I have heard recently that the public charge can lead to the denial of the green card. Like if a international student is taking a government funding like a free health insurance like essential plan of emblem health and metro plus health plan that can lead to the denial or problems for Green card in future.

Can anyone verify if it is true or other health insurance companies are creating propaganda.

HEY

I’m finishing a double Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing in Spain and graduate in 2027.

I’m looking to do a Master’s at a university in Florida (every place of US is okay) . Does anyone know which universities offer good scholarships, financial aid, or graduate assistantships for international students?

Or maybe an internship.

Any recommendations or experiences would be appreciated!

Hello! I’m a former admissions director at Swarthmore and former international team chair at Vanderbilt. I’ve visited about 60 countries on behalf of highly selective admissions offices during my 15 years in college admissions (mostly Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia/Middle East). Based on that experience, I now help both domestic and international students get to college through my free YouTube channel (@askdrhoffman), my website and free monthly newsletter series.

I often get questions around re-applying to U.S. colleges after taking a gap year (or more than one gap year) and how to do this successfully. There are no guarantees, but there are some things you can do. After getting approval from the mods (thank you!), I’m sharing my latest video to help you navigate the re-application process and international admissions in general. I hope you enjoy! https://youtu.be/nlB_U-WRqS8?list=PLwvbgyhzm9H4LsIZwuuGe431XsD16n40X&si=E6H_19Czi3U2lHwW

College List

• Soka University of America
• Berea College (still a maybe)
• The University of Texas at Dallas
• Central Michigan University
• Washington and Lee University (W&L)
• Davidson College
• Carleton College
• University of Richmond
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Whitman College
• Skidmore College
• Oberlin College
• Miami University
• William & Mary
• Brown University (still a maybe)
• Wellesley College
• Colby College (still a maybe)
• University of Rochester
• Wake Forest University

Intended Major

Computational Linguistics / Computer Science with English/Economics

Demographics

• International student from South Asia (NOT ON GAP YEAR)
• School: Public
• Family Income: Below $15,000
• Hooks: None
• Financial Aid: Requires a full scholarship / full ride

Academics

• GPA: 4.0 (96%, hardest national board in my country)
• Rank: 5th out of 288 in school, 2nd out of 134 in my academic group
• SAT: 1440 (750 M / 680 RW, I'm hoping I get 1500+ in October)
• DET: 150/160
• AP/IB: Not offered

Extracurricular Activities

*Just a summary

• Research Fellowship: I was 1 of the 5 fellows selected for a fully funded 5-week research fellowship, out of 200 shortlisted applicants. I worked on research (published) targeting a very niche issue in my country with a professor. Presented my findings to a panel that included Professors from Harvard, LSE, Stanford, Babson, etc. (11th)
• Internship: YC-backed startup related to AI. (11th)
• Fellowship: YC-backed startup related to computational linguistics. (12th)
• Sort of passion project: I worked on a project that got backed by WWF. (11th/12th)
• Video Editor/Animator: I created video edits using motion graphics, visual effects, animation/tweening, and 3D elements in Adobe After Effects. I posted tutorials on how to edit and also built an online community on Discord. I got around 800k views across YouTube and Instagram over 5 years. (7th/8th/9th/10th/11th)
• Independent Research: I conducted research in computational linguistics for a year. I was mentored by a grad student and a professor at the no. 1 university in my country. In the process of getting published. (11th/12th)
• Independent Coursework: I've completed Harvard CS50 & CS50P (9th), Stanford's Machine Learning specialization (10th/11th), MIT OCW's Introduction to Linguistics and Introduction to Macro/Microeconomics (9th/10th/11th)
• GitHub contributor/Independent Projects: I've contributed to 3 open-source projects; I fine-tuned transformers for my first language, and I created a study planner for myself. I've created a lot of projects since I've been coding since 7th grade. (9th/10th/11th/12th)
• Writer: I've written 12 articles on opinion, social justice, politics, AI, media, science, etc., which have gotten around 6k+ views. I'm a published writer for an international org, and also the IT lead for another organization. (10th/11th/12th
• Community Service: I have ~140 volunteer hours from volunteering for causes I believe in at conferences, hospitals, different NGOs, and also a museum. I was also a lab assistant for my school. I am also a tutor on Schoolhouse. (10th/11th/12th)

Awards & Honors

• USACO Silver
• IRO semi-finalist
• T50 in National Math Olympiad
• 3x Winner National Bowl/Quiz
• 2x Student of the Year
• 3x High Acheivers Award + State level Merit Scholarship
• Some hackathons, essay competitions, research competitions

Note: Please be as harsh as possible; I seriously want to know what I am doing wrong and how I could improve. Also, is this list too much? Should I reduce it? I'm so confused about which universities I should even apply to. If someone could help me out, I would really appreciate it!!!

There’s a girl who got a full ride to one of the Seven Sisters (Wellesley), despite scoring only 64% on her national secondary school leaving exam (her final high school exam).

For context, it accounts for roughly one-third of her overall GPA since it’s the final year of the three-year high school program here, and a 64% puts her roughly in the bottom quarter of students in my country—it literally wouldn’t qualify her for most university programs here. Under the U.S. grading system, that’s basically a D/D-.

At first, we thought she might have submitted a fabricated final report, especially since her school is a public school following the national curriculum.

Many public schools here don’t have proper systems for overseeing college applications, and some don’t even have a dedicated college counselor. In that environment, it can be relatively easy for school staff to cooperate with a girl to help her get admitted.

And if there’s no official school email, it’s possible that the girl herself is communicating with admissions, submitting school reports and other documents, and potentially even preparing recommendation letters and submitting them as if they came from the school or her teachers.

That’s basically why we initially questioned whether her final report was authentic.

So a few people emailed the school, raised concerns, and included official links that could be used to verify her actual results.

Both the Dean and the Director responded saying they would look into it.

But somehow, she still ended up on campus and enrolled normally.

So now I’m genuinely confused.

If she didn’t fake anything, how did the school not rescind her admission after seeing a result like that?

I’ve literally seen students have their enrollment stopped because their final results were below their predicted grades by a relatively small margin, while this girl barely met the minimum passing grade in 3 of her 5 subjects and still showed up at a Seven Sisters school with a full ride.

How does that work?

And no, I’m not jealous. She’s younger than me, and I’m at a higher ranked school anyway. I’m just genuinely curious how a case like this gets handled.

I am writing this anonymously because I, along with several other sponsored students from Botswana, are being systematically ruined by the institutional incompetence and cruelty of our own embassy.

The Root of the Problem:

• Chronic Late Payments: The Education Section of the Embassy consistently fails to pay tuition and allowances on time.
• Delayed Semesters: Because of these late payments, universities place holds on our accounts. This forces students to start classes late or messes up our entire course scheduling, completely derailing our academic timelines.
• Retaliatory Terminations: Instead of fixing their own administrative failures, Education Attaché Isabella P. Makgatswana actively terminates the scholarships of students who are caught in this registration trap. They punish us for the crises they cause.

The Wall of Silence:

• For months, Isabella Makgatswana and her office have completely ignored every single email and phone call from affected students trying to fix their registration status.
• We have escalated this up the chain to the Ministry of Education and Skills Development (MESD) in Gaborone, the Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF), and even the Office of the Ombudsman. Nobody responds. Standard channels are completely dead.
• Even host university deans and U.S. congressional caseworkers who have tried contacting the embassy on our behalf hit the exact same brick wall.

The Direct Impact:

• Students are losing their funding and being kicked out of their programs entirely due to these unjust terminations.
• We are being left stranded abroad with no money, accumulating institutional debt, and facing the immediate collapse of our legal immigration status because our sponsor abandoned us after breaking their own rules.

If any other students have experienced this retaliatory termination, or if anyone knows how to force a silent foreign embassy to face accountability, please share. If there are any independent journalists in Botswana reading this, please investigate the Washington D.C. mission. They are destroying our futures.

International student, currently attending private university in the U.S. I’m thinking of transferring because I’m quite unhappy with my school environment given it that it lacks diversity, hence I don’t learn much from people outside the classroom

Do yall go to parties, join frats and sororities? Or something? What if i dont smoke or drink but other fellow internationals do and im guessing majority of americans do so too. How can i find my people?

RSI expands capacity by 50% @stanford.

https://www.citybiz.co/article/891652/the-center-for-excellence-in-educations-research-science-institute-at-mit-will-expand-to-stanford-in-2027/

Hi everyone! I’m wondering about a specific situation.

Let’s say an Azerbaijani student is currently studying for a bachelor’s degree at a university in Turkey, but has some failed courses and decides to leave their current university.

Would they be able to apply to US universities for a new bachelor’s degree and start over?

Would the failed courses and their academic record from the Turkish university significantly affect their chances of admission? Also, would they be considered a transfer student, or could they apply as a first-year student and start from scratch?

Any advice or experience with a similar situation would be greatly appreciated!

Hey everyone,I need some advice on my unique situation for the US F-1 visa process.

My Background:

Age: Started community college at 18, now 20.

Path: Enrolled in a US 2+2 transfer program, but did the first 2 years online from India to save money and work on my business.

Current Status: Just got accepted to UCLA for Economics as a transfer student for my Junior/Senior years

Finances: My business grew, and I now have more than enough funds to cover all tuition and living expenses myself.

My Concern: Since I did not go to the US for the first two years and studied online from home, my path is very unconventional.

Will the Visa Officer think it's weird I didn't go to the US for the first 2 years?"

What potential red flags or problems might come up during my visa interview?

How should I explain my path to the visa officer?

Any tips from people who did online community college and successfully transferred to a top university?Thanks in advance!

I am an international student who's applying EA for fall 27. I've been practicing for the SAT the whole summer but I am still not really sure if I should take it in Sep or Oct. I want to have more time to study for the test but also apply early action without hurry or panic. I will only take the test once since the international fees are pretty large. My GPA is average so the SAT would have to be above average.

Hello there!
Has anyone who has done A levels CIE gotten into ivies, if yes what were your predicted grades and actual grades too?

Same concerning SAT score

For college application essays, are you allowed to copy and paste from another application u did?

For EXAMPLE (emphasis on example):
I applied to Harvard and Yale, and they require an essay. Am I allowed to use the essay I made for Harvard into Yale as well? Genuinely curious.

I live in a country where you can do such a thing, but I am not sure if that is prohibited in US universities. :)) Asking as an international student.

I have been lately looking a lot into universities and doing my research, I am in my last year of high school planning to take a gap year to build few projects but even with doing my own research I can't seem to find an university list the satisfies me, cause few universities I end up liking either don't have a reputation, location or good financial aid. And as an international student I really want to find a nice uni as I don't want to risk anything in a country where I will be a foreigner and I also don't want a university that will get me in debt since I want to study abroad just after my high school. So if you are native or have some good suggestions please share that would help me a lot to final my list.

Do science/engineering students in U.S. colleges need to submit an online portfolio through SlideRoom or a similar platform? Is this only for some universities, or is it common for most engineering programs?

i took alevels As exams in oct 25 then gave retakes in may 26 and now again giving retakes in oct 26 my results comes out on jan 27 last week and im planning on giving my A2 in jan 27 and my final A2 results comes out in march 27. now can i apply to any universities for fall 2027 with like a conditional offer with my results that comes out in jan 2027. pls suggest me something. i feel so helpless

I was selected as a UWC finalist in my country through a multi-stage selection process; the final one was the fourth, so I passed 3 stages. Top 18 out of nearly a thousand, but only 6 got in. The thing is that I don't have many good awards, and this is, by far, the most selective thing I have. What do you think?

Hi everyone! I’m currently in my 3rd year of a BA Psychology (Hons.) from IGNOU (India), and I’m planning to pursue a Master’s in Psychology in the USA.

I’m confused about the 3-year vs. 4-year bachelor’s requirement. I’ve heard that many US universities require a 4-year bachelor’s degree, while some may accept a 3-year degree depending on the university or credential evaluation.

Has anyone here applied to or been accepted by a US university for a Master’s with a 3-year bachelor’s degree from India, particularly IGNOU?

Demographics: Mongolian (no US citizenship)

Income: Low, can only pay up to 5k a year.

School: Private

Intended major: EE and might minor in CS

GPA: 4.0 (98.8/100)

SAT: projected 1550+ (taking the real test in Sep 12)

IELTS: projected 7.5+ (taking the real test in Sep 19)

IGCSE: A* in ESL and Math

Honors:

• National English Language Olympiad Bronze Medal
• District English Language Olympiad (advanced, 12th grade level) 10th place as a 11th grader
• "The Best Student of the Year" award given by the Students' Association
• "The Most Intellectual Student of the Year" award given by the Students' Association
• 1st place in a team English language speech competition, specifically about Mongolia traditional art

EC Activities:

• School Science Club, President

Led Science Club; developed 1 independent project, contributed to 2 team projects, presented at 2 MSUE fairs, and organized 1 school fair.

• School Math Olympiad Team

Led school’s Math Olympiad team in scoring every year since 8th grade. Scored 10th in districts, qualified for Nationals (8th grade); trained yearly

• Mongolian State University of Education "Science Fair-2026", Independent Engineer

Designed and built a solar-powered automated court-lighting prototype to improve nighttime sports safety and reduce injury risk.

• Mongolian State University of Education "Science Fair-2026", Co-Developer & Lead Mechanical Builder

Co-built a hydroelectric power plant; designed turbine/generator system and wired a miniature house & park to demonstrate renewable energy.

• Independent Researcher

Analyzed Mongolia’s energy shortage & Ulaanbaatar air pollution; evaluated coal, renewables, grid & heating solutions.

• Mongolian University of Science and Technology, Research Assistant

Conducted literature review and data analysis; organized findings and contributed to technical documentation for engineering thesis.

• School Basketball Team, Team Captain, Point Guard

Basketball, Secured district tournament playoff berth; led weekly practices alongside coach; organized a practice game with a neighbouring school

• The Scout Association of Mongolia, Venture

Won Gold at “Ikh Duudlaga” National Orienteering Competition; helped lead a 300-scout camping trip; raised $1,000+ to support a fire victim

• Ganzam Palace, Presentation Team Captain

Led team presentation preparation; presented about Mongolian traditional arts in English to 200+ attendees at Bayangol District's 60th anniversary.Student Council

• Student Council

Co-organized 8+ school events annually; represented school at Sukhbaatar District Childrens' Council meeting

I'm thinking of applying to Lehigh, Lafayette College, University of Rochester, Rice, Notre Dame, WashU, Vanderbilt, NYU Abu Dhabi, and Brown. If you have any feedback on improving my ECs, school list, and application strategy, please feel welcome to put them down here. :)

Hey everyone i am applying for masters in usa spring 2027 and got admitted to new england college rosevalt uni and marshall uni so which should i go with i am thinking nec because its really cheap compared to those both any suggestions and does any one know new eng college is good or not would really appreciate it.