- Needs financial aid/scholarships
- International student
- Psychology/Neurobiology
- 3.7 unweighed GPA
- Awards: Was chosen for a 2% acceptance rate exchange program/Was hosted in Wisconsin/Graduated with high honors
- Extracurriculars: Swimming, Volunteering, Art club, Drama club, Band, Choir
- First generation college student/Asian/Female/Parents earn less than 20k
- 1.University of Wisconsin-Madison
2.Carthage College
3.Marian University-Wisconsin
4.Marquette University
5.Reed College
6.University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
7.University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
8.University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
9.Lakeland University
Which of these schools offers a full ride to international students ? Wisconsin may give scholarships but no aid.
Others may see things differently but I dont see any on this list as possible.
I think Reed is your best hope. They meet need but are need sensitive. If they determine you need too much they will reject you for that reason.
I’m very sorry but that’s how I see it.
Hopefully you have a local option or in other countries and you might expand your list to hit those need blind schools for intl that meet need.
Amherst
Bowdoin
Brown
Dartmouth
Georgetown
Harvard
MIT
Notre Dame
Princeton
Yale
Good luck.
Is that 3.7 at the US HS and if so what courses did you take?
Or is it a conversion from your Mongolian HS GPA?
Are you a rising senior or did you graduate high school in Mongolia?
Did you take the SAT while in Wisconsin? If not, is taking it in August or this Fall feasible (and you’d need to “prep” for it)?
The issue is that you need a full ride scholarship and it’s quite likely none of the colleges on your list offer one.
Lakeland and Marian definitely don’t so unless you have contacts there from your host family or Wisconsin high school, cross them out.
Do you think your host family would accept to host you in exchange for a small rent and work around the house (gardening, cooking, babysitting) and is a college nearby you could commute to? This would mean a full tuition scholarship rather than a full ride and that is less uncommon.
You need to broaden your search: include half from Lawrence, Lake Forest, Beloit, Knox, Macalester, Carleton, Grinnell, Northwestern, UChicago, Oberlin, Denison, Kenyon.
Perhaps add Mount Holyoke, Smith, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr. Add UWisconsin Madison, Marquette, and any UW campus that offers merit aid and would be commutable if your WI host family or your friends’ parents could host you in exchange for housework+nominal rent.
Lakeland does offer one, I met a former student that got a full ride. And I don’t have a Sat score, should I take it??
I am a rising senior, My GPA is from my Mongolian HS. I did try to screen all these colleges and check if they offered full rides, and it seemed like they all did. What makes you think they don’t?
Thanks for responding!
I’m not sure any of these will be affordable. Just because one student got a full ride, doesn’t mean you will. Full rides are not guaranteed at any of these colleges. Almost every college gives some full rides…but many many many students do not get them.
Yes, you should take the SAT…if possible. Otherwise you have to apply test optional and some of the colleges that DO guarantee to meet full need require submission of the SAT or ACT. But they are ALL reaches…all of them.
Any colleges in your home country??
From Marquette University website:
Marquette university is not able to award need-based scholarships. Merit scholarships cannot cover all costs. The largest merit scholarship still requires recipients (and their families) to cover the costs of room, board, fees, books, etc. Applicants are encouraged to review the list of comprehensive costs so they and their family can determine their budget for studies at Marquette.
And this from University of Wisconsin:
Please note that International students studying on an F-1 or J-1 student visa in the U.S. do not qualify for U.S. federal financial aid or Wisconsin state financial aid programs. Most international students are self-funded, receive assistance from family or community members, and/or seek out external scholarships. For more information regarding funding, including current tuition costs and estimated living expenses, please visit the International Student Services (ISS) Becoming a Global Badger page and Funding Your Education page.
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Lakeland is a 2-year college that does offer full tuition scholarships to students who graduated in the top 10 (15??) of their Lakeland district HS AND score well on the ACT/SAT.
It does not include room, board, health insurance, fees, (aka, not a full ride) but if you ranked top 10-15, got the required test score, and could commute from somewhere with only nominal rent, it’d be possible for you to attend. The issue is that after 2 years where would you go? Transfers, even resident ones, get less aid than freshmen admits. Internationals often don’t qualify for any.
UWisconsin campuses do offer full rides to Wisconsin residents because their mission is to offer a topnotch education (world class quality at Madison) to Wisconsin residents, with an exchange agreement with Minnesota for Minnesota residents (and vice versa). However that doesn’t extend to internationals.
It’s likely your Mongolian GPA isn’t 3.7, especially if you were admitted to a program that selects the top 2% applicants in your country. 3.7 isn’t bad but it’s slightly below “most competitive” in the US. So my guess is that the ou have the Mongolian equivalent of a 4.0 with maximum rigor.
What classes did you take at your Wisconsin HS?
The colleges I listed offer need-based full rides to a handful of students. They can do so because they have a very high endowment per student.
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I mean, I can cover extra costs if i dont have to pay for tuition. Is there any way i could make my application better??
Assuming you’re a top student in an academically rigorous secondary school, your academic profile would meet the bar. Only a strong SAT score could improve on that.
Holistic admissions mean that once you’ve met the high academic “bar”, they look at your ECs to see what positive impact you could have on their college community or if you would be part of an institutional priority or need (national-level athletics, music..)
Have you won something (prize, medal, competition…) or made an impact on your community (/school, town, religious group, girls..) through your ECs?
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I believe this would not be legal work on a student visa. Payment in kind (accommodation) is still payment. Student visas limit work to 20 hours a week of on-campus work.
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I saw this as “helping out”, like, being grateful/kind, since the rent would have to be nominal.
Yes actual work is limited to on campus and 20h/week during school term (CPT during breaks can be full time but is deducted from OPT on a prorata).
They would let me live with them for free ! I am worried about commuting to class though
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Is there a college you could commute to beside Lakeland?
Lakeland is the closest. I have spoken with their representatives/they came to my hs if thats a good sign?
No, Lakeland admits everyone, so talking with them is cool but doesn’t help. The key here is whether you graduated with a top 10-15 rank at your WI HS AND can reach the score they want for a full tuition scholarship.
That’s the first hurdle.
The second hurdle is that you WOULD have to transfer after 2 years and you wouldn’t qualify for any scholarships then (because international transfers don’t.)
It’s far better for you to get into a 4-year college where either you get a need based full ride (“meet need for international”) or you can qualify for full tuition scholarships&commute.
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We might not be looking at the same Lakeland because the one im applying to is a 4 year institute; Im going for a specific scholarship that is not merit based.
“This full-tuition scholarship is open to new, full-time freshmen with high financial need. Preference will be given to students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Renewable.”
Did this international student from Mongolia go to a WI High School?
From the OP:
I am a rising senior, My GPA is from my Mongolian HS.
@EvelynEnkh which Lakeland College are your talking about? There are at least three.
Yes! i spent a year in wisconsin. Im talking about lakeland university around sheboygan.
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Okay, the UCC University… Of course! 
The Lakeland College I know is south of Urbana Champaign.
An advantage of Lakeland University is that it offers co-ops and co-ops aren’t deducted from OPT.
Full tuition scholarships at colleges that don’t meet need are always predicated on merit (even if they have a need component) but since, as per College data, Lakeland University is open admission and the 25-75 ACT is 16-22, you should have no trouble winning a merit scholarship there. The issue will be whether it’s open to students on a visa and whether your graduating from a local HS can qualify you for something.
Have you talked with your host family and would they be willing to host you again? That’s something you need to be sure of.
What colleges are commutable from where they live?
Beside the colleges I listed, you could apply to Berea (it’s a topnotch college dedicated to smart students from families that make under 65-75k a year). They admit one student per country at most but I doubt they have many applicants from Mongolia.
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