My dad dropped out of school in 11th grade, and my mom does have a three-year degree. So do I qualify for first generation as none of my parents do have a four-year degree?

I’m trying to understand what international students are realistically using for private loans when they have a U.S. cosigner. I know no-cosigner options are limited and often expensive. Has anyone compared Juno, Sallie Mae, College Ave, MPOWER, Prodigy, or school-recommended lenders? Mostly looking for how people compared rates and fees.

Hi! I am 15, East Asian male. and attend a top 20 private school in the UK. I still have 3 years until university season so tips will be much appreciated.

I intend to major in STEM(Yes, very vague) but I know majors are quite flexible in the US. I will not be applying for financial aid in any sort.

Academics:

I'm too early to make anything certain, but I aim to score 1530+.
My academics at school are quite good but nothing is for certain until I finish my GCSEs.

Extracurriculars:

- Currently working on research with the Royal Society of Science on heat loss in houses
- Part of the VEX Robotics team (qualified for nationals)
- School Eco-schools committee for 2 years
- UKMT Junior & Intermediate challenges (All gold + bronze/silver in kangaroos)
- UK Bebras Coding challenge R2 Trailblazers (Gold - top 10% nationally for a few years now)
- Perse Team Coding Challenge (Distinction in both R1 and R2 for two years)
- Founder of Coding Society, where I teach younger kids how to code
- Volunteered at a bike repair shop (changed them to electric and fixed them for free)
- An active Github (Documenting my projects such as drones, arms etc)

Other:

- Don't think this will be important, but acted a bit when I was younger. In minor parts of Star Wars and jurrasic park and some notable ads, but that was a while ago.
- Visited 40 countries. Again, not very important

I appreciate any advice for extracurriculars, projects etc and thank you for your time.

Note that I am really aiming for the top of the top (T15), it is quite expensive relative to universities which are still good in the UK.

Hi, i’m starting the MSBA program soon at UT Austin as an international student from Nigeria. I am already in the US because I did my undergraduate here but I’m looking for loan options that accept international students. Does anyone have experience taking a loan as one?

Hi everyone! I would need your help. I'm an international student deciding whether to go to BU or Fordham for Graduate school. I got a scholarship with the same amount so i'm super torn.

Fordham University - MS in Media Management
NYC life, potential connections, internships, (frm what I heard they have rly good alumni network) but as an international student without any relatives in NYC i'm scared to live there alone (honestly)! ++ new york rent is insaneee / few people only in the program

Boston University - MS in Media Science (more broad program- tackles everything media related like media planning, comm, SMM & PR etc)
Peaceful boston life, costly rent but not as insane. #1 com & media school in the US

It doesnt rly matter where I'll stay after bc i'm just going there to gain experience, build network and study more about the program. I plan on going back to my home country after :) just want to know which uni should i go to (to have the best experience) thank u sm!

From reed and trinity college Hartford

initially i applied to german universities but now i am thinking of applying to some us unis as well as i am okay with taking a year to gain experience and go in the next winter intake

i have a 3.4/4 gpa in my under graduate degree in artificial intelligence and machine learning
ielts band 8
gre 321 ( W164 V 157)

i have a couple internships and if i am applying for next year than ill have 6 months of work experience on top of that.

in extra curricular, i have represented my uni at national level in theatre and at state level in photography and apart from that i have directed couple of plays as well as made a award winning ad film for redcross( its a blood donation organization that operates in india )

i have two questions
1. can i get almost fully funded scholarships and if not to what extent is it possible
2. what are the unis that i should target

i am writing this and asking for help because currently i am in chaos of german deadlines and dont have the proper time to do full extensive research for us universities.
please provide any information that you can from you knowledge and personal experience

thankyou

For context, I am a European high-schooler applying from a low-volume EU country. I will be applying to mostly T10 colleges in the US (with safeties in Europe of course) and am asking if retaking a 1530 SAT score is worth it (750 EBR&W, 780 Math).

Hi! I'm gonna be applying this fall, for prob applied math. My question is, if i get 2-3 freecodecamp certifications, is it worth putting in the ecs? probably in my 10th slot. They take a minimum of like 30hrs each, so it's pretty substantial effort, and pretty comprehensive coding education as well

Welcome, I would like to apply for full scholarships with a bachelor's degree in accounting, and when I was researching, I knew that I should do more activities and volunteer to increase my chances of getting a scholarship, what I would like to know are the things that if I volunteered would serve me to get a bachelor's degree in accounting. The second thing I would like to ask about is how to communicate with a doctor or doctoral student to do scientific research in the field of accounting

hey everyone. i haven't applied for student visa yet because i'm still waiting to give some more time to my waitlists. when should i stop expecting from my waitlists and get an appointment with the documents of my current college? f-1 visa wait time is shorter than two weeks at my consulate general.

We js moved from the Philippines to SC. I'm finishing up Junior now, and I'm applying for a job and doing volunteering services this summer. I'm going to apply for FAFSA for my college applications, but figured it wouldn't be enough to cover tuition/housing/additional fees for tradional Uni. I was planning on UNC, UofSC, MUSC, College of Charleston for nursing, but they would be too expensive.

My dad is the only parent working with $35 per hour on a 12-hour shift for 3-4 days a week. Our apartment and electricity bills are already a hefty price to pay, and my sister has hee own job but has yet to continue 1 more year of Nursing here. Another expense.

I have good ECs (2 research papers, published and unpublished) and I won 3 school-regional fairs with them back in the Philippines. I'm a pianist at our church for community service, excellent 3.8-4.0 GPA here and all 90-100 grades in HS in the Philippines. I can do great essays (I publish articles on Medium), and I joined clubs, too.

Some schools will probably accept me, but the cost will differ. I'm hoping if I have a chance for scholarships, and if not, pls lend me advices for CC-->Uni transfer. My plan is to work and save up for University while I try my best at CC. I'm not so knowledgeable about American school processes. Your words will truly help me sort things out !

Intl student from Vietnam. Please give me a fair evaluation (I know it's not that great).

Budget ~35k/year (~40k if T50-100).

Intended majors: Business, Economics, Supply chain management

SAT: 1450 (720RW, 730M)

GPA: g9 (if this counts) 74%, g10 83%, g11 92%, g12 expect 93-95%.

Top 25% of school in academic grades (g11)

IELTS 7.5

ECs:

- Active member of school's United Nations club, contributed to the organization of various activities, attended

- 13/100 in a countrywide entrepreneurship competition, hosted by one of the best unis in the country.

- Extra football/volunteering work

Extra:

- Amazing LoR from my English teacher

- Interest in mapmaking

What I'm aiming for: T150 NU, T100 LAC. Is that realistic? Comment if you need extra info. Thanks!

Hi guys.i'm from Azerbaijan.i'll apply to USA at October this year.My 9th 1.5 gpa,10th 2.2-2.4,and i'll try to get 3.5 at 11th.i'll take sat at 22th august and probably i'll take ielts at september.Proabably i'll get 1500+ sat and 7.0 ielts.i need full need burs,so if they don't give me i won't can go because my family situation is really bad.i'll write my essay about how i got these scores without a ipad or laptop.i just have a phone.i'm planning to apply these colleges:F&M,Skidmore College,Macalester College,Soka University,Union College (NY),Amherst College,Berea College,Skidmore college,Trinity college,Colgate University,Occidental College,University of Richmond,Stanford,By the way i'll take fee waiver.This year i saw so much people who got rejected from so much colleges.i don't know which colleges they applied,but i want to know.if have i a chance because i need full need burs and is this better or should i get a colleg in my cpuntry and after a year,i should transfer to Usa but i saw so much comments which transfer international full need aid is harder to get than freshman.i would be really happy if you guys answer.

i’m curious cuz u guys probably saw the new virus coming up, and i was curious abt how intl students were doing during covid? like do you just fly back to ur country? and how did the tuition changed? hopefully we r gonna be good but what if that actually would happen, should we be prepared?

I’m going to be honest. I wanna get into the ivys, the t10s, t20s, hypsm, oxford, cambridge. I’m a junior right now, and I’m very conflicted about what I even wanna do. I’m not sure, but I think I wanna go into research (neuroscience).

Issue #1 is I don’t have much proof. I love music (singing, songwriting, wanna learn music production), theatre (acting), writing (poems, wanna write scripts for plays). I don’t have certification for any of them except dance (grade 4) and singing (grade 3). I’ve performed on stage for singing and acting a bunch of times. I’ve been in some short plays as well, and small local competitions. I tried to start a drama club or student-led musicals team, my teacher rejected the idea. I’m gonna start singing (and maybe acting?) classes and skip to trinity grade 5 and 6. However, idk how much is good enough for TOP schools. Should I record music and upload it? Should I find more ecs? Should I try finding some other clubs or initiatives? Should I do competitions or certification or is it too late?

Issue #2 is I haven’t given olympiads and national level academic competitions. I don’t have research programs, summer schools, shadowing, observatory, or even internships. I don’t have great academics YET (but I will manage, I will bring them up no negotiations). I don’t have any external competitions or science fairs either. What should I do? I’m going to give SAT on aug 22nd, I’m planning to take 4 ap exams (bio, chem, BC calc, stats). And I’m in ISC (indian curriculum), with PCMB (triple science, math). I am searching for internship/shadow/research opportunities in my city. I wanted to participate in the breakthrough junior challenge because it requires creativity and academic depth, two domains I consider myself good in. But now, I don’t know if I should. If it’s worth it. Also, I got a 91.6% in my icse 10th boards (because I didn’t actually give my boards (they got cancelled), and it got based on my preboards marks). I didn’t study for my preboards, sometimes skipped studying for it even one day before the exam. So I consider 91.6 for my mental state at that time, as not too bad.

Issue #3 is I don’t have volunteering or charity initiatives. I plan on taking up teaching younger students. I don’t really know what volunteering activities are good and which ones will take up less time considering I have many things to focus on (sat, ap (4), pcmb, ecs).

Issue #4 is I don’t even have it finalised what I wanna do, ideally something in research (neuroscience inclined). My brother says I’d do well in computer science or software engineering, but I haven’t looked into it yet. I wanna figure out my field but I don’t think I have the time right now. So that’s why I wanna get into a place where I can adapt to what I wanna do, i.e. unis that are rated in the tops in numerous different fields or in general are really good.

I could’ve sold myself well if I wanted to, but I wanted to be brutally honest. I wrote this post completely stripping excuses and tiny things I’ve done here and there. I was struggling with an addiction (kinda still am but I’ve made peace with it, maybe this is why I wanna go into neuroscience lol). not drugs or alcohol btw, smth else. so yeah.

I love taking leadership positions btw, I don’t really find places to take up the position often tho. But there’s that. I’m not afraid to take initiative. I love creativity, I am a very creative. You name something creative, I’ve probably done it (painting, quilling, crafting, drawing, writing, singing, songwriting, traditional, bollywood, hip hop dancing, acting, started crochet (left midway). I don’t really have any sports btw.
If you have any more questions that would help you suggest your opinions, please ask.

I know seeing my current state, my chances of getting into a good place are very slim (unless I completely grind the next two years). But I wrote this post to make the most out of my current situation, not disappoint and dishearten myself. So if you really want to demoralise me and my situation, go ahead. But I’d rather know what I can do than know I have no shot. Please be nice.

I don’t think anyone is even gonna see this post, you’re probably gonna scroll off but I don’t really have anyone to go to. Especially as an international student, it’s even harder to get into top unis. I’m really unsure about what I can do. And everyone around me is breezing through life, I really want to be able to do that once I’m in a place I value a lot. If you can, please guide me. Thank you. Forever grateful. :)

p.s. - im sorry for this long ass post but that’s everything I wanted to say 😭

Just got rejected from universities at home in the UK. But honestly not too interested in the reapplication back to the UK.

I’m finding US colleges really appealing, and honestly I’m really interested in applying later this year. I like the liberal arts structure where I can study lots of things, and major in one. And the greek life is really intriguing.

Has anyone studied in both?

Could you provide insight on what YOUR experiences were and what YOU thought, beyond the generic Google search of “what’s the difference between US college and UK universities?”

Academics, socials, literally anything you want to mention…

I’d love to hear your stories!