<p>I'm an international student in my sophomore year, enrolled in small top-tier college in the United States. I have an excellent academic record: 4.0 GPA, a few academic awards from the college and am known to be very active in terms of student involvement. I know my professors well and know that they will be full of praise if I ask them to write me recommendations.</p>
<p>I am very dissatisfied with my current financial aid situation. I had unsuccessfully appealed for an increase last year. I am considering transferring to a different school next year. I am hoping that my family and I will have contribute only $10,000 towards tuition, room and board. (I can handle living expenses myself).</p>
<p>How likely am I to get aid if I apply as a transfer student (I cannot and do not want to apply for freshman admission)? What kind of schools (large university vs. small LAC) are more likely to give me financial aid? </p>
<p>The word is that there is little FA for international transfer students. You could try looking “a notch below” your current school’s standing, and perhaps in a different geographical area. Try looking at schools in the American mid-west and south - areas with fewer international students and therefore lesser competition for FA money. </p>
<p>Your story is a good lesson for other international students: be sure your FA offer is guaranteed for four years.</p>
<p>Last time I looked into financial aid for international transfers, it was very rare indeed. Financial aid used to be mostly available at the tippy top private colleges and universities, so “applying down” may not be an option. </p>
<p>I have to admit that it’s been a few years and things may have changed. For example, I noticed that a few women’s colleges started to consider international transfers for financial aid, but only if they are transferring from another American university. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, a couple of international friends of mine tried to transfer out of my liberal arts college. All except for one ended up staying because they could not get sufficient financial aid elsewhere. (One decided that an Ivy degree was worth the extra debt.)</p>
<p>You are probably not going to get much more helpful responses on this forum, so you might have to do your own research and talk to colleges directly. Good luck!</p>
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That’s a good lesson too, but it sounds like the OP was counting on appealing for more financial aid after he/she enrolled. Lesson #2: make sure that your financial aid offer is manageable for all 4 years before you accept it, because it ain’t gonna get any better.</p>
<p>Thank you both for your responses. I’ll continue my research and write to a lot of schools with questions.</p>
<p>I had actually not counted on getting more financial aid once I got to my college. My family’s financial situation has become a little worse than it was when I enrolled. This means that a larger portion of my expenses are being paid through a loan and the debt I’m going to graduate with has increased. </p>
<p>The debt is in no way unmanageable. However, I have begun to worry about how long it might take to repay my loan. I would be thrilled if I were able to graduate with $30,000 in debt. However, without any significant improvement in my parent’s financial situation or my financial aid award it looks as though I will graduate with about $50,000 or more in debt.</p>
<p>You are both right about my situation being a good lesson for prospective international students. I, thankfully, have enough financial aid and support from my parents and bank to graduate from my current college. I hope this reminds prospective students reading this that it is indeed very hard to get any more money than you did with your acceptance letter, no matter how good your academic and extracurricular records may be.</p>
<p>Thanks again, katliamom and b@r!um. Your responses were extremely useful as usual.</p>
<p>I know this thread is from some months ago, but I would like to know how it went with your applications.
I am an international student too, so your experience will be like an example for me. :)</p>
<p>I started loving the school I attend and couldn’t imagine myself elsewhere. I haven’t sent in a single application to transfer and I don’t intend to. A few thousand dollars of debt isn’t going to be a huge deal in the long run. So I decided that it would be best to get the most out of college while I’m here.</p>