Help international who needs financial aid find reasonable/slight reaches for business/finance

Hello. As the title implies, I am an East Asian male who is looking to apply in the US for business/finance. I know that I need financial aid or scholarships to afford tuition. Our family is able to pay 2/30K$. The problem is, I feel like I am aiming too high for universities. I would love to have suggestions from people to point me to slight reaches/targets/safeties that provide good financial support. I have no preferences that make/break a college off the list, but if i had to choose, a school that is on the colder and smaller side is welcome:) This is quite long, and there is a summary at the end!

Stats:
UW GPA: 3.97(I had 3 A-s in the first semester of freshman year, the rest are As).
W GPA: 4.4

APs: 5(Calculus BC, Micro & Macro Economics, World History, Capstone Seminar); 4(Chemistry);3(Capstone Research)

Superscore SAT 1550, looking to reach 1570/1580

Extracurriculars:

  • 4 internships(2-3 years at local law firm, 60 hours in Private equity fund under one of the biggest financial institutions in the region), 3week internship at import & distribution company, 2 months online for a Singaporian Venture Capital
  • 2 sub head positions in school club
  • 1 year member of student disciplinary committee before it was reformed and placed under another section
  • 2 years as a dorm “proctor”, for a lack of a better word.
  • Competed in two entrepreneurship contests
  • Tutored English for Refugees for 2~3Hours per week, (2 semesters)
  • One-time Panel Member for venture capital
  • Virtual traded international stocks for 2 years, and traded in domestic stocks (~1.5K$)

Awards/other

  • Won school math competition (algebra2, precalculus individual, calculus team, 2nd place for Calculus, unable to prove it)
  • CEMC top 25 % distinction for Cayley & Fermat, school champion for Cayley
  • Study stocks
  • Exercise (running, basketball) for fun
  • make plastic models

Current List(that I feel is too reaching) :

  • Amherst College
  • Bowdoin College
  • Cornell University
  • Dartmouth College
  • Emory University
  • Saint Louis University
  • Stevens Institute of Technology
  • Texas Tech University
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Pennsylvania

Summary: International Male East Asian looking for financial support, major in business/finance. No preferences. Thank you in advance!

A number of the colleges you listed do not offer business/finance majors.

Many schools on you list will be a reach for every applicant (with acceptance rates under 10%) – and even moreso for an international from an over-represented area requiring financial aid.

Put in some applications, give it your all, and see what happens. I’d also seek out affordable options in your home country.

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oh, really? Apologies, but could you please list the ones not offering the majors? It seems like I did my research wrong…
Otherwise, yes I understand the chances are slim, and I believe I will most likely go to my home country’s university. Thank you for the advice!

Hundreds of universities offer undergraduate business degrees.

—You can look at the website of every college on your list and see what majors are offered. FWIW an economics major in a liberal arts program is a different path as compared to getting a business/finance degree – both are fine but they are different. You can look up the requirements for both degrees at some colleges and see if one path is preferable.

–You can google lists of undergrad business programs.

I wish you the best applying to US colleges. Also glad you have backup options in your home country.

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In addition to your list not having business/finance, you’re also asking for support. How much support?

btw - those schools will have people who end up in certain types of financial roles - but they won’t study as a finance major s undergrads.

Your current list isn’t too reachy because you have SLU, Stevens and Texas Tech…but whether you can afford them is another thing.

Not sure how you define small and cold - but Texas Tech is neither small nor cold.

Sounds to me and again, I don’t know your monetary situation, but Babson and Bentley might be two to look at.

Please don’t just say I need aid - but say what your budget per year is.

Thanks

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I have attached 2 links here for charts put together by two highly reputable college consultants. There are no fees to access this information and all they ask is that it is not repurposed without giving them credit for their hours and hours of very detailed work. One of the charts will show you merit/fa by school for international applicants and the other chart will show you international non-citizens acceptance rate and yield.

These charts are used by high school counselors and families - in my opinion the best free resource out there and saves hours of work and input from less experienced people.

If you are uncomfortable clicking on a link or if links are not allowed - you can google BigJeducationalconsulting and look under the resource tab.

Look at these lists to get an idea of price and then you can go from there to research the school that meet your budget to see if they offer your major and meet other criteria for you.

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The schools you listed are very competitive for admissions and mostly only give need based FA. We can’t tell you if you/your family would qualify for that FA because we don’t know your family situation as far as income, assets, etc.

There are a lot of schools that give merit aid and you can figure out what you would receive by plugging in your stats on their websites. Some are in hot places by most have air con! look at Arizona, Arizona State, Alabama, some of the Florida schools, Montana, Montana State.

I guess it depends on if you want to go to school in the US without going to one of the elite schools you have listed. If so, there are plenty of schools offering business degrees and merit aid

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Can you explain what you mean by this? Is it that there are two siblings and your family can pay $15k/year for each sibling? Or is it that your family can pay for two years of education if each year is $30k? Or…? Knowing what your family can pay will allow us to find schools that are likely to meet your degree of need and/or to provide enough merit aid for a strong student like you to meet the budget.

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Doing what exactly? And where do you intend to work when you graduate from undergrad school?

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Thank you!

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I guess I should have rephrased it to be clearer. There is no preference is the better way to say it. Apologies for that. I mentioned budget in the post, roughly 20~30K$.
Thank you:)

thank you for the help!

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cheers, and thanks!

So, our family’s salary is a bit dependent on where we work & live. If we live abroad( as we are for now), we earn roughly 80K$(the higher end, then it falls and switches back to the domestic currency, and the exchange rates are not the best right now)I talked to my parents, and they told me that they could pay 20k$, 30k$ if we are really pushing it, for the 4 academic years. I have one sibling going to university 5 years after me, so, realistically I personally wish to think around the 20k range.
Thanks!

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To get a bachelors. I think what/where I would work would depend on when I go to my mandatory military service. For now, the road seems to be finish undergraduate(with my service), work a few years in the US, and then pursue an MBA. Though that is very likely to change, and I have many roads to take:) Cheers!

I would suggest you look at some of the options suggested by @tsbna44.

The colleges will determine your need based aid award based on family income and assets. You would need at least a half tuition to full tuition award of some kind to get to this price point.

St. Louis University-
This school doesn’t give need based aid to international students. Undergraduate students are automatically considered for merit scholarships with their application for admission. SLU is test-optional for admission and scholarships. Grants: International students are not eligible for need-based aid including grants . So you would need merit aid only to bring the cost down to your price point. Cost of attendance is about $71,000 a year.

Texas Tech-

Texas Tech does not guarantee to meet full need for accepted students. Cost to attend now is about $41,000 a year, and that doesn’t include health insurance or travel.

Steven’s Institute of Technology…limited means just that…-

Although international students are not eligible for federal funding from the U.S. Department of Education, Stevens awards a limited number of merit scholarships to international students . Alternative financing options exist to help you pay for your education over time.

Stevens cost of attendance is almost over $75,000 a year.

Again I ask…what area of business or finance are you interested in. Some would be challenging to get a job here as someone who isn’t a citizen or permanent resident here. @Catcherinthetoast

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Not cold, not small - but U of Alabama will give you at least $28K off.

Required funding is $53,796 - so that’s a safe,home run in general for you with the $28K off - which is automatic based on your SAT/GPA. It’s the same as for US students (the merit).

Here’s a sourced link below - you might look at the Dakotas and Western Carolina - as others. These are not “big” names - but doesn’t mean they can’t be solid options for a good education.

Here’s others to look at - many solid names. The question will be what kind of merit aid can you get at some (like Nebraska) to get to your budget.

Well I gave you one sure thing…that’s a well known name (but not an elite name) but very respected. After that, it depends - lots of research to find schools to hit your budget. Mississippi State shows a $48K cost for international and merit to get you where you need to be - so similar to Alabama (and an hour away) it might also work for you…it has a strong regional reputation and is up and coming nationally. Very good school.

The Cheapest U.S. Colleges for International Students (appily.com)

15 More Affordable Schools for International Students | Best Colleges | U.S. News (usnews.com)

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IB or PE… Not really sure though. Simply put, I am focused on the field itself, but not sure of which road to take. Hope that makes sense.

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