<p>Yes, I know financial aid exists.
I forgot to add that my parents happen to be too rich for financial aid, but also too poor to help me anymore than they already have.</p>
<p>It’s called merit aid. You’re obviously smart or else you wouldn’t be on CC.</p>
<p>The schools which I’m hoping on getting into probably don’t offer merit aid to, well, anyone, really.</p>
<p>Then maybe you should rethink your school choices.</p>
<p>I see.
I suppose I shouldn’t bother applying to any prestigious schools, in that case.
I’m honestly just hoping for someone to tell me that I still have hopes for my dream school, but I guess not.</p>
<p>I get the impression that many of you think that the things I’m asking about are mindnumbingly obvious.
I’m sorry that seem to be annoying you so greatly. I honestly don’t know about many of these things since I’m pretty new to all of this. </p>
<p>I have been told that this forum is pretty abrasive and unwelcoming, so I suppose that’s what I should expect.</p>
<p>@Sub: Don’t take it to heart; you’re fine. We’ve all been newbies. (I still am one, actually, when it comes to financial aid and price tags… a bit scared to venture into those realms.)</p>
<p>Sorry Sub, wasn’t personal, I’m just generally like that.</p>
<p>Where are you applying? Maybe we could find some less selective schools where you would be top dog.</p>
<p>At Yale, for example, those with parents making under 65K a year pay nothing (they just have to work like 10 hours a week on campus). If your parents make less than 200,000, then you still qualify for aid, and you may be expected to only contribute somewhere between 5%-20% of their income. 70K families would have to pay 14K. 190K families would have to pay 38K. To recap, families who make less than 100,000 a year may end up paying less for the Ivies than for public state schools.</p>
<p>Sub, if $ is going to be an issue, look into Alabama. I don’t know what your test scores are, but a 32 ACT/whatever the SAT equivalent is plus a 3.5 GPA will give you a full tuition scholarship, leaving only room & board. Obviously it’s no Harvard, but it’s still a quality school, especially for the price if you get a scholarship. </p>
<p>Also there are tons of schools that give full tuition scholarships if you’re NMF.</p>
<p>^that for internationals too? How good is Alabama… not Ivy but still one of the best or average?</p>
<p>^I don’t know if it’s for internationals or not. I have no reason to believe it’s not, but I can’t be certain. No, it’s not one of the best in prestige. It’s average for flagship state schools and has a pretty average rank, but its honors program can compete with the top publics. Prestige doesn’t mean that much anyway when you’re comparing two people who went to big time schools. When you’re looking for a job or applying to grad schools, what YOU do is more important than what school you went to for most things. Like I want to go into chemE, and for the most part the degree and your performance matters more in engineering than what school you went to.</p>
<p>yeah I know that…
But I guess my question was is it good enough to leave home sweet home for… like any international significance and stuff…
But that’s sorta the point… Even in my homeland I can get good education… I probably will end up there…
All this is just to keep all possible doors open…
thanks anyway. :D</p>
<p>^Well I just pulled up the rankings, and they’re 77th overall in the US and 32nd in publics. Not sure about world rankings. Academically it’s probably not worth leaving for in most cases, but if you do want to come to the US, it would be a good option for you financially speaking. Not to mention it has a great campus environment and a lot of school spirit, although I remember you saying you weren’t into sports so much, and Bama is very much into sports.</p>
<p>Ok thanks a million @000Chet 
I take it you are going there then?</p>
<p>No, not necessarily. I’m applying there, but it’s not official or anything. Everything depends on the scholarships I get from other universities. Bama is unique in giving elite automatic scholarships. Other schools I’m applying to, like Illinois and Minnesota, are better schools, especially in engineering, but also more expensive, so I’ll need scholarships to make it affordable. So it’s all up in the air right now.</p>
<p>Just went on my first college visit today. Wasn’t as exciting as I thought it would be.</p>
<p>Where did you go? How was the campus?</p>
<p>I asked a teacher for a college rec today! She said she would be happy too :D</p>
<p>^Jeez, isn’t it a bit early for that?</p>
<p>I went to Rice. It was pretty, and I liked the residential college system. I actually don’t have anything to say that’s objectively bad about it. I guess it didn’t click for me. Weird part is that I can still see myself there.</p>
<p>I already asked my English teacher for a recommendation as well.
I know I need a secondary but I’m not sure who to ask…</p>