-at-hslu/english-taught-degree-programmes/bachelor-programmes-e/#inttitelinformatik
You are so amazing and so helpful!
I think the OP needs to remove more than just the few colleges you listed. You said etc, but I am thinking to remove Brown and Swarthmore too as well as the other highly-rejective colleges.
Youâre right.
Hereâs the original list.
âą Brown (ed) â I think itâs a waste of an ED application but if you truly love it go for it. Iâm not optimistic wrt admissions.
âąAmherst â would be another good ED but unlikely.
âąUmiami â ok, not sure itâs possible due to financial need
âąbowdoin â apply ED and test optional but highly unlikely
Basically for ED pick among the unlikeliest that meet full need and are very affordable. Donât apply for CS but rather for math or data science.
Then keep your fingers crossed but work on all the other applications as mentioned upthread.
These in the group below are all impossible. They only admit a handful of students from India. Knock yourself out applying to 1 or 2 but none of these would result in an admission unless your school is a âfeederâ (in which your rank as #1 would make it possible even if not quite probable). Fortunately there are lots of possibilities outside of those.
Pomona
Duke
Swarthmore
Yale
Rice
Caltech
Columbia
Dartmouth
Northwestern
Princeton
Uchicago
UPenn
Vanderbilt
Harvard
âąCarleton (might choose middlebury instead)
â Middlebury canât afford a high need international. Stick to Carleton if you really like it. Donât forget Grinnell and St Olaf in the Midwest.
âąCornell â only if you can find a major in CAS thatâs of interest. They do have something with Ux/UI.
Are you a girl? Dalit? These might affect the perception of your ECs.
As requested -
I think W&L is a no brainer for the Johnson - even if unlikely.
I always mention Alabama because their merit is the same as domestic.
If the student gets a 1420 on the SAT, then Alabama will give $28K or $30.5K if in the school of engineering.
If you just look at tuition, room, and board - itâs $52K so $28K off is $24K. But thereâs books, travel, health insurance and more. So itâs clearly out of budget.
Another school another poster mentioned and said their friend got a full ride - no idea if true - is U of Southern Mississippi.
They show for last year an international tuition, room and board of $29,410. I donât see any merit for international on the website but you can maybe reach out to them.
U of Central Arkansas charges $24,200 - is there more money (scholarship). I donât know.
Troy U shows $24,462
But you have travel costs and I think the government requires you to have more.
W Carolina sort of shows this - they say this about International - but it looks to be low - but not $12K low:
For our office to create/issue your I-20 form, international undergraduate degree-seeking students are required to demonstrate a minimum of $27,657 USD in proof of funding for your first year of study. This includes $8,630 tuition and fees, $12,354 living expenses, and $6,673 in other personal expenses (health insurance, travel, etc.).
I donât know of one - short of with merit - where one can get $10-12K (as thatâs less than the cost of living, without schools) - OP, US residents have this issue too. Many schools are out of reach affordability wise.
Good luck whatever you do.
No I am neither a girl nor a dalit.
I am confused between Brown, Amherst, and bowdoin.
Cornell is impossible
The brownâs open curriculum seems really fit for me. But the chance of getting into brown is about 0.4% for me. I donât know what to do honestly.
I will retake the SAT in december. Will it affect my chances for any scholarships? if so I will do it in november.
My school is not feeder, let alone properly recognized.
I really thank you for the effort
Oh my, I never taught someone would research this much about my education. Thank you so so much. I am poor to even afford a proper counsellor, your work will significantly switch my career trajectory. I will go through each one of them.
I think if i take the november SAT i might have a chance to get into the scholarships but at the same time I risk not even getting regular action scholarshipss.
I just canât express how grateful I am to you.
Amherst and Bowdoin are need blind for international applicants, but that doesnât mean you have a better chance of acceptance. Last year, 5,347 international students applied to Bowdoin, and they accepted 77 of them. Thatâs a 1.4% acceptance rate.
Brown doesnât give merit scholarships. Brown gives only need based aidâŠto accepted students.
But still I have to get accepted in the first place, Their mean score is way higher than mine is.
Yes I have looked into the stats deep. The male acceptance for International students in brown in Early decision is about 185 out of 49000 (0.4% apx).
But first of all, if I need to qualify for the aid I need to at least a minimum sat score.
When considering male selection, the ratio just halves. so I believe there would be about a 0.7% selection rate and even less considering ED
I should give up on the percentages they are depressing
I have a heart for Brown, It seems too much for me to leave behind.
From the Brown University website:
Are there minimum standardized test requirements or expectations for applicants?
There are no minimum standardized test requirements, and we review all applications thoroughly. While we do receive many applications from students with high test scores, we consider standardized test scores in the context of all the other information we have about a candidate. Test scores are one way to demonstrate academic potential, but applicants also show their preparedness for the rigors of Brown through their curricular choices and grades, academic involvements outside the classroom, the thoughtful writing we see in applications, and the assessments shared by recommenders.
Basic skills are indeed helpful to solve problems. But they are difficult to implement in a large scale unless you have some kind of recognition. Your doctor is able to look at these children because he has enough resources to sustain in himself in many other ways.
the foundational base still lies in the quality of education one gets. Its no use of rescuing a child whose village is burning rather than using a hose to extinguish the fire. The tool here saves many, but requires a longer vision.
Wouldnât they just hide their SAT scores data if that was the case? I think it still has some kind of ideal they have.
Brown acceptance rate is about 0.4% meanwhile amherst is 1.2%, looking at percentages makes me a bit sad. It seems like a gamble.
Both Brown and Amherst have an open curriculum. Theyâre not the same but they are both superlative. So choose one for ED1. Your odds are almost nil - theyâre very low for everyone to start with, but there are many many boys from India who want to study STEM. You increase your odds a tiny bit by indicating youâre interested in math rather than CS: although they donât select by major they do look for distinguishing features in your application and being the 940th âboy from India who wants to study CS at a famous US collegeâ is not going to help.
Apply to the public universities listed upthread with your scores as they are. If you retake in December you can update them with your new scores. However you already qualify for some merit aid there with your score as it is.
Anywhere you can apply EA you must.
Same thing for Honors college since you canât afford to miss any scholarships.
Shortcut: Have a ready-made 200 word essay about whatâs exciting about learning in a small class setting, your favorite book/scientist/idea and how you canât wait to discuss more, then add one specific feature from each honors college.
Remember the âwhy usâ essay isnât a lengthy compliment to the university but the specific ways in which their specific offerings, strengths, professors..match your interests, strengths, experiences.
There are essay reviewers here, look for that part of the website and only send them through DM (DO NOT post then anywhere public).
To which universities did you send your 4 free scores (sent directly from the college board)?
Can you basically dedicate the next 2 weeks to your applications? Do you have a Fall break? Or do you have midterms, big exams, etc?
If you want to come to America, you have to open your mind. As you note, Brown/Bowdoin are highly unlikely. W&L is highly unlikely but they are need blind and have the Johnson which goes to 10% of enrollees - so more odds of money (the Johnson works even if they donât agree with your need). Thatâs another issue - you say you have $10-12K. What if they want $30K?
You need to open that mind if the goal is to come to America. I sent you last night Southern Miss - yes, itâs a regional public - but itâs in America. Based on what they show, you donât get to the $$ - but another student recently posted their friend got a full ride. So schools like that, like Troy which with your stats could be free for a US Student - thatâs where you need to look.
And yet you only responded to posters who provided âhigh rankedâ schools.
You say you want to be in the US - but now are you really saying, I only want to be at elite?
Why?
You canât study CS at non-elite schools?
Your goal is to study in the USâŠor isnât it?? If your goal is to study only at what you perceive as elite institutions, then youâve made it harder for yourself.
Whether these Troy University scholarships apply to International Students - I donât know. But you can reach out and ask them.
The Scholars Award
I can completely dedicate my next 2 weeks for my application Iâll give up my academics, sit in the back of the class and write my essays, if I have the belief that I could at least get into 1 college, not anything major coming up.
I am confused whether I should do the december or november as I fear I might lose any scholarships.
Yes, I believe that I need to have good quality essays to get forward. I donât think public universities will come under my 10-12k efc range right? I heard a lot of people say that to me.
Got it, will keep that in mind about the essay.
I did not send my scores yet, I thought I was supposed to send them after getting accepted.
Thank you so much for your time.
I thought Umiami is generous in giving financial aid, it even gave me an email to apply for aid.
What scholarships are you talking about???