Applying to Colleges and paying for college

This is my first time posting anything in the forums and I hope I can receive some beneficial feedback from fellow DACA students!

I'm going to be a high school senior in the fall, and I've been looking into colleges and tuition rates...making phone calls... and most of the colleges I'm interested in have international tuition rates for a DACA.

Did any of you have positive (or negative) experiences when applying to scholarships or loans? I'm extremely worried about paying for college and have no idea where to start or who to ask. Do you recommend going to a community college?

What are some obstacles that you have faced as DACA students applying and getting into college? Is there anything that you did that you would recommend?

[I live in Ohio] [Received SSN and Employment Authorization Card]

Community Colleges are good to keep the costs low, but you have to be very strategic with the classes that you take and have some knowledge of which school you might want to transfer to in order to make sure that the credits that you take in the community college will indeed transfer to the 4 year university and count towards the degree of interest.

I would recommend looking into private universities as they are less likely to make you apply as an international student (that option would not only expose you to a much higher cost, but additional requirements that are really unnecessary). The reason for this is that public universities are often times in a position where they accept federal funds and as a result they may not be able to give you tuition assistance. Private universities don't tend to have this conflict as their money comes from private sources, not from tax dollars.

Important to note is apply for private non-profit schools, avoid private for-profit schools at all costs (these are the schools that are commercialized as trade schools such as devry, phoenix, etc., etc.), most of their credits rarely transfer, they are not often accredited, and have very high tuition rates making their students dependent on taking out loans.

When applying for college do not take what the first person tells you as fact, if you are really interested in attending the school research whether there is anyone in that school that might have more experience working with undocumented students, often times counselors are in a position where they do not know how to deal with our status and may give you grossly inaccurate information, I would contact youth led orgs in the state that you are looking into to see if they can lead you in the right direction or if they know of someone within the university that could help you navigate their system.

When considering private schools you do not need to limit yourself to the state where you reside, you can apply out of state see if you can find a school that will offer you a scholarship, a school that you are interested in.

As far as paying for college, once you apply and get accepted if you do not receive enough resource do not worry, ask around and see if they have an appeals process. This is a process where you appeal your assistance. Most universities gives you a package expecting that your family will make up the rest or that you will be able to take out student loans to cover the rest. The appeals process allows you to tell the university why you cannot pay for the tuition (because your family does not make enough, you cannot apply for loans due to your status, etc.,).

Through the appeals process they might give you more financial assistance, or give you an internal loan (I have heard of this in large universities that have significant endowments), or offer a payment plan that you are able to pay based on how much you make. The point is, a university is accepting you because they believe you can be successful in their school, you want that appeal to reflect why they should invest in your future, with that mentioned, I would recommend not to sound defeated but think of the challenges as something you are overcoming, but that is just my recommendation.

You can also search for scholarships, if there is a scholarship that you think you can apply for but it requires you to be a permanent resident, and that is the only place where you are disqualified, I would contact them and let them know of your story and why you deserve the scholarship. The scholarship recipients are determined by people who often times do not consider undocumented students because they where never exposed to that situation, I have known friends that have been able to persuade boards in charge of granting scholarships not only to give them the scholarship, but changing the requirements to make the scholarship inclusive to undocumented students.

As for loans, there is a link on my signature to a discussion focusing on the process to get a wells fargo loan. This should be the absolutely last option that you want to take. Avoid loans at all costs, specially the one on my signature, you start paying as soon as you get it, only get it if there is no other way, and in fact I would consider going to community college before even considering getting the loan, that should only be an option if you are a semester or two away from graduating with your degree and cannot find a way to cover the expense but graduating would open more doors.

Hope this is helpful.

Thank you so much!

I completely understand what you mean by "often times counselors are in a position where they do not know how to deal with our status and may give you grossly inaccurate information"....first of all, I am the first undocumented student my school has ever had. That left my counselor at a loss when I scheduled an appointment with him at the beginning of the summer to discuss college plans, and when I told them that it was probably expected that I pay international tuition rates he shrugged it off like it was no big deal. I definitely have a lot of trust and admiration for my counselor, but he just happened to move weeks after my appointment with him and I was assigned a brand new counselor.

When I called my #1 college of preference (Large, Public University) to ask about tuition rates for a Deferred Action Childhood Arrival, the person said "Ummm.... I don't know what your saying... and I've never heard about that... but I would assume that it is an international rate. You might have to call another department...Sorry." I was talking to the financial/tuition department... this left me distressed. I KNEW from my parents that at least 3 or 4 undocumented students had been accepted (with scholarships!) to the University and that I would eventually have to look somewhere else for proper information...

I will DEFINITELY look into the scholarships.... there are so many scholarships that I am ineligible for because of my legal status but I have all of the qualifications, I will definitely start calling and sending emails soon.

Now... there is a program at a local community college that consists of 2 years of community college, then 2 years at my preferred University with all the credits transferring. And within that program is one catered to my exact career goals and plan of study-- it's called "Pipeline to Health Sciences Careers" with a full tuition scholarship to the 2 years of college and 2 years of university. [This program would allow me to participate in research at the university and special internships to prepare for my future graduate studies] There wasn't anything about residency requirements but it does require the FAFSA. I called the community college to ask if I would be eligible for the program and they want to interview me (I exceed all the requirements)....

But I still ask myself, if I get the opportunity to study all four years at a university instead of 2 years without such financial help.. is it worth it to get a "more advanced" education at a higher cost to benefit myself in the long run for future graduate school and job applications?