I am a US national who needs full aid (I study in Pakistan) I have only looked at universities that are extreme reaches for me or good reaches. I am trying to find a university that could pay meet my financial aid demand and look like one where I have a great chance of getting in. Also, any safety?
Here’s my bio:
Asian Male, 17
GPA: 3.8 (My school doesn’t operate on the GPA system - Cambridge GCE - but my grades are around this level after consulting with seniors)
ACT: Haven’t given the ACT
SAT: 2230 (M: 780, WR: 750, CR: 700)g
SAT II: Yet to give. Though if it is like my seniors have told me, I should be able to get 2300 atleast.
My school workload is moderately tough compared to others, I’ve packed in all the tough subjects offered but I haven’t taken humanities. (Sciences, Maths, Computer Science). Also, my school is one of the 2-3 most toughest in my country, so our exams are pretty tough.
My intended major is Computer Science.
ECs/Job Experience
-I have worked an internship (150 hours) for an IT related company and they liked me so much that they kept me on to help them out in future ventures (I have already taught kids of their partnership schools, worked with their associate companies and attended trips)a
-I have designed a magazine for online downloading purposes about technology.
-I have freelanced for a few years. Haven’t earned that much though. I have written articles for alot of websites, also a certificate from one of them as they made me a correspondent.
-I might code an Android app and a website. Working on it.
-I have designed almost all the posters for school events.
As you can see, my ECs are too weak and focused on my major. Though I still have time, I guess. 
Awards:
-Have taken part in and won national level science & maths olympiads.
There univesities I am going to apply to (till now):
Massachuttes Institute of Technology
Stanford University
California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Carneige Mellon
UC Berkeley
Vanderbilt University
Harvey Mudd College
University of Macalaster
University of Richmond
Any suggestions to improve this?
Can you claim residency in any state? How much can you afford?
Have you run the net price calculators at each of the schools on your list to get an idea of what their financial aid will look like for you? Of course, evaluation of international income may cause some differences.
Some of the schools do not offer merit scholarships (e.g. MIT, Stanford), so if the need based aid there is not sufficient, they will be unaffordable.
Berkeley will not offer financial aid to cover the non-California-resident additional tuition (about $24,000 per year) unless you get a Regents’ scholarship.
I’d also add UMich and Purdue. Alabama offers full ride scholarships (tuition) + extra money for national merit (did you take PSAT?) and engineering. You will just need to cover living costs. Also look at Kansas, they have a similar program.
If your parents are in the military and you can study under the GI bill, you will receive in-state tuition at most schools too.
Good suggestion from TooOld4School about the GI bill benefits.
I would also recommend that you broaden your list of target schools to include colleges were you will be unique and stand out in the applicant pool, culturally. At the premier colleges currently on your list you will be simply another high stats Asian applicant; essentially run-of- the-mill among thousands of similar (even cookie cutter) kids.
Some liberal arts colleges may suit you educationally and financiallly.
St. Olaf College
Wofford College
Vassar College
Ohio Wesleyan University
STEM colleges…Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Colorado School of Mines, Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, U of South Carolina. All have strong academic reputations.
I am a US national by birth. I haven’t really had any education there, mostly lived abroad. So I am basically an international student whose financial aid application might be looked upon domestically. My ability to pay is low. $3000 a year. Which includes all living expenses. If you guys think I can’t make it to a good uni in America, please tell me that. (I have loads of Pakistani options but even though my dream is abroad - I understand that it is far from a guarantee)
I can’t claim any residency since my entire family hasn’t been to the US for some years. No military or other such stuff as well. PSAT doesn’t exist here. My living expenses could possibly be covered, since I have no work restrictions. But it’s a huge stretch!
Aren’t MIT and Stanford need blind and promise to meet all of your need?
Thanks for the suggestions @LakeWashington! Definitely will look into them.
“but I haven’t taken humanities.”
You havent taken ANY humanities classes? No language? No English? No History? That will be a BIG problem as you will have lots of competition at the colleges you are interested in from students who HAVE taken a wide spectrum of classes, and done well in them. Many of those colleges expect that students have taken a wide range of humanities - given that their HS offers them - as well as STEM prep classes
Take UC Berkeley off the list- they require humanities classes.
Oh. Sorry for phrasing that incorrectly, @menloparkmom.
Here’s our system. We give 3 years of O Levels (9-10th grade probably for Americans) before going to A Levels (2 years), then universities.
In my O Level years, I have taken Urdu, Islamiat, Pakistan Studies and English Language for 3 years (gotten A grades in 3 of them, apart from Urdu). However, all of them were compulsory for me. I haven’t opted for humanities English Literature, World History, Economics as extra subjects in O Levels (I took ICT and Add Maths), or as subjects in A Levels. Students tend to keep 4-5 subjects in A Levels, with the top ones taking 6. I have taken Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Computer Science in A Levels. There’s a fifth called General Paper but it’s just writing on topics and has no real syllabus. It’s half-credit as well.
While my workload is moderately tough compared to a normal guy, it could have been tougher.
Even though MIT and Stanford (and other schools) are need blind and promise to meet need, the School defines what that need is based on your finances. And there is always a student earning component involved. Run the Net Price Calculator for each school and see what that is.
Stanford and other top schools like to see 4 years each of Foreign language, Social studies / History,
Math and Science.
I would recommend Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology as a safety.
^ RHIT is by no means a safety for someone who can only pay $3k/year.
That $3k figure could potentially rise with PELL and other grants perhaps. I’m not sure though I’ll get much. It’s not like I have paid the US any taxes or anything.
@menloparkmom, I don’t know if that would be a problem since alot of top students in my school don’t have those and get into Ivies each year (not boasting or anything). Having so many humanities is generally an alien concept in A Levels - the really ambitious people here have 6-7 subjects.
Anyway, from the suggestions above, I crossed off RHIT and all public universities due to a lack of aid. I probably won’t apply to WPI for the same reasons as well. RPI looks appealing though. So do the 4 LACs (though Vassar might be a little reachy :/)
I am probably not going to take any safeties. My safety net is probably going to be admission in local (Pakistan) universities (which isn’t bad!).