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How do international students afford university?For international student considering coming to the US for their university education…..Even in developing countries, there is always an upper class that is wealthy enough to afford an expensive education for their children.In some cases, governments will find their students to study in the US, sometimes these initiatives are funded by the US government via aid programs.There are few complete scholarships for international students in US universities, and many public universities offer no scholarships for international students (for undergraduate education).It is often most cost effective for an international student to earn their bachelors in their home country, then attend graduate school in the US, which is typically fully funded (PhD study).

I really wanted to study abroad.Unwilling to pay $10,000 or more for a semester, I decided I would get my Master's Degree abroad on a scholarship. I began applying to many universities abroad including Spain, New Zealand, Taiwan, and of course, Thailand.I applied for a university in Bangkok. From what I researched, Bangkok was full of English speaking expats, my school had plenty of foreign exchange students, and the Thai students there spoke English. I am a very outgoing person so I thought I would make friends really easily.That university, Kasetsart University, was the first one to offer me a full scholarship plus grad salary. I accepted it, not wanting to fill out applications for any more schools, and that was that. I was set to head for Bangkok in January.Upon arrival, my adviser's old grad students picked me up from the airport. They said the campus was two hours away. I was confused. From my research, my campus was supposed to be 20 minutes from the airport. The grad students laughed, “That's the main campus in Bangkhen, you applied for Kamphaeng Saen.”I, stupidly, had applied for the wrong campus. Kasetsart University has 4 campuses. Their names sounded similar to me. Instead of foreigner-filled Bangkok, I was headed for rural Kamphaeng Saen.I showed up to a university filled with rice fields and all Thai students. Nobody spoke English but my professor and a couple of other professors. I was devastated at first.I thought I ruined my life. I told myself I had to survive one semester, then I could quit if I felt like it.After I was done being dramatic, I made myself learn Thai so I could gain some independence. Upon arrival, I couldn't order food by myself, travel by public transportation, or do something as simple as getting a phone plan for myself. I buckled down and told myself that in order to not be miserable, I had to learn Thai so I could make friends. I was really lonely for a long time and completely silent, being unable to communicate with anyone.Now, I think it was fate that I ended up in rural Thailand. I love it here. I love the people. My struggles were big and long-lasting, but I learned how tough I am. I love this country, I never want to leave.Obviously, I didn't choose rural Thailand, but maybe destiny chose it for me.If you'd like a more detailed story about my journey moving to Thailand, you can read here :)Moving to Thailand - Alone in Thailand

This is what I did for getting scholarship in Canada:I am an international student in Canada from India.Somhow, I convinced my parents that I want to study in Canada. That was a tough task toughI knew that studying in Canada is very expensive especially for international students. So, I had to get a scholarship at any cost otherwise my dream of studying abroad would be shattered.I figured out that some universities also give scholarships based on SAT scores and Ielts or toefl is a must. So I decided to give SAT and Toefl.It was already august and I wanted to get into the university from the classes which start from January itself.I started my preparation. I had only 20 days to prepare for the next SAT. I studied around 16 hours per day everyday with full determination.During my studies, my mind would say it is not gonna work because getting scholarship is very difficult and only few get it.But, I ignored those thinking and continued studying for my exam in the hope of studying in Canada.It was a very difficult situation as I had no idea what would I do if I don’t get scholarships because I knew my family cannot afford to pay huge amount of money for studying abroad.Finally, came the day of the exam. I gave the exam and came back. I didn’t know how I did. I didn’t want to think about it.Without wasting any time, I started my preparation for Toefl. I had only 15 days for it. I did the same. I studied around 16 hours everyday till the day of the exam. I gave the exams and I had no idea how I did.Now, it was time for the results. I scored 1450/1600 in the NEW SAT with just 20 days of preparation and I scored 108/120 in Toefl.I was happy with the scores but I didn’t know whether it was enough for the scholarships. I applied to universities in Canada and applied for tons of scholarships from all places on the internet.I was accepted into all the universities I applied but I was not sure If I would get the scholarship.Few days later, came the email I was waiting for long enough. I was offered scholarships of worth $10000 by Waterloo.Again few days later, Came another email from university saying I got another scholarship of worth $5000. Now, I had to pay less than half of the tuition.It was tough. If I can do it, you can tooIf your profile is good, then chances of getting scholarship is high. There are many universities that offer scholarships to students. There are different types of scholarships as well:University Scholarships: University Scholarships have two types:i. Entrance scholarships: Most universities have entrance scholarships for which you will be considered as soon as you apply to the university. If your profile will be good enough, they will offer you the scholarship.ii. Application based scholarships: Now, many universities have application based scholarships as well. You will have to fill up a separate application to get the scholarship. These scholarships can be very specific like scholarships for girls who are studying computer science.2. External scholarships: There are many external scholarships as well provided by external organisation to students studying abroad. Like Microsoft provides scholarships to international student studying computer science in USA or Canada.Apply to as many as you can. This will increase the chances of getting scholarships.What if you feel your profile is not exceptional ?There is a way out of it as well. Apply to affordable universitiesThere are many universities which are affordable in Canada like Brandon university, Canadian Mennonite university, South Alberta institute of technology, Kings university college, Concordia university of Edmunton, University of prince Edward Island . You can apply in one of them.Please do not think that these universities are not good because they are cheap, they are government funded. They are pretty good tooNote: I also have a YouTube channel. If you are planning to come to canada, you can check out my channel. I upload many important videos for international students which will help you ease the process of studying abroad. Please check out my channel once. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/...

If you and your parents have No money to pay for college then there are two major paths:Get admitted to one of the top 30 to 50 Private elite US universities that will provide up to Full financial aid for all admitted students, as long as the student and all of her/his parents fill out a daunting number of forms documenting how little money they have available for college. NOTE: Many Public universities will provide a Full merit scholarship to that type of Resident of their state, so they will attend the Public college rather than MIT or Harvard or Stanford,Attend your local very good community college and Federal Pell grants (up to $6,000 per year) will make that Free for you (Fill out the FAFSA forms), then get admitted to your state’s top Public university system for junior and senior years and you might need to take some loansThe third path is to enlist in the military (Navy or Air Force) and get great on-the-job training and possibly have the military pay for your complete college education.Easy.All the best.

Most students give up their dreams of studying abroad mainly due to the costs involved in it. Though they might be good in studies and have some brilliant ideas and visions in store, the inability to fund oneself for higher education abroad shatters all the dreams they had seen in relation to their education.How To Get Full Scholarships For Study AbroadFull ScholarshipsMany students are still unknown to the fact that there are a plethora of Full scholarships available for them along with some great on-campus financial aid packages which can help them fulfil their dreams and study at the university or institute of their choice no matter how far away it is from their homeland.What is a scholarship?Being a monetary award, a scholarship proves useful to a student as it helps cover expenses of their study abroad program whether it is credits, travel, course, lodging and books. As scholarships can be very competitive, students are advised to apply for them at least a year before they wish to go abroad for studies.How to get a full scholarship?Based on merit – A study abroad scholarship which is based on merit is designed especially for those students who have exceptional artistic, academic or athletic abilities, hold any kind of community service record or excel in extracurricular activities. The qualification for which the student is chosen to get the scholarship depends on the scholarship itself as not all scholarships are the same and are based on different types of merit. So in order to get a full scholarship based on merit, you must excel in either your studies, a particular sport or have exceptional artistic qualities.Student-specific – In order to get such a scholarship, you must fulfil the criteria on which it is based. The scholarship may be based on factors like religion, gender, race, and medical or family history. Some scholarships are unique and are based on factors which are student-specific too. One of the most common scholarships in our country is that of minority scholarships though the qualification which makes you eligible for the same varies from one scholarship to another.Program-specific – Many abroad destinations have program-specific full scholarships which are offered to students only if they choose that particular program for their studies. After short listing, some universities and colleges, try to look for the programs which offer full scholarship and try to opt for them instead of those which do not offer such a scholarship.Destination-specific – Sometimes choosing the right destination can help you get full scholarships for studying abroad! Though you may have planned to study in a specific country and in a particular institute, being a little flexible in your options can help you secure the full scholarship and get a valuable degree from another university! There are several countries which offer scholarships only if you pursue higher studies in that particular country. You can check the government-sponsored travel websites of such countries for more details.Getting a full scholarship will not only help you save tonnes of money but also allow you to shape your future and career just as you wanted to without compromising on your education!

Respectfully, if you can figure out how to ask questions on Quora, you could have found the answer to this question. I typed “University of Central Florida” and “scholarships” into my browser and immediately found this link:Office of Student Financial AssistanceThis school offers over 100 different scholarships and only asks you to fill out one form. There may be others as well.