<p>momrath’s post
“…however, my guess from what you’ve said you can afford to pay indicates that you wouldn’t qualify for too much assistance.”</p>
<p>Meaning that I have not enough or too much money ? ;)</p>
<p>I grew up in Germany, and studied under both US and German systems. It was my choice to do post highschool in the US. However, I am a US citizen so was not subject to all of the issues involving international students.</p>
<p>If your son is truly interested in studying in the United States, it is certainly worth a try. It does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. I have a year at a German Universitaet; certainly no liablilty to me, but not much use as the career/life path I ended up taking simply did not include German. But it does add a special dimension to my educational profile and also to the person I am. It was for me an easily done opportunity I took, and I doubt very much I would have done any other foreign study program as it was not an area of interest of mine. Just circumstances dumped the opportunity in my lap.</p>
<p>I suggest you look at a number of American colleges and universities by readings several books. My base source has become The US News And World Report Ultimate Guide, a big fat directory with nearly every accredited US college. Also buy a Fiske or Princeton Review top colleges directory that give you some narrative descriptions of schools. $30K/year can buy you a number of college experiences in the US. Many of the major state schools are available at that sticker price. And if your son wants to try for some merit or financial aid at a few schools that interest him that are beyond those price parameters, go right on ahead and give it a try. Just e-mail the financial aid/admissions office to get verification as to what international are eligible for in terms of dollars. Things do change from year to year.</p>
<p>My brother has his wife’s niece here in the US from Switzerland for a few years. She has had a blast here in the US, but is now going back home to complete her training as a future teacher in the Schweitz. She ended up going to two colleges here in the US, local, as she lived with her aunt and my brother and commuted, and was able to experience courses at Berkeley as well as get an associate degree at a community college and spent a term at a midwest college as well, staying with some friends she had met. It does not have to be an all or nothing situation. I think my brother had hoped that she would end up getting her degree at Berkeley and is a bit disappointed that she is going to a Berufsschule over there rather than a true Universtaet program, but she really wants to teach young, elementary school children and that is the route to do so over there. But she is so much enriched by her experience here.</p>
<p>Dear jamimom,</p>
<p>I had no idea that you grew up in Germany.</p>
<p>Maybe you’d like to have a look at the recommendation I wrote for a (german) student of mine? Even though I already had tremendous help, I think that it can’t hurt to look through it one or two times. 
PM me, if you’re interested.</p>
<p>I had a nice conversation with a german Yale-graduate yesterday. We talked about the different educational systems and his opinion was this (in a nutshell): </p>
<p>*“The competition is fierce, the application procedure is even fiercer. But it really pays. Just do everything you can in order to get in - and you’ll eventually get in. All the unis want to see is determination. As long as your son is completely sure that he wants to study in the US, there shouldn’t be a problem. And forget about the financial aid - most schools throw their money at their applicants! It’s an urban myth that Internationals are disadvantaged!” *</p>
<p>What do you think? </p>
<p>It actually sounded too good to be true, and if I hadn’t had your help beforehand - I would’ve believed him! Hands down! :D</p>
<p>So thank you!</p>
<p>“And forget about the financial aid - most schools throw their money at their applicants!”</p>
<p>This is not at all true. Just look at the web sites of US colleges and check out the financial aid section. Very few colleges guarantee to meet 100 % of all students’ demonstrated financial need. I believe the # of colleges that do this is only 50 (and the US has hundreds of colleges).</p>
<p>Even those that do this include loans in their packages and also expect students to provide money by working during the summers and school years. In addition, the amount of money that the college thinks the student needs may be less than the student’s family thinks the student needs.</p>
<p>Here’s a link that I found with info about financial aid for internaitionals: <a href=“http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml[/url]”>http://www.edupass.org/finaid/undergraduate.phtml</a></p>
<p>Meanwhile, the competition in the US for college admissions is the fiercest it has ever been. Due to the numbers of US students applying to college, it is expected to become more competitive until about 2010. Add to that, it seems that each year, more internationals are applying to US colleges.</p>
<p>Here’s an example of how Grinnell College, a well respected liberal arts college, handles financial aid for internationals. It probably is among the more generous colleges when it comes to this aid as many colleges offer internationals nothing.</p>
<p>"Grinnell College has had a long history of providing financial assistance to international students (students not holding a U.S. passport or U.S. permanent residency card). In recent years the College has reconfirmed its commitment to providing affordable education to students around the world by offering additional scholarship opportunities to new international students.
It is important to understand that at Grinnell College, all applicants are considered for admission regardless of the ability to pay for the cost of education. Admission decisions are based strictly on the applicant’s academic performance and how that relates to other applicants.
The best students, who also maintain an active extracurricular involvement (sports, community service, student government, etc.), will be admitted regardless of a student’s financial background. While the college is willing to offer financial assistance to any admitted international student who demonstrates need, we are unable to meet the full demonstrated need of all who are admitted. Below you will find more information about costs and the types of financial aid available to international students. "
<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/internat/finaid/[/url]”>http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/internat/finaid/</a></p>
<p>And forget about the financial aid - most schools throw their money at their applicants! It’s an urban myth that Internationals are disadvantaged!" </p>
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<p>Unfortunately, the urban myth is actually that Internationals get money thrown at them by US schools. As Northstarmom says, and I said above, this simply is NOT true. </p>
<p>There are 3500 4 year colleges and universities in the US, only a very, very small percentage of them offer ANY financial aid for internationals and even fewer offer them large amounts of financial aid. </p>
<p>It’s a matter of simple economics. Colleges and Universities have a limited pot of money to give out in terms of out right grants. Most US financial aid packages include grants, loans, and work study. If a US student needs $20,000 to attend a school, the school might offer a package of $10,000 in grants, $8000 in loans, and $2000 in work study.
In other words, the “cost” to the school is $10,000 to meet that student’s need.</p>
<p>But, international students can not get student loans and work study options are often limited because much of work study money is underwritten by US Federal government programs. So, if an international student needs $20,000, the “cost” to the school is going to be pretty close to $20,000. </p>
<p>Most schools would rather fill their seats with US students who “cost less” in terms of financial aid (and there are plenty of US students to fill every seat in every US school.) Again, although there are 3500 colleges and universities in the US, there are probably 100 or less schools that offer financial aid to international students and the vast majority of those schools do NOT guarantee to meet full need.</p>
<p>Again, not to be discouraging, but your “Yale Grad student” went to one of the very few schools in the US that does guarantee to meet full financial aid for admitted internationals. </p>
<p>As for merit money, some schools do consider international students for merit awards, but as with financial aid many limit merit awards to US students. You might want to start by looking at the list of schools offering good merit money in the sticky thread at the top of this page, then contact them one by one and ask if international students are eligible to be considered for merit money and financial aid. </p>
<p>But please, whatever you do, believe what we are telling you: the “urban myth” is that US colleges and universities are throwing financial aid at international students. It just isn’t so.</p>
<p>I do agree with what Jamimom said above: $30,000 a year can buy you a college experience at many schools in the US but they will typically NOT be the schools that are known internationally. For instance, one can attend Hendrix College in Arkansas for about that amount. It’s a good solid little liberal arts college, but most international students won’t consider it because it is not a name recognized overseas. The public universities that seem to grab attention from internationals - such as the University of California at Berkeley or Los Angeles or the U of Michigan - now cost much more than $30,000, however. But, an international with $30,000 to spend could easily get by - and actually not spend it all - at the University of South Dakota, smaller (5600 undergraduates) with a liberal arts focus. Since you mention friends in Florida, you might also look at the University of Florida and Florida State University, which I believe would also fit in with that budget.</p>
<p>So, you should probably have a three pronged approach: identify those few schools that guarantee to meet full financial aid for internationals, identify the schools that fit your budget, and identify the schools that might offer enough merit money to internationals so that you can afford them. Once you have those three lists, follow Jamimom’s advice about researching the individual schools you’ve identified as “financial possibilities.”</p>
<p>AssistancePlease, here is the list I compiled when I made my college selection. They all meet 100% of need for International Students - but I’m sure there are many other options for you to consider, as you can pay over half of the expenses. Viel Glueck!</p>
<ol>
<li>Amherst College</li>
<li>Bates College</li>
<li>Bowdoin College</li>
<li>Brown University</li>
<li>Carleton College</li>
<li>Chicago University</li>
<li>Colby College</li>
<li>Colgate University</li>
<li>Colorado College</li>
<li>Columbia University</li>
<li>Connecticut College</li>
<li>Cornell University</li>
<li>Duke University</li>
<li>Harvard University</li>
<li>Haverford College</li>
<li>International University in Bremen (Bremen, Germany) - <a href=“http://www.iu-bremen.de%5B/url%5D”>www.iu-bremen.de</a></li>
<li>International University in Germany (Bruxhalle, Germany) - <a href=“http://www.iu-germany-de%5B/url%5D”>www.iu-germany-de</a></li>
<li>Lehigh University</li>
<li>Macalester College</li>
<li>Middlebury College</li>
<li>Oberlin College</li>
<li>Pennsilvania University</li>
<li>Princeton University</li>
<li>Sarah Lawrence College</li>
<li>Sewanee University</li>
<li>Skidmore College</li>
<li>Saint Lawrence University - <a href=“http://www.stlawu-edu%5B/url%5D”>www.stlawu-edu</a></li>
<li>Stanford University</li>
<li>Swarthmore College</li>
<li>Trinity College, CT - <a href=“http://www.trincoll.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.trincoll.edu</a></li>
<li>University of Richmond - <a href=“http://www.urich.edu%5B/url%5D”>www.urich.edu</a></li>
<li>Vassar College</li>
<li>Wesleyan University</li>
<li>Williams College</li>
<li>Yale University</li>
</ol>
<p>Thank you so much for your help! I’ll get working on that list, bogoro…and I’ll try to get as much information about the colleges mentioned above. </p>
<p>I think that list is a good ground-stock. If you were to rank those schools after their law schools + the financial aid they offer for internationals - what would the outcome be (just out of curiousity)? </p>
<p>Oh, and I just saw that Stanford University ranked #28? I thought they didn’t offer any financial aid at all? </p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>Nikola</p>
<p>I don’t think that list is accurate. And if it is, the admissions is not needblind to internationals. In other words, if you need money, it will affect whether you get in or not, but those few with need that are accepted will get full need met. It make sense to do things that way for internationals because if you cannot come up with an accounting of how you are going to pay for everything, you cannot get the student visa to study in the US. Do check the list out carefully, and keep in mind that if this is the case with these schools–they only accept those internationals who can pay or the ones they feel they can support, the admissions is going to be all the more selective. </p>
<p>To vary your selections, also look at schools that you can afford. The South has some very affordable schools, many love the College of Charleston. Some of the Virginia state schools are reasonable priced as well. The NY state school are also under the $30K range. As I said earlier, get a good guide to US schools and keep your options open.</p>
<p>You should follow the International Forum. They would bely the anecdote about money falling from heaven. Many of them did not get the aid they need.</p>
<p>Jamimom, you grew up in Germany? So many interesting componests to your story…:)</p>