Hello,
I’m an international student who is looking to study CS in undergrad. I have assessed both of these schools and I’ve come to the conclusion that I would love to go to either of them. The problem is that I live with a single mother who makes ~25K$ a year so I really need a huge financial aid package to study.
I believe my stats are competitive(1550 SAT,800 Math II & Physics subject tests, 3.9 gpa with very rigorous courses in one of the top high schools in the country, not world class but decent extracurriculars and nice letters of recommendation). I just wanted to know which one of these two schools would be willing to give me a good aid package if I applied ED.
I know Cornell does support a higher acceptance rate however Cornell has a huge class size(available/applied space ratio) compared to UPenn and I’ve read that Cornell isn’t very good with financial aid(compared to UPenn, I know both of them are need aware). I would appreciate any type of help in this scenario. Thank you for your time!
I think you are right that overall Penn’s fin aid is likely better than Cornell’s, but for internationals we don’t really know. Each will meet full need, based on how they calculate your expected contribution, and as you mentioned both are need aware for internationals.
Both will be reaches, so apply to the one you like best and can demonstrate the best fit with. Will you be applying to other US colleges? If so, you will need to add some matches and likelies to your list.
Make sure to include your travel costs and mandatory health insurance in your cost of attendance estimates for US college. Depending on your specific situation, that can be another $5K-$10K per year.
Do you have an affordable safety in your country, or outside the US?
Both Cornell and UPenn pledge to meet the demonstrated financial need for all admitted students. Need aware just means that the need for financial aid is considered in the decision as to whether or not to offer you a place.
However, despite your very strong stats, your chances of getting an offer from either of these schools are tiny. UPenn & Cornell accept 9-12% of their applicants, and about 9-13% of those students are international students.
You are asking for a US university to gift you an education. If you are dead set on going to the US, you need to widen your search.
agree with collegemom, if you need FA, it’s going to be tough, typically international students are full pay. To answer the OP, I’d go with Penn, they may give better aid.