There are many things I feel we don’t know as our child is in IBDP while calculators/estimators are mostly for AP. I’d like to save money(who doesn’t) but just don’t know how.
There are many private schools that provide merit money. Some are even quite generous.
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If your kid is competitive for UCs they will likely get merit elsewhere. So the decision point for you may be name vs $$. Does the kid plan to stay in the US after graduating, or return to where you are now?
I’ve read so much and I barely scratch the surface. Do we need to fill in CSS to get merit? Do I find the information under Financial Aid? Sorry, I feel like I’m asking such a stupid question. We have 2 children so if not for this one, we can certainly use information for the next child which is next year.
I am not aware of any school that requires a CSS for merit money.
Either there or elsewhere on the school’s website. The easiest approach might be to Google “(school name) merit scholarship”
Also, if you list the schools on your list, posters here might be able to help you.
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This is a hard question to answer, one that we both often ask each other. US is big, the world is huge, after experiencing the logistics of caring and eventually death of one of the parent, we still have no idea how we will navigate. We think our children like to be in US, mostly associate themselves as American, the problem here however, we came from different background/countries … so where do we settle?
I feel that I’m going in circles just by writing this.
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My apology to the moderator if this is going off topic.
Did you do a chance me/match me post? If you would like some suggestions for colleges, you might want to do that. Please include your annual budget, and I’m sure folks will look at the data you provide and come up with some affordable and good suggestions.
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Pretty sure when D19 was applying there were some who wanted the forms filled in even if it was only merit and not FA being granted. Only way to know for sure is read fin aid/scholarship webpage of each school they’re interested in.
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It’s your thread !
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As I mentioned in my earlier post above, there are some schools (just a few) that want a FAFSA for merit aid. I am not personally aware of any that ask for CSS, but maybe other posters can let us know if there are any such schools.
(personally, we chose not to file either FAFSA or CSS at any school)
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I agree with @thumper1 's suggestion that you provide some chance me/match me type of information, including your budget and something about your child’s academic record and extracurriculars. Also some information about what type of school your child is looking for - size, potential major, urban/suburban/rural, etc. The people on this site are incredibly knowledgeable and will be able to give you some good suggestions. Also, you mention the IBDP, which is not at all a bad thing for US schools. My son also did the IBDP at an international school, and it was our general sense that the schools he applied to looked at his completion of the program as an indication that he would be well-prepared for college. Whether your child will receive credit for IB courses will vary a lot from school to school. One school I recall as giving an unusual amount of credit for IB courses, including both SL and HL courses, is Lawrence University in Wisconsin - College Credit | Lawrence University Lawrence also awards merit scholarships up to half tuition. Regarding merit, we did not need to submit either FAFSA or CSS for our son to be considered for merit at any of the schools he applied to - I understand that there are some schools that require at least the FAFSA, but we did not encounter any. Usually information regarding both the availability of merit and any steps that need to be taken to apply will be outlined on the school’s financial aid page. For example, I looked at CMU’s page, and they specify that they do not award any merit scholarships. As another example, here is the relevant page from UO’s site: Scholarships for First-Year Students | Financial Aid & Scholarships You may want to readjust your list to focus more on schools that are generous with merit.
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SUNY Binghamton is also quite generous for a full IBD with 32+. 
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But remember that credits for IB, AP, A-level, etc. exams may not necessarily translate to subject credit applied to specific course requirements or advanced placement in the subject. These types of benefits for example scores may need to be checked separately, and with looking at department, major, and general education requirements.
For example, a college may give credits for a high enough score on IB physics HL, but the physics department may not give subject credit or advanced placement for a physics major since IB physics is not calculus based.
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For Bing, HLs, waiving up 1st year gen eds with 4 credits for scores of 4&5 or 8 credits for scores of 6&7, plus 4 credits for foreign language SL score of 4+ that waives the language requirement without providing credit. There’s also a Calculus placement test that Math AA SL or Math AA/AI HL are well prepared for.
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Thank you so much, you all are very knowledgeable! and generous with your time(I’ve been reading this site for a while now and keep coming back).
You’re right, my child may still need to take specific department courses although she may get credits elsewhere. My husband chose not to file fafsa or css, merit maybe a nice surprise but one thing I realize about college applications is that is very difficult to bring all information together and make a uniformed decision. As of now, everything is everywhere. I have to sit on my hands because my child wants to prioritize her IB and husband is away. We have some EA, I add some schools(this will probably trigger some of you as too much involvement) but I draw the line there. We don’t help with anything else other than brainstorming regarding a city, school, career while some of her friends pay for expensive “counselor”
Not sure about doing chance me, I’m worried about getting too disappointed and discouraged 
but I did read some. Just hope that my child isn’t doing that badly and will be able to go somewhere.
After this application period I need a holiday(kidding). While my child is chill, I am anxious, husband usually wait and debate my information 
but we’re a good team. While reading some of the posts, I feel some of the students are full of motivation and know what they want, mine doesn’t. She’s interested and has been good in stem area and wants to be an engineer but doesn’t know which kind of engineer so here I am, trying to help in a way but also respecting boundary as to not help too much. This is one of the conversation we have as parents, we wish to guide them well but they need to stand on their feet.
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One issue to consider at each college is whether choosing or changing engineering major requires a secondary admission process. At many larger more selective state flagships, some engineering majors tend to be “full”, with more students wanting them than the departments can teach. Such schools tend to either:
- Admit by major, but changing major may be difficult, since other majors are likely to be “full”. Examples include most UCs in California, Texas, UIUC.
- Admit to engineering undeclared, but have a secondary admission process, at least for more popular majors that tend to be “full”. Such a secondary admission process may require meeting a specified college GPA that is significantly higher than 2.0, or be a competitive process based on college GPA and often essays. Examples include Texas A&M, North Carolina State, Virginia Tech, Penn State, Minnesota. Wisconsin has progression GPA requirements that are functionally like secondary admission GPA requirements.
Smaller and richer schools are less likely to have this issue, although many of the richer schools are among the most selective ones. Less selective schools are also less likely to have this issue, since engineering majors are “hard” enough to dissuade many of the students who can get admitted to less selective schools.
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My daughter got an engineering degree from Virginia Tech. The first year requires some courses that give an introduction into the different engineering majors the university offers (Ocean, aerospace, mechanical, computer science, computer engineering, electrical, mining, bio/ag, biomedical, and industrial - double check those on the website).
The G.P.A. needed to be accepted into a preferred major after freshman year is 3.0 and is very doable. Some students take a couple of community college courses instead of the weed out freshman year courses at VT.
Completing the FAFSA will allow you to take student loans if needed. It really isn’t difficult, but being out of the country may make it a bit more complicated.
Please don’t be anxious. You’ll get the hang of it. A spreadsheet with due dates for applications and document submission helps.
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We have been in the same situation. We live abroad and have gone through it for our two daughters (and soon for our son). Your child will be considered a domestic applicant (pay the domestic fee on common app) and and out of state student for tuition. We did not file FAFSA either. Your child can get an automatic merit scholarship based on GPA at some schools (like UofAlabama) or file a scholarship application form at others (like NC State). Most of these schools are in the know of the different educational systems. I was afraid they would mistaken a 75% for a bad grade when it is actually a very good grade in the country that we live in, but they don’t. Both my daughters ended up receiving scholarships from half the schools they applied to. Good luck to you and your child!
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