About air flight tickets and college suggestions

I would suggest looking at the cost of flights from your country and any other fees like a VISA, health insurance, and laptops/technology you will need. As others stated, no university is going to cover your transportation costs. If I want to go to school in Florida or Texas from where I am in New York I have to cover my own costs; it is something I have to factor in and decide if it is something me and my family can afford.

None of the schools you apply to will be providing for your transportation needs to and from the college during your 4 years. This is the case for both domestic applicants and international applicants.

MIT and other top colleges may in fact meet 100% of the demonstrated financial needs for international students but 100% of demonstrated need doesn't include things like travel, personal effects, technology like cell phones and laptops, clothing, VISAs, passports and other fees associated with qualifying for a student VISA.

If the financial paperwork (CSS Profile including records of tax information and bank statements) deems that you are someone who qualifies for tuition, room and board, and enrollment fees, that's pretty much it. There will always be some non-covered expenses and that will have to be paid by you and your family.

In addition, you may have to find your own housing (room and board) while the school is not in session such as summer vacation which is about 4 months (part of May, June, July, and August), and winter break which is often about 3 weeks (typically from 12/20-1/6)

So a full ride for both domestic and international students covers roughly 90% of the cost each year. You have to make up the rest of the cost by working, family contributions, and loans if necessary from your own country.

https://sfs.mit.edu/undergraduate-students/the-cost-of-attendance/annual-student-budget/

This is the link for the estimated costs of attending MIT. Please note the average NET cost of attendance is still close to $20,000 for those on financial aid as well.

MIT points out that laptops and other technology are not covered in the cost of attendance. Nor is health insurance. And there is no mention of the cost of travel.

Sometimes schools have a 1 time travel budget or a capped travel budget. But if you understand the cost of travel from Asia to NYC it's quite expensive each way. Also, some schools have special programs to assist with health insurance. In the US, health insurance is expensive so budget like $4000-4500 per year for health insurance.

Some top schools offer Work Study programs which allow undergraduate students to earn some money during the academic year by working in the library, or help desks servicing dorm equipment or the copy center, etc. Most students on financial aid work at some work-study job from 10-15 hours a week earning between $15-$20 per hour. So you can earn a couple hundred dollars a week to help pay for your personal expenses like buying $5 cups of coffee or eating out once in a while at local restaurants which typically cost between $15-$25 per meal if you include tax and tip.

The last thing I wanted to say is that if you are not the very best student in your State or Country, MIT is not really the best school to ensure your odds of getting in. Their international admit rate is only about 1.2-1.3% versus the overall admit rate of 4%. So close to 99% of international students will get rejected by MIT because it's not an institutional priority for them to admit a lot of international students, only the very best ones. MIT receives federal funding and state funding for low-income domestic students which can be something close to $10,000 per year but they receive ZERO (0) dollars for each International student. So it costs them about $40,000 more per international student or more to matriculate them. Plus many Int'l students return to their home countries and take their intellectual capital back home with them so that is another reason not to prioritize them.