There are approximately 24 million 18 year olds in India! That is about the same number as there are students enrolled in college in the US. There are roughly 4 million 18 year olds in the USA. As is probably true for India, the educational system in the US is primarily designed to educate US residents. You can see how an influx of students from India who can’t afford the university and who have not paid state or federal taxes in the US could overrun the system right?
Why not take the JEE and go to a more prestigious, world renown college in India?
I’m not sure if you have the qualifications, but if you can go to an IIT or a BITS Pilani in India, then you could be set for life. I know they’re harder to get into than elite colleges here, but they are on the same level as MIT/CalTech and the best engineering/STEM schools in the US. I’m sure you know, but they are regularly recruited by many industries, have a very popular name on Wall Street, produced CEOs and Presidents of Microsoft, Dell, CitiGroup, Vodafone, McKinsey, Deutsche Bank, and more.
Did you look at either of these lists?
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/
Some are open to international applicants. Check each link for details. You have missed some of the cut-offs, so if you are interested, you could take a gap year and apply for Fall 2017. That would also give you time to improve your SAT.
SuzyQ7, I dont think you realize how insensitive your comment is. You can’t blame a “mediocre” student (or whatever you want to call it) for wanting to look for a better education. I don’t think you understand how much less opportunities we have, especially those who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds or third world countries. Many colleges are actually interested in adding diversity to their communities. Don’t discourage international students from at least trying to get a decent education.
No one is discouraging “international students from at least trying to get a decent education”. It’s just that Americans don’t owe every international student who wants it an expensive education in the US.
GMTplus7, She literally said that he wasn’t going to get in if he wasnt able to pay or was a stellar student. I would call that a discouragement. And private colleges (like colorado college) dont use federal funds to pay for international scholarships. So no, it’s not americans (and their taxes) that are paying for it, it’s the college. I never said americans owe internationals anything, just be less insensitive and try to understand where we are coming from.
Endowments are funded 1/3+ by tax deductions/taxpayers. It’s a fact. The principal was deducted by the donor. The earnings are not taxed to the endowments.
No one said they won’t get in. They are saying unless you have the stats for one of the few meets full international need schools, you will not get enough aid if you are not full pay. And for some schools, unless you can show full pay $, you won’t get in.
For whatever reason, this does not seem to be widely known overseas. Too many rumors of going to college free if you are “poor” out there. Not just international kids are disappointed when it only turns out to be true for the elite students. Plenty of low SES US kids are disappointed by their FA ending up being the Pell and a loan, not even enough for tuition in some places. The facts are what they are.
Let’s leave mediocre out if it. OPs stats are hardly that. Even great students who can’t get into the meets full need schools are out of luck here, international or not!
OP, if it does not harm your chances in your country for college, I would take a gap year, try for a better SAT and then try for a US Uni that gives automatic full tuition. Your $11000/year plus summer work could cover room and board at many of them.
I don’t think anyone is trying to discourage anyone from getting an education.
The problem comes when that attempt to get an education brings with it the assumption that a US education will be free, or almost free, to students from abroad.
Money is limited. And, for a good part of the money that is available, US kids get the majority for US colleges. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that that’s how it works in other countries as well: you take care of your own first.
The kids I teach, as well as my own kids and the neighboring kids, are beating the bushes looking for scholarship money. They, too, deserve a good education at a cost that won’t have them in debt until they’re 40. And every dollar that goes to a kid who isn’t a US citizen is one dollar less for a kid who is.
Your budget is simply too low; it’s just not feasible to study in the USA with those finances unless maybe if you get into an elite University.
Unfortunately, @GabyGG, this isn’t a discouragement but is actually a true statement.
@suzyQ7 is just telling you a truth that appears to be unacceptable to students from outside the US. If you have neither the “elite status grades” nor stats and can’t pay full fees, then, being accepted by US schools is extremely rare. It’s not meant as a discouraging statement, it’s meant to make you aware that money does not grow on trees, and for some reason, international students refuse to believe that the US can’t fund every student who wants to become educated. (This includes thousands of US students who can’t afford to go to college either).
And, all of the private schools that I know of receive federal and state monies, in one for or another, from US taxpayers. We pay taxes on everything and to everyone. Those buildings and supplies come from government grants as well as students who are funded by government scholarships to pay their fees.
So you are saying that there is no where else in the world that provides a decent education? Or, is it that there is no where else in the world that will fund non-citizens?
You should consider schools in your home country. There are some fine universities in India. With your academic stats and financial needs, you have to recognize that you did not apply to any safety schools. You did not research the difficulties of getting aid as an international thoroughly enough before applying to US colleges. To put it bluntly, it is not up to US colleges and universities to fund every international students’ education.
You also need to recognize that there are tons of Americans who do not get to attend the college of their choice due to finances. Many choose to start at two year local colleges to save money, many don’t go to the most prestigious school they are accepted into in order to take advantage of a scholarship elsewhere, and many attend public colleges to save money.
@aksrocks111: you made a good college list and you have good credentials with exceptional ECs. (Your grades are very good in the Indian system, even if they’re mediocre on the American scale.)
There’s no “safe” school for international students who need a lot of financial aid, except for automatic scholarship colleges. Competitive-for-stats scholarships can also be relied upon since they’re pretty easy to guess from year to year.
But the fact remains that outside of these “automatic” scholarships, admission to American colleges is need-aware - even for Americans, but even more so for internationals since cost of living and wages are so much higher in the US (for instance, there are countries where a middle class man would ear $250 in a month - I know that’s not the situation in India, but the average salary is about $500 to $1,000 a month, which means in India your parents are upper middle class whereas in the US you’re considered poor, something that’s a shock, too, for internationals).
It’s not that you’re not good enough for Wooster or OWU. It’s that there’s a limited budget and it needs to be allocated with parcimony. Perhaps Wooster or OWU will fund 3 international students with a full tuition scholarship, and one with a full ride. There may be several hundreds applicants, all deserving. They choose based on what will be best for them - these 4 students better bring something no one else can.
This year, it wasn’t you, but it could be you next year, especially if you have some more money thanks to working.
In addition, you need to demonstrate “interest” by communicating with the admission’s office regularly over a year.
Finally, have someone review your application - read your essay, check your recommendations to see whether they follow the expected format.
The suggestion to take a gap year is a good one. You’re very close to a full tuition scholarship at many universities and even close to a full ride at some. Look into Miami-Ohio, Temple, UMW, Truman State, Ole Miss, Grand Valley State, South Dakota School of Mines. Apply early and to the Honors College as well as the scholarships themselves.
Look at Canada: Waterloo’s deadline hasn’t passed, I think, and they have good scholarships. But if it’s past, then apply early next year for Fall 2017. Check out Canadian universities in general and apply early for their scholarships (there are very few of them).
You can also apply to European universities that are “free tuition”, such as Germany or France - you’ll need to do a year of language training first, though.
But, considering your profile, you should wait till all your results are in, and if they’re not positive, then take a gap year to try again. MANY (if not most) successful internationals who need a lot of financial aid had to adopt this strategy. Look for @evelynne1996 who was in your exact situation a year ago and send her a PM.
Unfortunately, @GabyGG, this isn’t a discouragement but is actually a true statement.
This may be a true statement for the top schools in the US, but it is certainly not true for many other colleges. So again, you are being discouraging. I actually have many friends and cousins who are pretty good students (not stellar) and are studying in the US with full rides or half tuition.
And no, i’m not saying that the US is the only country with a decent education or the only that funds international students. I live in a country were I can choose from only 5 colleges and 6 majors. The US opens international students to a whole new world of possibilities. Can you blame me for wanting something better? And i’m not saying in anyway americans “owe” us an education or anything like that, or that getting scholarships are easy. I just wanted people like Suzy to be a little more sensitive and less “US colleges are not here to subsidize mediocre internationals so go tell your friends.”
^^^
What would probably be more encouraging, then, is to post the names of the colleges attended by those “many friends and cousins” who are studying with full rides or half tuition.
Check out : Pace University, Rochester Institute of Technology, Jacksonville University, Hult (San francisco), Manhattanville College, Bentley, The New School. If I remember any others, ill post them.
Temple, Miami, Oh, Alabama…
This OP has a tough list though if they only have $11000 (presume per year). With a goid list, it can definitely be done.
@MYOS1634 Finally something useful, thank you! 
So, I got into the University of Texas at Arlington and I am wait listed at Trinity University (but considering the fact that I’m wait listed, I don’t expect to get a decent scholarship). I am waiting for scholarship decision from UT Arlington, expect to get it mid-march. Now, I looked into Temple University and it looks great, however, I need 1420+ in CR+M in SAT. I have only 1370. Should I still apply? Regarding gap year and all, will see later, let’s just focus on what can be done now.
Also, the maximum my family can contribute is $4000/year.
Trinity doesn’t even have a physics degree offered. Why would you go there? UT Arlington isn’t the main school for University of Texas, I hope you know that. Your chances of being adequately educated to be accepted into a prestigious Masters program from that school will be sketchy. It accepts 64% of applicants for a reason. I’m not sure why your dream is to come to the US and attend a middle level Bachelors of Science school. You do realize, that IIT graduates, and graduates of India’s other prestigious science schools will be a part of your competition in a masters program? That doesn’t even take into consideration your competition from China. I had a girl work for me who got her PHD from Berkeley in Robotics just to gain access into the US. She had no interest in Robotics, but it needed female scientists, so she just did it. She is now in software engineering. Many people have tried to dissuade you from the path you are choosing. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
Does the $4k include travel expenses and health insurance? I think the suggested budget for them is ~$8k for international students.