<p>I'm an international transfer student and I'd like to know if NOT applying for financial aid would improve my chances for admission. On almost every college site there's something like "Very limited funds for international students". I don't know what to do - I'd have to make great efforts to pay for my education, but I'll do it only if it would improve my chances, not pro bono :-)</p>
<p>I think it'd be more accurate to say that you wouldn't be improving your chances by not applying for aid so much as you'd not be making them any worse...You need to find out if the schools you're applying to have need-blind admissions for international transfers. If they do, then it won't change anything, but there's still the fact that international transfers get crap aid, and if they aren't need-blind, then it will probably effect them a fair amount, but to different degrees, depending on the endowment of the school. It's a tough spot. Being an international transfer is kind of a worst-case scenario when it comes to financial aid. Let us know how it turns out.</p>
<p>There are only 4 schools that are need-blind for internationals and I'm not applying to any of them. The rest state that "the competition is very keen for the limited funds".</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale and MIT are need blind for international transfers. Which is the other one? Maybe Middlebury but their acceptance rate is horribly low; last maybe there was one transferring to Middlebury.</p>
<p>To your question, I have found a lot of colleges stating that applying for financial aid makes it more difficult to get admitted. The more $$$ you apply for the less is your chance of admission because they don't have great funds like Harvard, Yale and MIT. But about 20 colleges, as far as I know offer a few good aid to international transfers. Did you apply to Grinnell? They consider international transfer for financial aid as they do for transfers. Some other options may be Brown, Trinity, Colby.</p>
<p>But I will suggest you contribute whatever amount you can and don't let your desire to attend a reputed school make a decision of going far beyond your financial ability. What if you get into financial hardships later and not be able to focus on your studies. That would not be the ideal thing to do.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that some universities offer some fin aid to intl students coming from HS, but none to intl transfer students, like UChicago. Not a dime. So make sure you look for that when doing your research.</p>