Hi! So I’m a US citizen, however I live abroad and do not have many ties to the US. I just finished my 10th grade and am moving onto my 11th. I’d really appreciate some help in finding colleges as I feel really stuck right now.
Any advice alongside college recommendations would be a big help for me!
Demographics
US citizen living abroad with little ties to the US
Cost Constraints / Budget
Price is a really big factor as my family only makes ~$11,000 a year
I am eligible for financial aid due to being a US citizen
Intended Major(s)
Linguistics!!
I want to stay in academia, and my dream would be to do research on stuff like language acquisition or even historical linguistics
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
4.0 Unweighted
No weighted gpa but I plan to take APs
Class Rank: Not sure but I’m probably top of my class
ACT/SAT Scores: I haven’t taken the SATs yet but plan to
Plan to take IELTS and TOEFL iBT
I have taken the TOEFL ITP with a score of 633
List your HS coursework
APS: my school is really limited in terms of APs but i plan on taking AP lit in g12
It is possible to take other APs but I would have to self study them and take the exam in class
Honors: I will be in honors english for my 11th grade
Awards
None so far
I would really appreciate any award recommendations that could help me
Extracurriculars
Part of my MUN club management team
Been to 2 conferences before but next year I will be going to a lot more
Also part of the Journalism club management team
Working on the school website as part of Journalism club
Student Council in 9th grade, plan to apply again in 12th grade
I speak both English and Thai fluently
Have N5 certification in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test
Taking the N4 in a few weeks
Plan to take the N3 too
Plan to eventually take the HSK too (Chinese Proficiency)
Planning to do research of some type in 11th grade as per school requirement
I want to do more research too but I’ll have to look into that
Essays/LORs/Other
I’m an alright writer and I plan to improve my writing skills even more!
Schools
I’m completely unsure what schools to look into so like I’ve said, any help would be really appreciated
What I’m looking for in a college
A university that can launch me into linguistics research eventually!!
Extremely good financial aid
Not too high cost of living
Possibly research opportunities I can join as an undergrad
Your first focus needs to be finances. Run net price calculators for any college being considered. Be sure to understand exactly what is included in each financial aid package – at some colleges expenses such as transportation, health insurance, books, spending money, etc. are not part of the aid package and those costs can run thousands annually. My second focus would be focusing on finding an environment/state that will be safe/friendly. You can study linguistics at literally hundreds of colleges.
Are there affordable options to continue your education in the country you are living in?
Maybe check out Amherst? It’s a small liberal arts school (like the schools @merc81 recommended), but it’s part of a consortium with other nearby colleges, including UMass Amherst- which is fabulous for linguistics. If you went to Amherst, you’d be have access to the UMass linguistics department. So why am I suggesting Amherst and not UMass itself? Amherst is need-blind and offers great financial aid, while UMass, like most public universities, will not provide financial aid for an out of state student (even if you are a US citizen). You would not be able to directly major in linguistics, but you would get a fantastic education at a likely-affordable price that would set you up for graduate work in the field.
You’ve been given some good advice already, and so I’ll just mention that a lot will be riding on your SAT score. Very few institutions are need-blind, but with a suitably high SAT score and a 4.0, you’re worth chasing for some institutions, especially non-flagships—and that’s important, because linguistics isn’t that widely offered as a major (and sometimes when it appears to be, it’s actually a major in a language with a few linguistics courses included), and so it’s the large publics that are most likely to have it,† and their financial aid isn’t generally as good as the highly-capitalized privates.
†The liberal arts colleges that offer it have already been mentioned. I’ll also mention a few large expensive private institutions with really good financial aid and solid linguistics programs—Penn, Stanford, Rice—but they tend to be so rejective (better term than selective) that they shouldn’t be relied upon.
There’s a bit of a glitch, though—if you’re trans,†† a lot of the large publics that offer really good merit-based scholarships are in locations that are markedly trans-unfriendly. So, for example, Florida International University has a linguistics degree (technically English, but the linguistics focus is strong) with a bunch of great up-and-coming faculty and generous merit aid for out-of-state applicants—but it’s Florida and thus, um, yeah.
††Since you’re coming at this from outside of the country, you should know that in American English the term t-girl is usually seen as problematic for a number of cultural and historical reasons, with a preference for transgirl or trans woman, and exclusively the latter once you’re an adult.
As others have said, with your financial cap (which is going to be really hard to hit at places where you can be reasonably assured of admission) you need to focus on financials first. As long as you can do at least a linguistics minor as an undergrad, then you can think about getting a masters in linguistics—and minors in linguistics are much more widespread than majors.
A lot of funding has disappeared from the colleges and universities because budgets are really tight everywhere.
You qualify, as a US citizen, to fill out the FAFSA application, but that doesn’t mean every school has the funding to admit you.
The FAFSA application tells the colleges and universities whether or not you’re eligible for Pell Grants (~$7k max)and government-backed loans (no more than $$5500, then $6500, then $7750 Jr and Sr years ). The amounts are very limiting, such that, you have to rely on university grants and funds to meet your tuition and other costs of attendance.
So you need to find schools that will fit within a very limited budget. You’ll be paying health insurance, transportation, and daily living costs. Living and studying in the US is very expensive.
Many of the states colleges and universities are funded by their state taxpayers. So, if you don’t reside in California then the public colleges (UCs, Cal States) will be at full cost to your family. Those are each over $80,000 a year to nonresident students.
Without test scores and funding, it will be difficult. Full rides are basically nonexistent.
@dfbdfb would University of Massachusetts be worth considering. I’m not sure it will financially work but IIRC, they have a fine linguistics department.
I agree you really need test scores to nail down a reasonable and affordable list, but just to highlight a few ideas:
Macalester has Linguistics and a strong languages program in general, and they are located in a very progressive metro. Carleton is also nearby.
Brandeis in the Boston area would seem like another great option to explore:
Then Bryn Mawr, Haverford, and Swarthmore have what they call a Tri-Co Department in Linguistics:
Any of those could be great, but I linked the Bryn Mawr page because it might be an interesting option for a trans woman specifically (not that Haverford or Swarthmore would be bad).
UMass offers merit scholarships to out of state students. My GS is there as an out of state student and he received a very nice financial package with stats that were not quite as good as this student. I think that UMass is worth an application. Amherst would be very much a reach.
Yes, Amherst would be a big reach, and this student would get into UMass based on stats, but I doubt that the merit offered would close the gap enough for a student whose family makes only about 11k USD per year. However, if it did, then UMass would absolutely be worth an application. How much did your GS’s merit scholarships knock down his total COA?
About $25K but with a family income of $250-$300K. They seem to want out of state students, so they might be willing to offer a lot more for this student with better stats and possibly factoring in need. The only way to find out is to apply.
I know of U. of Virginia-Charlottesville and U. of North Carolina - Chapel HIll are two of the publics that consider the need of out-of-state students. What other schools are you aware of?
UNM has linguistics, and a full ride Regents scholarship for OOS students. @wywyatatt you could look into this and see if there is some overlap in your interests and their research focus. https://ling.unm.edu