Hello,
I’m a student from Brazil (I’m in senior year of high school) and while on my researches about financial aid I have found that I have found that many scholarships are given to students because of merit, however, I’m not sure how merit would work in Brazil considering that at least in my school we don’t hold titles like “top 10% of the class/school” or anything like that. Does that mean that I am disqualified for all merit scholarships?
Also, should I file a FAFSA application in order to receive scholarships?
And how does being international affect the scholarships? Will I be viewed the same way a US citizen is, and how can I know which scholarships I am disqualified to?
PS: I have no student counselor in my school so I’m doing gathering information on my own. So, I’m terribly sorry if I mixed up some things or if this thread is a terribly stupid question…
FAFSA is a loan program for US citizens, so not relevant to you.
International makes everything about admissions harder- not impossible, but harder.
Merit aid won’t be based on class rank- it would be based on your grades and your test scores- tests such as SAT or ACT.
Financial Aid is based on income.
Here are some links to research. Many of these are not open to International students, but many are. Also, some of these may be out of date, so be sure to check the details before getting too excited!
http://www.thecollegiateblog.org/2012/12/06/27-colleges-that-meet-100-of-demonstrated-need-for-international-students/
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1461983-competitive-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-p1.html
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1359504-tuition-free-colleges.html
https://www.ocps.net/lc/east/hwp/student_info/college_career/Documents/College_Merit_Scholarships_082212.pdf
@collegemom3717 Thank you very much!
For merit aid that is awarded competitively, like that at Claremont McKenna or Grinnell, admissions will simply see how well you did in your high school compared to everyone else, and how well you did on your SATs. That is, however, to determine if you would be eligible for merit aid. Then they will go through your qualifications, like extracurriculars and essays, to make a decision.
For schools like the University of Alabama, you just need to meet their cutoff, which is usually like 3.5 GPA and something SAT score, and you would get full tuition. However, they generally require that you submit your transcripts to an educational transcript verifier/translator.
I recommend Howard U and U of Alabama for safety. Both have guaranteed merit scholarships given you apply ASAP. You MUST HAVE ACT/SAT for merit scholarship consideration .
Howard gives more(room and tuition at least), but the latter (only tuition) is academically ranked higher.