Am I screwed?

Answered

I don't think you should give up on your dreams at all, but rather try and find an alternative path to reach your goals. For international students in the U.S. finding funding to support your schooling, but also your personal needs is quite hard. Often time programs like work-study ones aren't open to international students, but it wouldn't hurt searching really hard for the exceptions. I suggest that if you immediately want to go to the U.S. to start your higher education schooling look into community colleges there. Community colleges even in the U.S. can be viewed to have a negative stigma because they're not no Harvard or Yale, but they're an amazing steppingstone to make your way towards such high education in a more financially sound way. Community colleges are only two years, but you can apply to transfer to a university after those two years. While community college on its own is still a couple of thousands per year it's a better bargain than going to a more prestigious school in the states with no true plan on how to pay for it. You can apply for scholarships to help you pay for the school and find any sort of part-time job that would be willing to hire you so you can slowly but surely get all your needs covered. This could even be a better option for you in terms of networking. You'll attend more schools than anticipated, but that also means you'll be able to meet more people than anticipated. The more people you meet the more support you can find in a foreign place, but also the better connections you can make. I'm not saying this option would make getting a higher education in the U.S. easy, but it would be a safer alternative. I 100% suggest looking into any community colleges in the U.S. to apply to, especially ones in the same state as any dream schools you may want to attend there. Get in contact with their admissions officers as well as their financial aid office so you can begin to discuss your options. I'm sure if you let them know your circumstances they could help with at least starting to guide you in the right direction. If you're able to find at the very least a part time job while you're still in your home country I strongly suggest you do so you can begin to save up while you go through the applications process and get a plan figured out for college. This way it'll take off some of the financial burden for you if you do decide to go to the U.S. Even if this doesn't seem to be an ideal start, I promise you if you put in the effort, it will pay off in the end. I wish you the best of luck!