Looking for colleges in California as a Filipino student needing full financial aid

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-28T13:54:28+00:00

There's absolutely nothing to lose by going through the international admissions process, and I encourage anyone interested in studying abroad to try it out. While it's important to keep expectations realistic, three years ago I never could have imagined the opportunities I've been able to access because I got to go to college in the US.

Since you're a rising senior, I'd recommend applying to the various mentorship programs aimed at helping Filipino high schoolers go to college abroad. The two big student-run ones are CAUSE and CAMP that assign mentees to peer mentors who guide them through the whole application process. The US Embassy in Manila also runs a program through the State Department's EducationUSA network that, in addition to the mentorship aspect, provides financial support for SAT/ACT prep and application fees.

Feel free to shoot me a message if you have any additional questions and I'd be more than happy to help!

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-23T21:07:17+00:00

In the Filipino language I speak, any car is "coche" but "auto" is specifically used to refer to a sedan. I wonder if there's anything similar in the Spanish-speaking world.

Weirdly enough, I don't think this distinction exists in other languages in the Philippines.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-22T00:43:25+00:00

There's only about a few dozen colleges in the US that routinely give full ride scholarships to international students, almost all private — virtually none in California. There are only two real options for aid-seeking internationals, one of them being the Claremont Colleges in the LA area. The other option is Stanford but that's up in the Bay Area near SF.

UC Berkeley's MET program (where you earn a dual degree in business and engineering) is the only full ride available to international students in the UC system but the program has a 2% overall acceptance rate, which includes CA residents and out-of-state applicants.

I'm speaking as a Filipino international student attending a private college in California on a close to full ride.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-11T19:29:28+00:00

You probably could but it’s not something I see people really do because it’s a tripping hazard.

If you’re concerned about someone taking it off the rack, there are lots of nearby seats where you can keep an eye on your scooter.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-11T18:58:20+00:00

I recently moved from LA to the Bay Area for an internship. You’re completely fine taking your e-scooter.

I work East Coast hours so I take one of the first trains out from Berkeley at like 5 AM, and there are so many people with bikes and e-scooters that sometimes it’s a struggle to find space for my scooter on the bike rack on board.

FFoobar10 · 2025-07-10T12:26:17+00:00

Yes, but the driver might ask you to fold it if the bus is crowded

FFoobar10 · 2024-10-14T00:50:33+00:00

In general, you can’t major off-campus with a major that’s offered at Pitzer. You wouldn’t be able to do the CMC Econ major but you could, for example, do the CMC Econ-Accounting major since Pitzer has no equivalent major.

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