How I Got My US Degree for Under $10,000 (International Student)

If you're an international student dreaming of studying in the US, but you're worried about the cost, then this video is for you. I got my US degree for under $10,000 a year as an international student. And no, this is something I actually did. And yes, I had to take out some loans, but I took out those loans from the schools that I attended. And I'm going to show you exactly how you can follow the same methodology so that you can attend a school paying less than $10,000 a year in tuition. [Music] So about me, I'm William. I came from South Africa to America in 2013. And I actually started out at a community college before transferring to the University of Rochester on a full ride scholarship. And later on I actually went on to do my master's degree at the University of Pennsylvania. And today I'm actually going to show you exactly how I did what I did. And it's going to be step by step so that you can follow it and actually also save a bunch of money like I did. So, most international students that actually come to America try to get into big schools with big names from the get-go. And this is a problem cuz they're missing out on a much cheaper option, which is community college. Basically, what they doing is they coming and they're paying $40 to $80,000 per year at the university as a freshman, which is a very big issue because I didn't do that. I actually came in at a community college and I was paying $5,000 or less per semester. So, when you get started in America, the first thing you want to do is actually go to community college first. And the reason why I say that is because it's going to save you a bunch of money. Now, once you go to community college first, then you can actually figure out how to transfer to a 4-year school, which is what I'm going to talk about in the next part. So I actually attended community college first and after two years of community college I transferred to the University of Rochester which is actually a top private research university and I got a full scholarship doing so. And this is the key. You can still transfer to great schools after attending community college. You have to make sure you attend community college in the right way. And what I mean by that is while you're in community college, you actually want to take community college very seriously and the grades you get in community college very seriously because that's going to help you transfer to great schools. Now, what I mean by all of this is make sure that you're going to class, make sure that you're working hard, you're getting tutoring, you're getting a connection with professors so that you can ensure that you get great grades at community college because this will allow you to join something called FTHEA Kappa. Now, FTHEA Kappa is actually an honor society for community college students. And this community or this society changed everything for me. And in order for you to get in, you need really great grades because this society will actually give you exclusive scholarships when you transfer. Now this leads to the next thing which is once you've got really great grades and you also have leadership experience and you have great connections with your professors and you've joined FTE Kappa now what you're going to do is actually apply to the schools that you want to attend because it's going to give you a really really great chance of getting admitted to those schools. Most people think that the only way to go to a good school in America is to actually just pay the full price upfront. They don't realize that they can actually start small and they can build a profile and get connections and learn the systems and then transfer into a big school. So what I say over here is community college is a great way for you to save money and actually transfer to the school that you actually wanted to go to. Now, one thing that I have to say about all of this is I did make a video on community colleges and I'll put it somewhere up here so you guys can learn more about the truth of community college. Now, what I did in particular is I went to community college first, then I transferred to the University of Rochester and then later on I actually went to get a master's degree from an Ivy League institution. So, it all started at community college and it didn't prevent me from actually transferring to the schools that I wanted to transfer to. So everything that I spoke about over here is for international students who are just like me. You know, if you're smart but money is tight, if you want a US degree but don't want 200,000 in debt, then this strategy is for you. Again, I saved a bunch of money by starting out at a community college, getting great grades over there, and then transferring to a 4-year school. And I encourage everyone to take that path. You know, of course, there is one other path though. If you get accepted to an Ivy League school that gives you a full ride scholarship off the bat, then fine. Or if you get into any school that gives you a full ride scholarship, then yeah, forget about this strategy. But most people will not get that full ride scholarship applying from outside the US. It's usually easier to get it inside the US. So, these are my thoughts on this whole topic. I didn't have perfect grades. I didn't have a perfect story. I did have to take out some loans in order to make sure that I was able to attend the schools that I attended, but again, everything still cost me less than $10,000. And the way you want to do it is by starting out at a community college, getting really great grades, joining FTHEA Kappa, and then looking for schools that you can transfer to that would give you a full ride scholarship. This is the secret and I hope most of you guys can actually take it and run wild with it because there's a lot of opportunities for international students in America if you're looking at the right place. So use this and take advantage of it. Now, if you found this video very useful, then definitely like and subscribe so that I know that this is the type of videos that you want. But thank you so much for watching and I'll be seeing you in the next video.