<p>Hey there, Im 18 and am from INDIA. I want to apply to Ivy League Colleges, however the fees and expenses are holding me back.
What I want to know is, am I eligible for Financial Aid? I have read that the Ivies provide Need Based Scholarships to students, being an International Student, can I get that too?
In what other way could I pay my way through college?</p>
<p>Much appreciated help.
Thanks a ton in advance.</p>
<p>You have to check each college’s policy, directly because things have been changing quickly. I believe that all of the Ivies do give financial aid to international students, but not all of them do so in the same way they do for American students. Last I checked, all of the ivies are need blind in admissions and provide 100% of need based aid for American students. They are not all that way for international students. I know that some of them are, but some of them take need into account for international student even in the admissions process. I do not remember if they all guarantee to meet 100% of need to those international students they accept. At some colleges, international students are not eligible for ANY financial aid, and at others they are, but in a more limited basis. </p>
<p>Basically, if you are an international student, unless you get financial aid from the college itself or merit money from the college or from outside sources, your family or your country has to come up with the money. You need to show how you are going to be financially solvent before you get a student visa, I believe, and it is up to you, your family, your country resources as to how you are going to do that. You can look on Fast Web and apply for those scholarships that do not have citizenship stipulations and you can hope the colleges to which you apply provide the funds, but none of these are sure things. It is very difficult to get money for college for AMericans, and even more so for foreign students. There is not enough money to go around to everyone.</p>
<p>Penn, Columbia and Brown are not need blind to international students. Your ability to pay will be a factor in admissions. They all meet 100% demonstrated need depending on the income and assets of you and your family. Your income/assets will have to be certified by employers, banks. You will have to demonstrate that you have whatever money the college deems that your family has to pay in order to get a visa to travel to the US for school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this is true for other Ivies but for Cornell, at least, only a small portion of accepted international students actually receive any sort of financial aid from cornell. So for Cornell and really any ivy you better stand out in the international pool. Also none of the ivies claim to offer merit based scholarships.</p>
<p>Guyinblue…the first hurdle you will have to scale is gaining admittance to an Ivy. The admission rates run at about 10% meaning that roughly 90% of those who apply are not accepted. It is very likely that the %age of accepted international students is actually lower than the general admission rate.</p>
<p>As noted, some of the Ivies are NOT need blind for admissions son your ability to pay will be considered at those schools when they consider you application for admission.</p>
<p>I would urge you to look at many other college options in addition to the Ivies.</p>
<p>cpt of the house , sybbie 719, cortana 431 and thumper 1 , thanks for the info. Cleared my doubts a lot.
As for the topic, I have been looking at ONLY HYPS and MIT for now. My aim is to get into one of those. And I have tried finding stuff out and I believe that all the above 5 mentioned colleges do give 100 pc need based financial aids to Internationals. Thanks a lot for your help guys 
Also, there was a debate that Cornell IS NOT Need blind ? Is it true ? </p>
<p>Thumper1, true, I wouldnt be surprised if the acceptance rate for Internationals would be below 5 percent. And I am working on the first hurdle. I just hope I make it
Umm, if I dont make it to the Ivies I do have a back up plan here in India. I WILL get a good college over here. Thanks though.
Thanks a lot ! :)</p>
<p>This is an interesting thread!</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, and Princeton are need-blind and meet need for international students. MIT does the same, but restricts international enrollment to compensate. Stanford meets need, but is not need-blind.</p>
<p>Lelyke - Yes I know ! :D</p>
<p>amarkov - I just read on Wiki that Dartmouth too is need blind and meets full need for International students. Is that true ? 
Funny no one mentioned Dartmouth here!</p>
<p>Yes, Dartmouth is need blind to international students. Yes it does meet 100% demonstrated need. Dartmouth was not mentioned because you stated that you were ONLY looking at HYPS + MIT (mind you S is not need blind for international students). </p>
<p>Needless to say that all of these schools are reaches for anyone, more so for international students because of the small number of students they admit in relation to the number of international students who apply for admissions.</p>
<p>sybbie719 - Okay thanks for that ! 
I can add another option the list, phew 
Yes I admit I stated that I was looking ONLY at HYPS and MIT. It was because those were the only Unis that I knew were need blind. Sorry :)</p>
<p>Yes I agree. I however plan to work my ass off to get as far as I can I know there will be people much much better than me, with much better academic and athletic achievements but I wont give up. Who knows they might be pleased with something on my resume
Thanks sybbie 719 :)</p>
<p>You know it would be a really ambitious attempt to apply to only the elite colleges. I’m not raising a question over your capability but this is not the correct way to apply to colleges in the US. You should make a list of around 10 to 12 colleges. Out of these short listed colleges 2-3 must be elite, around 4 must be the moderate ones which are good ones but you are confident that they will be selecting you and the comes the safe zone I.e. 2-3 colleges which will surely be selecting you. This would open some more options for you such as GEORGIA TECH which is a great college and why aren’t you considering the Brown University. Its one of the best and provides a decent amount of scholarships every year!</p>
<p>You can also try for Cooper Union. It is a tough one to get into but if they select you Its for free. You’ll have to pay nothing for your education and when you complete your course you’ll literally be thrown jobs at. You must check it out.</p>
<p>The freeness of Cooper Union is done. It’s charging tuition starting in 2014.</p>