College in the US

[Pepperpot]

Since there are a lot of people from the US here, I was hoping for some advice. I'm from Italy, and I spent my "senior" year in the US. The problem is that in Italy we have 5 years of high school, so I can say that in september i'm going to start my "super senior year" in Italy and graduate here. I want to move back to the US so bad next summer, and try to go to college there. I might have to find a job first and start college the year after but that's not a big deal for me, the problem is that everybody is telling me that I dont have any chance to actually get to go to college in the US. First of all, I know it's expensive, and my parents won't help me one bit, so I'm already saving like crazy and planning on getting a scholarship somewhere somehow, but is it really that hard for an international student to get a scholarship? My english is pretty good, and I'd like to major in international relations but I dont know what to think anymore and don't really know what to do to make it happen, can someone please help me?

[Haley53]

I'm not sure if it's hard so much to get a scholarship, but more that it's extremely pricey as an international student and with most countries, I would believe national students get first shot at the scholarships (for example, I was looking into a few universities at one point in Europe and they wouldn't even accept financial aid for students outside of the EU; I'm admittedly not sure about scholarships).

The thing with studying abroad is that you not only have to worry about college fees, but about visa fees and what that means. Fortunately, since you'd be doing an undergrad program, there would be a lot more resources available to you. Do you have universities you would be interested in attending? If you do, I would consider e-mailing the EAP department or go to their website and look at what's required of international students; they should have the fees listed there as well. I also believe you can't work on a student visa, unless it's an on-campus job, so that's something you'll need to consider as well. However, I would simply do your research. E-mail the international departments of the colleges you want to go to. Read the information on their website. Contact places from which you hope to obtain scholarships and ask them your chances as an international student. Things like that. We welcome international and out-of-state students, usually, not only for the claimed diversity factor but quite frankly, because their fees are incredibly helpful; however, yes, they're that high. :/ So it is something to think about as an international student that won't be able to work off-campus and might have difficulty getting a scholarship, especially with how competitive things are at the moment given the budget.

For you, however, I would recommend doing your research, because it will also depend very much on the universities you're hoping to go to. Two might not have a spot for you, but then you might find three more that would welcome you with open arms. I would honestly take some time e-mailing study abroad programs, the universities you're looking to attend, and anywhere you can find information on scholarships. Another thing you could consider is studying abroad for a semester or a year but primarily studying in Italy.