US universities and Scholarships.

[benitt]

I have applied for the course of Politics and International Relations and I have received conditional offers from some universities in the UK: Manchester, Essex, Kent.. but I really want to study in the US or somewhere else.
I know that the US is really expensive compared to Spain universities,. but I still want to try.

Do you know any university offering scholarships or anything?I don't care if its in the middle of nowhere,..

HELP, PLEASE!

[deissi]

All universities offer scholarships, but except for the top schools they mostly go to American students. Also, the financial crisis has caused and will cause the amount of scholarships to shrink. You're best off trying to find a scholarship from a Spanish foundation, there should be several that support overseas studies.

[Forester]

Well benitt it depends how qualified you are. And how willing you are to go to not-so-good schools. Manchester and Essex and Kent would rank among top 100 of US schools, and top 50 - 100 of US schools are achievable, as long as you SAT and grades are up to scratch. Also you may consider some of the Liberal Arts Colleges which offer a lot of financial aid. These include: Colgate, Bates, Colby, Carleton, Grinnell, Hamilton, Middlebury, Amherst, Williams, etc. Some of the lesser known ones are easier to get in such as Trinity.

[Vvi]

The US has thousands of universities. Out of those, many offer scholarships to international students. Otherwise the US would miss out on all the future scientists and engineers that aren't American.

Georgetown offers scholarships as well as financial aid, and there are also various Canadian universities like Toronto and McGill that do. My friend applied to McGill for a full scholarship and she's Palestinian. And another guy that I know (Palestinian again) got awarded a full scholarship to Georgetown, which is in Washington DC. Some universities have scholarships specifically for students that come from countries that are in the middle of a conflict, which I don't think Spain qualifies for (I mean more like Africa and poorer, less politically stable countries). But you never know until you ask.

My advice would be to pick a few universities that you are interested in and check their websites to see what they say about scholarships and financial aid. Be aware that a university may fund part of your studies, but you will almost always have to pay some part of it yourself. You can also email universities directly, explaining to them that you are a Spanish student doing IB and whatever else your circumstances may be (financial, domestic, etc.) and ask if they have any scholarships available.

And don't go to a university just because they are offering you a full scholarship, or because you have nowehere else to go. If you do go to the middle of nowhere and you end up hating the university, it's all going to have been a waste of time. Which is why you should have some idea of what you are looking for in a university.

Edited March 8, 2009 by Vvi

[IBStuck]

Vvi does make some good points, but dessi is right. with our financial crisis here a lot of shools are losing thier funding, but there are still some sholarships out there. pick out the school that you want to go to and then see if they offer scholarships for international students. there are still lots of oppertunities out there. don't pick a school just coz they gave you money. pick a school that you want and then look at the money. although just coz you choose a uni based on money doesn't mean that you will hate it. i chose the uni that i am at over another one because this one gave me more money and i completley love it here.

you can check the uni website to see if they offer scholarship, and what thy are and then how to apply for them. you can also call there office of financail aid.

Edited March 9, 2009 by IBStuck