Finding my dream university/college which gives full need based scholarships to international sudents or have low fee etAnswered
I am a grade 12 student, going to apply in 2022 and I am searching an university or college which
1) gives 100% need based scholarships to international sudents or have very low fees.
2) can waive English proficiency test and SAT or ACT.
3) good world rank.
4) have no Application fee.
I have no problem with essays and recommendation letters.
and other factors like good campus etc.
Please share some details I will be grateful to you.
Earn karma by helping others:
2 answers
The short and sweet answer is that of the 3200 colleges that offer 4-year degrees in America, very few of them (perhaps less than 1%) offer 100% need-based scholarships to international students, waive English proficiency, SAT, ACT, have a high rank and will give you a fee waiver.
The schools I know off the top of my head are:
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Skidmore, Berea College, Amherst, Williams, Duke, Wesleyan, Swarthmore.
Some schools I heard of but didn't verify are NorthEastern, Vanderbilt, SOKA, Georgetown, Haverford, Vassar, Trinity College, Hamilton, Colgate, Middlebury.
The bottom line is that only the Top American colleges offer 100% financial aid to Int'l students and it's increasingly harder to get into these. Ivys and Elites have a 4-7% acceptance rate and top Liberal arts colleges have a 7-10% acceptance rate.
There is no simple list or answer to your question. You will have to do some research on your own and determine which type of school you have a good chance of getting admitted to. Keep in mind that many of your peers from your country will be applying to the same schools so you are competing with the best students in your country. Some of the applicants will have APs and IBs and SAT and ACT test scores as well as high TOEFL, DUOLINGO, or IELTS scores, so you have to understand that the fewer data points you send in, the fewer chances of being accepted as an International Student. The whole notion of a holistic application review only works if you have enough verifiable data points for the admissions officers reading your application to connect the dots and make an educated guess about what your fit and potential are to succeed at their schools. When students provide various tests scores, it takes the guesswork out of the application officers and they perhaps have more confidence in who they advocate for because there is a positive correlation between submitting great stats and being able to thrive academically at these types of colleges.
Good luck with your college list and your applications journey.
Hi there @VineetSingh14204,
For a list of schools that meet 100% of demonstrated financial need, check out this list: https://blog.collegevine.com/schools-that-meet-100-percent-financial-need/
However, this may not extend to international students. You'll need to do research, but some schools that are known for meeting international student need are Harvard, Yale, MIT, Princeton, and Amherst. Conversely, schools like Brown, Duke, and UPenn are need-aware for international students, meaning they factor a student's financial situation in their admissions.
Many elite schools have gone test-optional this cycle - for a full list: https://blog.collegevine.com/test-optional-coronavirus-policies/
You'll need to look into specific international student-oriented policies around English proficiency in order to determine if that can be waived. Some schools will allow you to test out or show a test score in order to waive this requirement.
As for rankings, CollegeVine has a School List Builder on our site where you can craft a list and keep track of all of these details - including test-optionality, financial aid distribution, and international student policies. I recommend you use that tool to organize your school list in a way that brings together all your requirements and preferences for a college.
Finally, for the application fee, there are ways to waive it if your family qualifies. American students usually need to show proof of being a part of government assistance programs, such as fee waivers for school lunch. For international students, the policies could vary per school, so your best bet is to call the admissions office or see if their website has an FAQ section or chat function.
Best of luck in your college search!
Your chance of acceptance
Your chancing factors
Community Guidelines
To keep this community safe and supportive:
- Be kind and respectful!
- Keep posts relevant to college admissions and high school.
- Don’t ask “chance-me” questions. Use CollegeVine’s chancing instead!