Hello, I am from Egypt and I want to study in America. I am having difficulty applying because of the Common Application because I am an international student, so I need your help.
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Can you explain what difficulty you’re facing? The Common App isn’t open yet.
Or did you mean you just need guidance on how (or where) to apply? If so, please tell us your budget and field of interest.
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Hello! I am a rising sophomore at the University of Southern California with a Trustee (full tuition scholarship). I applied to US colleges as an international student from the UK. What would you like help with? I would be happy to chat 
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I want to study artificial intelligence engineering for a bachelor’s degree, and I am looking for universities that can give me a conditional admission accompanied by studying the English language, because my English is not good. Also, if I get conditional acceptance, I can apply for a student loan from America and ask the university to be a guarantor for me and transfer the money directly to the university and pay me my flight tickets as well, but I did not understand the Common App application. I don’t know, but this is the only way for me to achieve my dream and study in America. I only found the loan matter, so I need your help in applying.
–English proficiency is a requirement for gaining entrance to a US university. All classes, assignments, and exams will be in English.
–Financing for 4 years must secured prior to getting a visa to study in the US. It is a challenge for international students to get financial aid to study in the US.
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I learned that some universities teach the language before starting the specialty study
I suggest you consider colleges in your home country where the language will not be an issue.
I think you may be underestimating the challenge of an international student gaining entrance to a US college with significant financial aid. What are your academic stats and academic/extracurricular accomplishments? What can your family afford each year?
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I posted my problem to find people who could guide me to a solution and help me, not to destroy my dream
Best to be realistic.
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Very good, but I do not know if I searched or not, but many private universities in America give conditional admission accompanied by studying the English language at the university or one of its affiliated institutes.
I agree that your dream is a huge stretch, and sorry about that. From your questions I think you need to find universities that 1.) Meet full financial need for international students and 2.) Will teach you English before you matriculate.
So for #1 - Others have posted info on this before and I’m definitely not an expert, but here is a link that purports to list universities that meet full need for international students. I believe Brown will also do this starting next year.
For your second issue of learning English, I really don’t know anything about that and have not heard of it before. But since the list of universities that meet full need for international students is short, maybe it at least gives you a place to start researching the question about whether they would conditionally accept someone who has not mastered English.
Best of luck to you.
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Thank you for supporting me
According to Google (ha!) this is a list of universities that offer conditional acceptance for international students who need to learn English. I have carefully not cross referenced the list of “meets full need for international” but after a quick read of it I don’t immediately see any crossover of the two lists. Hope I’m wrong. Again, good luck.
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I think the chance of finding a college that will offer conditional admission AND provide significant financial aid for an international student will be very small (if any do exist). I don’t think any of the schools on your list above provide full financial aid to international students.
You have yet to share your academic and extracurricular accomplishments or what your family can afford to contribute annually.
I wish you luck but suggest doing additional research and developing a backup educational plan in your home country.
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Thank you
In the US, the programs for students who are admitted to a transition year where they improve their English are cash cows, ie., money makers. As a result, you cannot get a loan for them, they’re for students whose parents can afford to be full pay.
These programs exist in the UK (International Foundation Years) and allow you to get a degree in 4 years; Scottish universities (where regumar degrees are 4 years) have a similar system but you graduate in 4 years like everyone else, not 5. However there is no financial aid, or small scholarships, depending on where you apply.
In the US, you need to learn English before you even try to apply. You need a score of 100-120 on duolingo (or equivalent IELTS or TOEFL) by October of a year you apply, ie., almost a year before you start. You must prep on your own and there’s no financial aid for the test. Duolingo is the least expensive but sirll not insignificantly costly so you need to prepare very well before you take it to ensure you score high enough right away.
Basically, you watch TV series in English with English subtitles then you remive the subtitles, you write every day, you read books in English, and you use practice test books for the test you’re preparing for.
That’s just one part - as you noticed, the commonapp is very complicated and you need 2 years to prepare (write an essay then rewrite and edit; write your “brag sheet”, select your recommending teachers; have extracurricular achievements; etc.)
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@Assg, no one is trying to destroy your dreams (as you stated above). There are well meaning people here giving you realistic answers.
No, you cannot. Sorry.
The federal government will not provide you (a non-citizen) a loan, and the university will certainly not guarantee any outside loans.
You will also find it extremely hard to get a private loan because you are a non citizen and they face the risk of you going back to your home country without paying back the loan.
So you really have only two options:
- get full financial aid from a university that accepts you and provides extremely generous aid to foreign students. But getting this is hard and you would have to be among the top students in your country.
- get a full merit scholarship from a university that provides these to foreign students based on their academic achievements.
You haven’t told us your GPA, SAT scores, extracurricular activities, awards, etc. If you provide us more information about yourself, it will help us guide you better.
Finally, even if you do get accepted here with full financial aid or scholarship, you should keep in mind that you may have to return to your home country after graduation.
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I’m not sure where you got this information. But I don’t believe it’s accurate…at all.
You will be likely required to submit a TOEFL score that shows you have sufficient English language literacy to be able to study at a U.S. college…which all teach in English. This is a very important part of your college applications.
The list above of colleges that provide that conditional acceptance …keep in mind that you will likely be receiving a bill for the full cost to attend.
Re: loans, you will not be able to get a college to be the guarantor for your college loans. And you won’t be eligible for any loans from the federal government here either. It’s highly unlikely you will be able to secure any sort of college loan in the United States without a U.S. citizen who resides IN the U.S. as your cosigner.
You have tagged syracuse and NYU…and neither offers these conditional acceptances.
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Yes, but the cost will be the full cost of attendance.
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