French Student/Bilingual

Pennylane2011
Fri, 13 Jun 2014 13:43:17 +0000

I don’t know enough about how your grades correspond to Ivy league and without scores that is hard to say.
As I recall, the colleges in France would cost little for you as a French citizen? This is something to keep in mind as paying full cost for a private college in the US could be about $250K over four years.

Not being a US citizen would make you not eligible for federal aid, and your family’s income would make you ineligible for it anyway. To be eligible for much aid in this country, one would have significant need. The top schools are good with awarding need based aid, but in general do not award merit- since all of their students are highly qualified.

Some lower ranked colleges award merit aid to top students. You might be eligible for some of this. However, you also would need to compare these colleges to what you have in France. Some are still quite good. American University is one of them. Merit aid at many colleges is competitive, and you don’t know if you get it until you apply.

I think now is a good time to discuss the costs with your parents. A great website ( we have to spell it out here on CC as it won’t post ) is Collegeboard dot org. This is the one you use to sign up for SAT, but you can also put in a college name and get the costs as well as other info. Show your parents what these schools will cost, and ask them if they are willing to pay it.

Your situation is not unusual. There are many families who make an income that is above the level that would qualify for aid, yet find the full cost of private college to be too much a stretch for their family. Such students often look at their in state colleges, and also colleges that are likely to award them some merit aid. Some of these colleges are quite good ( and some are very competitive): Tulane, University of Miami, Washington U, Vanderbilt, Emory, U Michigan ( and other state colleges) and more. Your eligibility also depends on your test scores which your don’t have yet. Since many schools like a more diverse student body, your being from France might be a plus in admissions.

It’s a lot more confusing here than in France, because the US is much larger, and education isn’t as standardized and centralized as it is in France. There, students are streamed into which bac to take at an earlier age, and while it is competitive, the competition is at different times. I assume if you pass your bac, you are in college, but here, the entry into college is a big first competitive step.