• Plan early/Apply early

Once you have decided that you want to pursue higher education in the US, you should start making plans early on. Its very important that you start researching colleges and scholarships early on so you have a clear idea of the type of college that you want to attend. Its best to narrow down your selection to 5 or 6 colleges that you are going to apply to. You should be ready to apply to these colleges as soon as they begin to accept application. Some colleges make their admission and scholarship decision on a rolling basis, meaning they will process your application as soon as it is received. So applying early will definitely give you an advantage.

• Consider less competitive schools

I am sure most international students dream of attending Ivy League colleges. But so do thousands of other college bound American kids. As such, competition for admission and scholarship at the top tier US colleges is extremely fierce. You might think that you are an excellent candidate with your 10 GCSE O’Level A grades and 4 A grades at the A’Levels but when placed in an Ivy League applicant pool, your credentials would ordinary. This is because the world’s best and the brightest are also vying for a seat at those colleges. I don’t mean to discourage anyone and if your dream is to attend an Ivy League college, by all means, go for it.
At the same time, you should also keep in mind that there are tons of other great colleges in the US that do not have top ramkings but are excellent institutions for higher education. Apply to these colleges. The competition there is much less and your bag of A grades would stand out much more in their applicant pool. This will of course increase your chances for a scholarship.

• Extracurricular activities

Get involved in extracurricular activities. I can’t stress this enough. Most scholarship applicants are usually good students with excellent grades. So you need to show something more that will make you stand out. You need to show that you are involved in activities outside of the classroom. Leadership ability is highly valued in the US. Take on a leadership role that you can report on your application. Become the captain of a sports team. Don’t play sports? That’s fine, join the debate team, learn to play a musical instrument or volunteer at your local soup kitchen. The point is that you need to prove that you are a well rounded individual.
This is again where planning early comes in handy. If you haven’t been involved in extracurricular activities early on, planning early will give you time to build on these things.

So these are my three tips for international students to obtain a college scholarship in the US. Please feel free to add your two cents in the comments below.

Further reading: 5 Reasons Why Taking the TOEFL is Still a Good Idea