Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

Hi all,

I am a British student looking to study in a US college. I was wondering how I would go about getting a scholarship(s) to fund it. Are there any popular ones for British students? I am an ethnic minority (Asian-Indian), so are there any scholarships that I can make use of because of my ethnic minority?

Further, how does the whole scholarship system work? How would I do this from the UK? I know of one website (http://go.salliemae.com/scholarship/) but it doesn't let me register because I do not live in a US state.

If someone who has been through the UK-US transition using US College Scholarships can advise me on here, that would be absolutely great!


Thanks a lot in advance!

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

First bit of advice. Avoid Sallie Mae like the plague. There, I just improved your life massively. You dodged a bullet there.

Second - it depends on the institution you are applying to; some of the top places like Harvard offer full scholarships for exceptional students but you have to go through all the tests etc. Not sure there would be any specifically for ethnic minorities and if there were, it would be for the US Citizen ones there already.

Third - your other option is to look into a Fulbright Scholarship - google it.

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

Thanks a lot for the prompt reply. I will avoid Sallie Mae. I will also look into the Fulbright Services, I do use that website quite a bit.

Thanks once again. I'll post my Fulbright findings on here.

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

Have you started applying for a university place yet? A lot of scholarships are internal - get in, with good grades, and the scholarship would come next.

I presume you mean merit-based scholarships rather than loans or handouts?

What's your sport skill like? If you are an athlete, that's another avenue.

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

Thanks for your reply. I am definitely not an athlete; though I do play racket sports at a competitive level in the UK. Yes, I mean merit-based scholarships, but I know that there is virtually a market for scholarships in the US for college education? How would I get myself into this and be able to exploit it??

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

As dunroving says, apply first is the key.

Then if/when you get an offer, ask about the financial aid.

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

You could start by doing the same as most US students - read the Financial Aid pages of the Web sites for unversities you are thinking of applying to.

Re: Getting US Scholarships to attend US College, from the UK
 

Problem for most loans and scholarships being for USC's/LPR's only...so that leaves any school specific ones and to get them would depend on the schools criteria.

Competition would generally be tough and you'd need to have decent grades and it would help to be a sporty person.

Thing is, bit moot because if you can't fund your tuition and living expenses, chances of getting the student visa would be low.