College Refused Due to Financial Aid - What should I Do?

<p>Hi!
I'm an international student and was denied by a college during ED1, and it's interesting they said they were impressed with my academic performance, but since I demanded a huge amount of aid they couldn't offer admission to me. I thought college doesn't give you the answer for why they rejected you, but for some reasons this one does. I really really like the school, and I think my family can increase our contribution 10k more. What can I do now? Please give me some advices. Thanks a lot! </p>

<p>Many schools are need aware for international students, so that’s the reason they gave you the answer that they did (which is unfortunate that you were qualified for acceptance but were rejected due to financial aid). I’m not sure if there is anything you can do… Some schools offer an appeal process in which you can challenge your rejection and cite your reasoning. You’d have to check with the school to see if that option is available. In any case, I would email the admissions office and the financial aid office and explain the situation and see if they gave you a response. In the mean time, it might behoove you to be proactive and find a plan B.</p>

<p>I know this isn’t going to come off PC, but is a huge elephant in the room that people are afraid to address. Molly, what country are you from? If my son or daughter wanted to go to a University in your country, how much financial aid would they give her/him? While I value diversity of all kinds, socio economic, racial etc…I am amazed at the number of International students who think American schools should fund them. I would feel differently if other countries recipriocated. JMO</p>

<p>@GA2012MOM I think the OP knows that the financial standards for international applicants is the reason she didn’t get in, but believes family can contribute more money. I don’t think she feels entitled to ‘being funded’.</p>

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<p>Well, a pretty sizeable number of countries do so for free or at a very low cost for international students. As for myself, I don’t necessarily care who funds who - as long as smart kids and being put in smart institutions. </p>

<p>@MollyN The majority of US colleges are need-aware for international students. It must have been odd to receive such an e-mail detailing the reasons for your rejection, but at least they were upfront about it. If your family will be able to contribute a more significant amount, try talking with the FA office… although with all decisions made, it may or may not be too late. Hopefully you have some other colleges you’d applied to (including those in your country) that will be affordable?</p>

<p>I am not saying this particular poster was feeling entitled, but clearly was asking for some funding…we don’t know how much. Hypothetically, the OP may have stated that the family could contribute 20k and now can up it to 30k. That still leaves about 30k the hypothetical students family would need. I think that 30k should go to an American student. When other countries will fund US students I will have no problem with our schools funding theirs,</p>

<p>To study in uni in my country costs about $12k for a year (for international schools), and compares this to the US education, it is much cheaper. Therefore, a $50k-$60k cost of attendance would be a huge burden for my family.
@Smithg1227 and @Ctesiphon I already applied to some other schools as well. Thanks a lot for your comments and I guess i may try to email the FA office to see what happens. </p>

<p>and obviously my EFC for the school(s) i applied is higher than $12k </p>

<p>So…you don’t want to go to school for 12k in your country because?? I truly am perplexed by this.</p>

<p>my intended major is engineer and international universities here don’t offer a strong program, with little chance for labs and experimental studies. they really focus on business, marketing, …I studied in an international high school so I can’t go to public universities either. </p>

<p>Why can’t you go to a public university?</p>

<p>@Madison85 i can’t go to public uni in my country cause i dont study the program in my mother tongue (since i studied in international school) so i don’t have the transcript and diploma in my mother language, which are required to attend a public uni</p>

<p>Huh, interesting. So no students from any country with a transcript in a foreign language can attend your public university?</p>

<p>I guess that answers @GA2012MOM 's question about how much financial aid does your country’s uni offer international students ($0).</p>

<p>@Madison85 kind of. so public uni only accept domestic students, otherwise students need to attend international uni, which are pretty rare too (only 2-3 in my city)</p>

<p>@Ctesiphon‌</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s a “size-able number” …at least for US students. When I looked up a few countries one time, there was a notation that US students would pay a higher rate…guess they didn’t want an influx of US students coming on the cheap…they want an influx of US dollars instead.</p>

<p>Anyway…the OP indicated a particular amount that her family would pay (low-ball-figure) and it bit her. Maybe even $10k more per year would not have made a difference. Until she contacts the school, she may never know.</p>

<p>Maybe this school has gotten smart about int’ls low-balling and now tells them why they were rejected to see which ones will come back with, “Oh, we really can pay a lot more.” </p>

<p>I don’t blame a lot of privates for doing this. It is very hard for them to truly determine if the the financial info that many int’ls submit is accurate. Many countries have citizens earning money on black markets, or there are poor records of property ownership, etc. There was a Greek kid who posted a couple of years ago who boasted that he got full aid even tho his family has a good bit of income…mostly black market which he says is common.</p>

<p>Molly, in order to attend college here, your family will need to verify that they have sufficient funds to cover your education here. This can include financial aid you have received. BUT it sounds like the school you applied to is need aware, and has determined they cannot provide you with the level of support necessary for you to obtain a visa.</p>

<p>I think you need to apply to less expensive options.</p>

<p>You have 2-3 international universities in your city? Apply to those.</p>

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<p>Is this for Lafayette ED? If so, your aid was based on a Profile that you submitted by November 15. The school based their need calculation on the information your family provided. </p>

<p>To be honest, unless you are able to pay the full cost of attending this school, $10,000 isn’t going to make a difference. And the school isn’t going to want to be on the hook for funding you at a higher rate in subsequent years when that $10,000 might not be available. </p>

<p>If it’s this school, it is clearly stated that aid need may impact admissions.</p>

<p>Also, you didn’t DEMAND a lot of aid…their calculations showed that you REQUIRED a lot of aid to attend their school.</p>

<p>I too was confused by the “demanded” bit. Is that something that you put down on the Certificate of Finances for the application or what?</p>

<p>Anyway, how much of a gap is there between what you can pay and what the school will cost you? To be meaningful the 10,000 needs to really close a good portion of that gap and it doesn’t sound like it will. </p>

<p>The admissions people may also be skeptical that someone who has a large demonstrated need can just squeeze out an extra $10,000 a year on cue like that. They might think that you are either lowballing them before or making an unrealistic promise now, and in either case they might be unwilling to work with that due to the risks.</p>

<p>Perhaps the OP comes from a country where French is the lingua franca…“demander” (French) means “to ask.” </p>

<p>Molly keep applying to other similar colleges than the one that declined you. At least the good news is that they thought you were a good candidate. Some other school may have the funds for you.</p>

<p>Please explain how you will suddenly have another 10,000? Is this money that wasn’t reported in the financials? If you have a good explanation then maybe you can email the first college and offer to pay more at your family’s sacrifice, sure.</p>

<p>Please ignore side discussion – it is nobody’s business here if you apply to U.S. college. This is allowed and there are plenty of colleges that do pay for international students. It is just that there are many more students than money. So whether someone thinks this should happen or not, just ignore them, they can air their opinion somewhere else, not in your thread, sorry for that!</p>