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How many A-Levels do universities like?

Is it unwise to ignore universities that don't give aid?

  • I am an international student planning to apply to universities abroad for my undergraduate degree. Help me sort all this out, please. I want to make the best decision I possibly can and choose universities to apply to, keeping in mind my finances, the reputation of the universities and my chances of getting in and, most importantly, aid. Since I know my family's (six people) annual income comes around $50,000-$60,000 and I will definitely need financial aid and scholarships to attend, is it fine to only short list universities that will be able to offer financial support? There are a lot of good universities that I'd like to apply to but they unfortunately do not offer a lot of help to international students, e.g. the UC system. Is that unwise, because I am aware that there are outside/private/governmental scholarships as well which I could apply for and I could just be reducing my chances of getting into a world renowned university if I don't apply to non-aid-awarding universities? Bottom line is that I don't know how to shortlist universities, then, because most of them are great but money is the deal-breaker for me. P.S. I will not be taking out any kinds of loan for my education.

  • Answer:

    Thanks for the A2A! :) I do not think it is unwise to ignore universities that do not give aid. There are many good universities, and some of them give aid, so I think you should choose one of them. Well, I hope that there are many renowed universities in your area of studies. :) You can apply to several universities and then, when you are accepted in one (or more of them), you get in and try to do your best. If you are a hard-working student, you will probably get good grades on you degree. Then, after that, it might be easier to continue your studies in an university that does not give aid (if you want to, of course), because there are more chances that you will get a nice job and then you will no longer need aid. I think you are right in not be willing to take any kind of loan. It must be terrible to be in the early 20s and already have a huge debt. You also need to check the prices of the rooms/apartments near the university, the public transports and the cost of living in the different places. For example, I have a friend who would really like to go on Erasmus to Norway, but it is very expensive, and now she is considering going to Belgium instead. I wish you good luck for your studies! :)

Cláudia Anjos Lopes at Quora Visit the source

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If you can't afford the school, then why go there? I would say yes, it is perfectly okay to only have a short list of schools that you will be able to afford. There are thousands of colleges and universities in the United States, and thousands more throughout the world. I am sure you will find many that you love, and can afford. Bottom line is, don't pick a school because of the name or prestige, because then you might end up having ten or hundreds of thousands of dollars to repay when you leave school. If you add interest to that, it could take 10-20 years to pay off all of your loans depending on your job, income, and payment plan. Pick a school you love, but having it be affordable should make you love the school even more.

Andrew Rose

My recommendation is apply everywhere and take the best offer. It might sound insane but most of my friends filled out about 20 - 30 college applications during our junior year in high school (I luckily had to do only 1, as I was accepted through early decision). There's almost no way to guarantee acceptance to a university in the United States, so just trying everywhere is the best option. That being said, I don't think starting one's early 20s with $100,000+ in debt is the greatest option so I would definitely try to go somewhere where you can at least get some financial aid!

Nicholas Mahlangu

As an international student in the USA, you will have a lot of visa restrictions. You can only work a limited number of hours in on-campus jobs, you cannot work in off-campus jobs, you can only do a certain number of internships etc. Factoring in the visa restrictions, pressure of college and being so far away from home for the first time, I think it is best that you ONLY apply to universities that offer you a good amount of funding. This will help you focus only on your studies and not other things like how you will pay off your huge debts.

Madhu MS

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