<p>On the common application, my son checked off "yes" to the question asking if the applicant has dual citizenship. While he was born in another country, his mother is a US citizen by birth and has no other citizenship, his father is a naturalized citizen, and my son has lived in the US his entire life except for his 3 months and so of course views himself as American.</p>
<p>We found out when he started receiving phone calls from international student organizations at some colleges that they had placed him in with their pool of international applicants. This concerned me because I felt he would be at a disadvantage in that group since he really couldn't add the same diversity factor as a true international student. Also he wasn't likely be quite as well-qualified and definitely not as socio-economically elite as the best one or two students from some other country somewhere. I immediately contacted two different GC's, who advised us to not try to change that designation. They felt that his "diversity" could only help him, and thought that the schools are certainly smart enough to see he's not truly an international candidate. Well, his first choice school (Yale ED) rejected him, but that could have been for plenty of other reasons. </p>
<p>Now, as we're starting to receive rather paltry aid packages, including his new top choices, I worry that this dual citizenship status may be negatively affecting these financial applications as well. However, since at least one of those schools recruited him under the label of diversity, I'm a little afraid to call and tell them he's not really that diverse.</p>
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While he was born in another country, his mother is a US citizen by birth and has no other citizenship, his father is a naturalized citizen, and my son has lived in the US his entire life except for his 3 months and so of course views himself as American.
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<p>To view your self as an american is one thing but the school deals with the facts. Is the student a U.S. citizen /permanent resident? This would only come into question when applying to a school which is not need blind to international students. </p>
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Now, as we're starting to receive rather paltry aid packages, including his new top choices, I worry that this dual citizenship status may be negatively affecting these financial applications as well.
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<p>Once admitted, student will receive FA according to the school's guidelines.</p>
<p>if the school meets 100% of demonstrated need, s/he will get a package that does that. However, keep in mind that all schools do not package their financial aid the same and schools determine your EFC (there is a big difference between what the school says a family can afford to pay and what the family believes they can afford). </p>
<p>You can get a package that is very heavy on loans and the school will still have met your need.</p>
<p>If s/he got admitted to a school that gaps (does not meet 100% of demonstrated need) s/he would still be gapped.</p>
<p>He is a US citizen by birth, but he was born outside the US. His birth certificate is a "Consular Report of the Birth of a US Citizen Abroad". So I'm not saying he just considers himself American--he IS American.
However, that fact and also the fact that he has never truly lived anywhere but the US, didn't stop certain schools from placing his application in with their international applications. And since some schools are less committed to financially helping international students, I was wondering how I should handle this.</p>
<p>Once a school admits, you they do not disburse aid based on whether or not you are a U.S. citizen/permanent resident. Being an international student just means that s/he would not be eliglible for federal aid, Pell/SEOG grants, stafford loans(subsidized and unsubsidized), perkins loans and federal workstudy, all which are components to the FA package depending on the student demonstrated need.</p>
<p>Schools give aid based on demonstrated need ( the majority of colleges do not meet 100% of your demonstrated need)</p>
<p>Schools give aid based on Merit</p>
<p>Schools give preferential packaging (meaning if you are a high achieving highly desireable student you would get a better package than a student who falls in the middle of the pack).</p>
<p>I would suggest looking up your schools on the college board website. There you will be likely to find:</p>
<p>% of need met
How the need is packaged: % loans/worksudy and % grants and scholarship aid)</p>
<p>I dont think he is a dual citizen. He is either a US citizen or he is not. The US does not recognise dual citizenship. When you become naturalized you renounce your foreign citizenship. Similarly you are supposed to renounce your US citizenship if you become a foreign citizen.</p>
<p>Suggest you contact the school and get that dual citizernship unchecked.</p>
<p>The United States most definitely does recognize dual citizenship--even for naturalized citizens. You only lose that right it you decide to serve in the armed forces of one country. Then you'd have to renounce citizenship in the other country. Besides, as I said already 2x, my son is not a naturalized US citizen--he's a US citizen by birth.</p>
<p>My youngest d is a dual citizen, born in Canada while we (US citizens both) lived there several years. She holds a Canadian birth certificate and a US consular report of birth and is most definitely a US citizen. She will never have to choose one citizenship over the other. She can carry two passports. It was recommended she do so by the US consulate in Canada, depending on whether the country she's traveling to is friendly to the US and/or Canada, or whether they have an embassy or consulate in the country.
She considers herself American and only announces she's canadian when she wants to create a stir :)</p>
<p>I am a dual citizen of the US and Brazil, and my mother is likewise a dual citizen of USA/Brazil, but she was born there and I was not. Does that make me any less brazilian? Nope. I am a passported-legal citizen, and still retain my american citizenship. She has never had to choose between countries, and she is 46. I likewise will never have to choose. If he truly is a dual citizen, eligible for legal citizenship, I would go for it- it can't hurt.</p>