certificate of finances is really confusing me!!

<p>Something is really confusing me.... All of the colleges im applying to provide some form of financial assistance to international students. But then in the application one is asked to fill out this form of certifying your financial abilities . Which basically says that you are able to pay for the four years off college and only after filling that out will you get your f-1 visa.
So this is really confusing...because I can't say that ill be able to pay for college tuition unless they give me financial assistance or the scholarships im applying to; which isn't even an option included in the certificate of finances paper.
Does anyone know anything about that??
thanks</p>

<p>Most colleges are not need blind to internationals students so your ability to pay will be a factor in whether or not you will be admitted. Yes your chances are better at some schools iif you can pay your own way. </p>

<p>The schools in question probably wants to know how much can you and your family afford to pay and you must prove that you have those funds available for school.</p>

<p>The certificate of finance appears to be due to immigration laws. You will not get a visa unless you are able to guarantee that you will not be a financial burden to the US once you are in the country. The guarantee can come in the form of personal funds and/or scholarships from the college.<br>
I would suggest calling the adcom of the college to ask how you should fill out this question, but I doubt that you have to guarantee the whole amount.</p>

<p>As far as I remember, you fill in the COF twice, once when you send it to the college finaid office and once when you apply for the F 1 visa. Both times, just write the amount that you can commit yourself to paying the college. When you apply for your visa, you'll have an I-20 with a full description of financial aid that youre receiving from your college so don't worry about filling in anything else on the COF, just write what you can afford to pay.</p>

<p>oh ok thanks a lot. Anyways I wrote to the colleges right now just to make sure,but seems like you have already been through this...
THANK YOU!</p>

<p>yup after acceptance the colleges will send you a new cof with the finaid package printed on it. don't worry. just fill in the current one you have with what you can afford to pay (for schools that provide intl aid).</p>

<p>Hey guys, I was facing the exact same problem. And after reading this thread, my mind is at peace :D</p>

<p>I am applying to American University, and their CoF form even has field saying “Funds from AU (scholarships)”, since I dunno the amount I’ll get, should I write “Unknown at the moment”?</p>