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.

Interesting, thank you.

IIRC there is a mum on thus board whose DS is at an Ivy on a sports scholarship. He is British and world ranked at his sport. But I could be wrong, or the scholarship could be combined with aid

The Ivy League does not offer sports scholarships. They offer financial aid ONLY.

www.bigjeducationalconsulting.com/

Spreadsheet with schools that offer support for international students

get.eab.com/match/

Reverse application site

You’re wrong 😀

dc was offered Ivy League sports scholarship.

the scholarship gets you entry. Dc, while a very able student would not have got in on academics alone.

financial aid is needs based the same as everyone else.

Slight word of warning … DC has a friend who was in the US on a sports scholarship. I say was as Mr Trump has revoked his student visa and he’s currently on his way home poor lad.

It certainly hasn’t been done to all international students, and seems to be limited certain uni’s / colleges which Trump has issues with, so I think he’s been incredibly unlucky.

@exhaustedbeinghappy do you know on what basis was his student visa revoked?

@AzurePandai really do t have much info, DC doesn’t either (they haven’t kept in touch since he went so he feels a bit off contacting home now asking what has gone on) a quick google gave me https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg411rrnkkko

I’d be interested too.

trump originally seemed to support international students- proposed anyone graduating from a us uni should be eligible for a green card, apparently.

i’ve heard of some student visa revocations, but usually there’s a “reason”, such as pro Palestine activism.

are you sure it’s not the currency ncaa case which may limit roster number so many teams are reducing numbers now, especially for “non revenue” sports

that may not be the right article - the student definitely hasn’t done anything to rock the boat themselves, I believe their uni was one of a small number to be effected

@Whatsgoingonherethenagain could be that, the sport is tennis, but it’s definitely not Div 1

I'm an American mom with two kids who graduated from uni's here in the last few years. This is spot on. American universities offer merit aid because their rankings depend in large part on the average SAT scores of their recently admitted students. The more your scores raise their average, the more merit aid they will give you. This is also why the Ivy league schools don't offer merit aid. They have no need to raise their rankings.

Don't get too hung up on going to an Ivy. They educate less than 1% of the undergraduates in the US, and there are dozens of highly rated universities that offer a comparable education, with similar name recognition.

We also used a college admissions counselor with our kids, and it was money well spent. She was fabulous and happy to work fully remotely with international students.

https://klemmerec.com/

@MissConductUS The fact you are American surely makes a huge difference? The Brits aren’t going to get much.

Im always pro aiming high but value for money for most people does matter. Also the odds of getting in for the scholarships the DD wants seem very slim. Oxbridge is a doddle by comparison.

Love the glee

I'm not sure I understand your question. One thing uni's here recruit for is geographic diversity, and international students get plus points for that. And being from the UK, there's no worry about language skills.

I think there's some confusion about the term scholarship. Some third party organizations offer scholarships, which are grants for educational expenses not tied to one university. Those are indeed rare and difficult to get. Most universities in the US offer "merit aid scholarships" as described above, and those are easy to get if your scores will raise their averages. One benefit of working with a US based college counselor is they'll know, based on the applicant's scores, how much they can expect to get from each university on their list. That will let you drop the ones you can't expect much help from.

@MissConductUS It’s that Brits pay full fees. Not in state fees. Parents haven’t saved up enough either, so are looking for funding. As the DD has discovered, it’s very difficult to source. We are not Veterans, Church members etc.Believe me, I trawled through a lot after I did the Fulbright seminar. Brits qualify for next to nothing. So the choices are very limited if you need money and no consultant can really help with that.

My DD got a scholarship to a private NY uni. It was not 10% off the fees, which 12 years ago were $40,000 plus p/a. Plus, there was no obvious advantage in having that degree. I question if the degree the OP is looking at is worth it either when compared to the best in the UK, but others don’t agree. I’d put my efforts into Oxbridge or LSE. But others feel differently. There’s no shortage of talented Brits with uk degrees working in the USA.

Of course you're not going to get in state tuition rates at a state school as a Brit. Those schools are heavily subsidized for state residents. My kids couldn't get them outside of New York, where we live.

If your DD was only offered a 10% merit aid package, she was applying to a private uni where her scores didn't raise the average much.

Whether it's worth it compared to an British degree is a different question.

She didn’t have scores. It was an art based course. It was a portfolio. Yes I know she’s no genius! Thanks for reminding me.

My point still stands that Brit parents have rarely prepared for this HE route. Americans do. They mostly have great state unis we have never heard of. As mentioned earlier. The op was looking for money from scholarships. There’s virtually nothing for Brits as this thread shows. It’s an handful of options and all are ludicrously competitive. Fine if you get one.

Americans quality for more in their own country. As we do here. It’s often made to look easy - going to USA for uni and getting money. It’s really not. Post grad is different. What American Moms can get for dc isn’t what British Mums can get in the USA.

@TizerorFizz is 100% correct. I am a Brit living in the US and college entry is a highly commercialized event here. It is not financially viable or attractive. Which is why my kids are going to university in the UK in Sept.

It will cost less for us to pay international fees, which we have to do as we've been living overseas for eons, for 3 years, than to pay in state costs in the USA.

UCLA / Berkeley would have been our best options here in California, Oxford, Edinburgh, Exeter, Bristol etc being our best options in the UK.

Also British living in the USA. For us instate would have been cheapest but this depends on which state you live in. Overseas fees in the UK were not doable for eldest (especially as they were competitive for highly ranked universities and Oxbridge and London universities have ridiculous overseas fees) and they are at a liberal arts college that offered them a generous package.

The biggest source of funding for private universities is need based aid. If you are well off, then you are unlikely to benefit. There is a second problem, which is whether need based aid is distributed to international students, and if admissions are need blind for them.

state universities typically don't meet full need for anyone and consequently don't look at your finances when they offer admissions. it's all on you.

Sports can mean one of two things depending. It can mean a specific scholarship, or it can be an admissions boost but with no scholarship attached. If a college is Division III they are not allowed to offer scholarships, but you will find that students are still recruited and may get in with not quite as strong an academic record. I believe. The ivies do not have designated sports scholarships, but they do recruit. The money part at the ivies is all need based. If your family is wealthy you're going to pay, it's quite simple for them.

(don't forget that the Ivy League is a historical association so there absolutely are other universities just as good!)

not applicable for OP but I wouldn't take a scholarship to a lesser ranked university if my intention were to return to the UK, unless it were a really fabulous deal or the child were mad about sport. It cuts both ways. There are well ranked British universities that a lot of Americans don't know at all. Someone who is well clued in to economics would recognise Warwick for example, but I couldn't say that an ordinary HR manager would.

Some advice on leadership experience - your DD should look out for opportunities in her local area to start some sort of programme to benefit the local community, or to join one (or more) and show a high level of commitment to it. She would have several feathers to her cap if she could identify a needed project and get it off the ground - liaison with local government, liaison with stakeholders, liaison with beneficiaries, evidence of civic spirit, evidence of great time management, evidence of communication skills, evidence of seriousness of purpose/ motivation to give to the local community and to win the scholarship.

She needs to brainstorm. Students in American high schools do not get to be appointed head girl/ boy, etc. Most who can put leadership roles on their college applications will have performed some volunteering either in school or in their wider communities, and can show a record of commitment, sometimes with increasing levels of responsibility as the years of service advance. Would your DD be able to take over the running of a Girl Scout or Boy Scout troop? Could she organise a charity run or dance marathon to benefit a local charity? Could she organise a drive to collect food for a food bank? A drive to collect clothing so that job seekers would have appropriate clothing for interviews? Is there a student government in her school with offices she could run for? Would she be willing to volunteer as a peer tutor or conflict mediator in her school, or find an organisation that tutors or mentors disadvantaged or differently abled kids, and commit to it for the next few years, perhaps being promoted to training new volunteers, etc... Universities and scholarship committees want to see go getters who bloom where they are planted.

Agree with all of that.

It's worth noting that American postgrad degrees are not created equal. A masters is more likely to be your end degree if you're in education, finance, public health, social work/ counseling, or business, and probably other areas. In other areas (history, philosophy, English, MFL, some STEM areas, and more) a masters is a foundation step en route to a PhD and very likely a career in research or third level teaching.

Then there are postgrad professional qualifications, such as medicine, physiotherapy, dentistry, and law (and others), where entry depends partly on performance in the LSAT or MCAT or other test hurdle.

Internships, employment you had while a student, research opportunities you were able to wangle - all are very important, as is your GPA, if you want to proceed to a postgrad degree. Your employment chances are also higher if you spend your undergrad years hustling for good jobs or relevant internships and gaining good references from them.

@knitnerd90agree completely with most Americans not recognizing highly ranked UK universities. Oxford and Cambridge are very widely recognized and appreciated but outside of that I’ve really only found that LSE is known by those within the financial industry and also St Andrews seems to be extremely popular at the moment for US students.
Imperial is virtually unknown and I’ve never met anyone who’s heard of Bristol, Durham, UCLA etc in my little corner of the US.

Visa revocations are happening and they are not giving notice in the usual way
Immigration Update: SEVIS records cancelled - International Student Services

@BackToWhereItAllBegan All grads from all the universities you mention in the uk have grads going to post grad in the USA. So where you start in the uk doesn’t mean you cannot study further in the USA.

Look here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1exzyxKUbF6oQavI_KJcx02JBKEbd9AyYsHVmNBuCgXo/