Medical Education US

My plan was to do my last year of high school in the US and go to a university from that point on and then become a psychiatrist. That was until I looked at the cost of attendance, US education gotta be what, the most expensive in the whole world? My parents can't possibly afford it.
After recovering from the initial shock I began looking for ways to help on the paying, and found that financial aid is scarce for non-US citizens, the scholarships being rare, competitive and didn't cover much of the cost at all. My only possible solution? Private loans. My country (Brazil) doesn't offer loans for citizens studying abroad, meaning I needed a private lender.

So I come up with a plan: getting a loan to finance my undergrad years in a decent state university and then getting into Harvard or Yale Medical School, apparently, the only universities that offer as much aid to international students as to natives, mostly through grants. That was when I realized I was being naive, I mean, getting into such an university is awfully hard even for American citizens, I've read that to get into a 'regular' one you need a 3.8+ GPA(!)
I can't possibly take loans for both my undergrad and grad, that would mean 250k+ of debt. I can't graduate here and then go for residency in the US either, because the chances are only of 50%, and I'm sure my jog opportunities would be much much less afterwards.

So here I am, in desperate need of advice. Should I go to community college, are they any good? Is it worth getting in 250k+ of debt? Are there other options I don't know about?

Sorry if I said too much. Thanks in advance.

How far along are you in school now? It sounds like you are still in high school in Brazil right now. I'm not familiar with kids coming to the US to finish high school unless their entire family moves. I also know very little about immigration issues for education.

Being in high school, I think you thinking a bit too far into the future, but I think it is reasonable to consider the best ways to get into a good US undergraduate college. I would guess there are some state universities that are not that expensive even for people from out of state/country. I don't know how difficult they would be to get accepted into, but if you are a very good student I would guess there are some reasonably priced colleges you could attend.

My suggestion is that rather than worry about the finances of a medical education in the US, you should focus on getting into the best college you can with a reasonable cost for what you and your family can afford. You have a lot of school ahead of you before medical school.

I would not consider a community college given your interests. If you know you are thinking of medical school, you'll eventually need to take pre-med courses at a full college. Taking the pre-med classes is sometimes a good way to find out if you are really interested and motivated to go to medical school.

Keep us updated on your decisions and progress. I'd love to hear what you wind up deciding.

I'm in my second year. What Americans call sophomore year, I guess.
I just called an career adviser specialized on studying abroad and they said I can't possibly get in a decent uni unless I do two years of high school in the US (Junior and Senior), because here we have only three years of HS, doing two years here and one up in the US won't be very helpful because many schools have subject requirements.

So I just enrolled in a sort of exchange program. I'll be living with an American host family for a year, hopefully, in New England, then I'll do my best to find another place to live for the 4th year of HS. Unfortunately, the program allows only a year of stay with the family. The only possible downside is that I'll graduate 19 years old, in contrast to here, in which I would be graduating on my 18s. But is just a year more so who cares, right?
I don't mind studying a little more, after all, If I stayed here, I would do only 4 years of Med School and go straight to a 2-year residency (we don't need a science major, or the MCAT, here.)

If I work real hard, and I just noticed you have to if you are considering an American education, I can probably boost my GPA to 3.5/3.6. Is it good enough to get into a decent Uni? We don't measure ours here, I just made a rough estimative using an online calculator.
My main goal is to get in a need-blind University. If I can't do that, well, I'll consider loans/work-study.

Thanks for the help.

It sounds like you did the right thing talking to a career advisor who specializes in studying in the United States. That's interesting that with 4 years of high school you'll be 19 when you graduate. In Brazil they must either have an extra year of school before high school or you just start a year later. Most Americans are 17 or 18 when they graduate high school.

A 3.5 GPA (which basically means half A's and half B's) is decent for getting into a university, but probably not good enough to get into a top university. It also depends on what your SAT scores are, though, as it seems to be the combination of the two (GPA and SAT score) that determine whether you get accepted into a university or not.

I would guess that even with a need-blind university, the assistance you get may be mostly in the form of loans, so you should still be prepared to have debt when you graduate.

The idea of studying at a US high school for your last two years sounds like a great opportunity - regardless of what you do after that. I think talking with people who have taken the path you are considering and talking to advisors who specialize in this area would be the best thing you can do at this point.

Again - keep us informed of how things go and best of luck.