Scholarships to USA

[SerenePearlCat]

DS is in year 11 and she would like to go to university in the US. Does anyone have any knowledge of the full merit scholarships available to international students at top level universities? While doing her research she came across the Robertson and the Morehead Cain, I would love to hear from anyone who has managed to secure one of the merit based scholarships to the US.

This is the eligibility for King Morgridge. Nothing for uk students. Not eligible!

The only two that she is considering at the moment are the Morehead Cain and the Robertson. Both are open to UK students and are full merit scholarships. She does realise that only a couple from the UK will achieve them each year. Both are at excellent universities which will make them extremely competitive. We haven’t come across any others.

@SerenePearlCat Open to uk applicants is key. The one at U Alabama is but I’m assuming it’s very competitive. Anyone from anywhere can apply. I think these fully funded scholarships are needle in a haystack though.

There are specialist agencies that help international students secure scholarships at US universities. I'm not sure that it's possible to go it alone.

DD has been looking at Moorhead Cain but it will be challenging for her as she’s not at a private school and Sutton Trust only caters for low income families which rules is out. Little middle ground it seems.

We are in the same position. My DD is also in a state school and we’re not eligible for the Suttton Trust. It’s definitely a challenging and very competitive scholarship but she wants to try. When she receives her GCSE results she is going to speak to her headteacher. Her school would need to apply to become a nominating school.

It is frustrating isn’t it? I would love to see a bit more ambition from some state schools. Expectations should be high.

My niece got a partial scholarship and still paid $65,000 a year!! It's important to note she has an American passport as fees for International students are way more.The people who get accepted at these colleges have taken part in activities that would take up all of your week right across the year. Play musical instruments,speak multiple languages, on sports teams,debate teams, drama, advanced classes,( extra school work) ,volunteering a set number of hours a week .The list is endless +all at a very high level .More importantly the Trump administration is about to wreak havoc on US Colleges. In contrast my youngest child graduated with a first class honours degree completely free here in Ireland ,oldest has Science degree also free. My son went to Uni in Norway ( thru English) also free.All of them were offered a year study abroad in multiple US and Canadian universities also free.People complain about the EU but the educational advantages are clear.

My DS didn't go to the US. But knew of a boy the year above who negotiated for a 90% scholarship from Harvard

Fees for out of state students at state universities are high.

I am not aware of fees for international students being higher, although auxiliary costs will be higher. I suppose there could be specialist programmes likely at PG level where this is true. Could you give an example of the type of programme where this is true? TIA

Often Overseas students are not eligible for financial aid, sadly

Statistically international students pay much higher tuition in the US than US students do, but that of course hides a wide variation in the tuition fees paid by individual US students.

Was he a sports admit? That would be the only time this might happen. Otherwise you've got the wrong college name / someone is telling you porkies.

No the boy was just "wicked smart". This was 2018 though.

I do remember this person got a very substantial scholarship and then negotiated for a bit more.

Thank you.

This needn’t be caused by fee differentials for International students. Many American students benefit from in-state tuition fees at public universities in their home states.

Which scholarship was it?

Harvard, like all the Ivy League colleges offer FA (Financial aid) to those whose families do not exceed a certain income threshold. This is for home students / overseas students. They don't offer any kind of merit.

Any aid is not negotiable, it's based on a metric only.

They have links to these

https://www.gsd.harvard.edu/resources/scholarships-for-international-students/

but these are all "external" scholarships, not funded by Harvard and not negotiable.

No idea. He just got very generous aid

So not a scholarship, he got FA. And you can appeal FA but you cannot "negotiate" it.

It really would be helpful when people write these anecdotes, to be as accurate as possible. Try to remember there are parents here actively trying to make things happen for their kids. Don't send people off on a wild goose chase thinking there's something available to them that simply is not.

No statistically, international students pay more in the UK but not in the US. If you're applying to a private college like one of the Ivies, you pay the same as everyone else who applies, depending only on FA.

If you apply to a state college you will pay OOS (out of state) rates, just like every other applicant who doesn't reside in state.

@KiwiMum2023 You could argue that their ambitions are high. Just not for US universities with significantly slimmer odds of getting in than Oxbridge. Even worse of you want money from them. It’s a case of resources and second tier uni applications in the USA are highly time consuming - for one or two students this diverts from the vast majority who need advice for a standard UCAS application. There’s little advantage in the unis the OP mentions over the best here. None really.

Harvard has always given extremely generous need based aid and does not give merit scholarships. They give parity to international students.

I suspect the young man was receiving need based aid. That, or an athletic scholarship

Thank you for correcting me.

The "rack rate" is differentiated in the UK for International and home students but home students in the UK mostly pay the full whack of home fees which is not the case in the US.

My DC applied for the Morehead Cain @TizerorFizz and got through to the semifinals. We were invited to an event in London last November,it would have been life changing imo .The Morehead Cain leadership and alumni were seriously impressive, the network that is available to the scholars is another level. The package doesn’t just include fees, housing, food, books it also includes internships and a semester at a university abroad if the DC wants to.Literally everything is included. DC didn’t make the final selection ,he was very disappointed but with only 2/3 Uk students getting the scholarship each year the odds are very slim. The OP’s DC should apply and I wish her luck, why not dream big when you are young.

As I understand it, being an athlete recruit does not come with financial assistance for International students, this is for Ivy League only. Only Financial Aid is applicable to UK students for Ivy league applications, some will include assets as part of the calculation (like how much equity is in your property, rental income etc) and how many children you still have of school age. Harvard's calculation was different to others, the most generous from past experience. DD was a deferred early decision Princeton candidate and then withdrew, did not apply to anywhere else due to her programme niche.

Some lower tier colleges do provide sports scholarships of varying percentages to overseas students, some are very generous indeed, but the trade off is an unknown brand outside of US.

It looks like the OP's DC is set on applying to US via the named scholarships discussed, good luck to her OP, it is an impressive aim given how competitive the scholarships are, and applications can run alongside her UCAS process if she's not successful.

Only as PPs have mentioned it, the dual BA with TCD and Columbia does indeed offer a Maths/Economics stream. Also mentioned is that joining Columbia in years 3 and 4 in with the School of General Studies, not Columbia College. Whilst students do sit in class with CC, the integration (this is anecdotal feedback across 3 years) is not as smooth as one would hope. The average age of GS students is circa 27 (this was 2022 entry) and whilst you can apply for FA, it is not really applicable to international students from GS.

A final consideration, given that your DD sounds smart and driven OP, is as others have suggested and opt for a year abroad, but an alternative is via the TCD Foundation Scholarship, a 4 year programme The papers are sat in January Y2, with awards announced in May of Y2. Successful candidates then get 5 years financial award of free tuition, board (extending to PG studies if applicable) meals and stipend, with all students encouraged to take a YA, or semester at the minimum with includes a good US and Canada offering. My DD is not a STEM student, so cannot comment on the quality, just offering another option, Ireland living is not for the faint-hearted if DC are not independent minded

It is all so up in the air re US studies that can put risk onto students that opt for there, with certain programmes like the one my DD does that is available as a 4 years TCD and Dual BA now under federal scrutiny to ensure 'balance is retained'. She believes she would actually be denied entry right now, given her prolific writing within Middle Eastern journals as part of her programme of study. Even if they are not demonstrating bias, the risk of her being flagged is high, and her university is making sure students are aware of this, including warning students of risk of returning home for Christmas/Easter etc for holidays could result in issues of re-entering US to continue their studies.

Interesting times.

The young man does sound impressive! And he is proof that Overseas students receive financial aid, which is good to have.