<p>I am an international applicant. Does anyone know what the maximum amount of institutional aid an international student can receive is?</p>
<p>If you’re considering GS for a backdoor entry into Columbia and expect to receive financial aid as an international applicant while you aren’t really a “non-traditional” student, let me just say it isn’t going to happen. GS is much easier to get into than Columbia or Barnard, but its aid is limited and almost negligible for international students, particularly if you’re still a high school student and not a part of their target student body. I know a friend in GS, but his family is a wealthy business family from India that donated facilities to Columbia, but because his SATs were close to 1500/2400 and he wasn’t a great student at all, he was placed in GS. He could obviously afford it. From his experience I can tell you that GS isn’t for aid seeking international students who want to just be in Columbia. It’s extremely expensive because you aren’t guaranteed housing, and besides your peer group will be 25+ since that is the average age of GS students.</p>
<p>Just ask yourself if you’re a non-traditional student in any respect before shooting off an application to GS.</p>
<p>Yes, I AM a non-traditional student, and I’ve applied (and got into) to a number of other colleges as one. I left school after 8th grade and started working in order to support myself (my father had been bed-ridden and my mother had lost her business). I rejoined school in 10 grade and left once again after completing 11th grade with a 3.95 GPA. I even participated in a number of extracurricular activities and won many awards while in school. I am still working now.</p>
<p>Yes, age-wise, I would definitely be one of the youngest applicants.</p>
<p>How much do international students have to pay on an average?</p>
<p>Do any of the other ivy league schools accept non-traditional students?</p>
<p>I can’t afford more than $20k-25k a year or, at the most, $30k. Even for this I’d need to defer my entrance in order to arrange the money.</p>
<p>at gs, everyone pays the same rate. so international students doesn’t have to pay a higher tuition unlike some other schools still it’s will cost around $50k a year including other expenses.</p>
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<p>What you just described, as sad as it is, still falls within the realm of “traditional” because you’re still in high school-or around the age of a high school student anyway. Also, working full-time when you’re 13, no matter how grievous the circumstances are, is still unfortunately considered illegal in India so you’re going to have a tough time explaining it-just to warn you. I’m not sure you understand what “non-traditional” means-it doesn’t mean having a “break” in education while you’re still in high school because that one can still deal with through homeschooling, getting a GED etc. (which doesn’t fall under what Columbia GS offers); it means having a “break” in education while you’re in college or not attending college after high school. In essence, General Studies students are older not necessarily because they had family problems while in high school, but because they’ve been away from a college environment for a long period-you haven’t even been to college yet or graduated from high school! Columbia’s website clearly states that unless it’s been two years since you graduated from high school, you should apply to the Columbia College or SEAS. Now, if you’re from a family that can afford $50,000 in tuition fees and related expenses, often not including your living expenses, which considering NYC’s real estate can amount to a lot, (the friend I talked about in the earlier post was put up in the Trump Towers throughout his first semester of college because he didn’t get housing on campus and most other GS students don’t. You can easily add another another $30,000-$40,000 just for rent) you can consider applying to GS. However don’t expect to get in with financial aid in light of your circumstances because it just isn’t going to happen-especially since you’re from India and not a “non-traditional” student in the true sense of the term. </p>
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<p>I get the sense that you want to get into GS just because it sounds the easiest way of getting into the Ivy League, but ironically it isn’t, considering your situation. Keeping in mind your circumstances, all Ivy League colleges will accept applications from you, but not to some easier-to-get-into school within their university but their “traditional” colleges, where you’re eligible for aid (need-blind in the case of Harvard, Princeton and Yale). In fact, your circumstances may even be considered to be a hook for them, if documented well.</p>
<p>I’ve seen your posts earlier and I wonder if you loved Columbia so much and you’re applying to the likes of Middlebury, Reed, Smith etc. as a “traditional” student, why didn’t you apply to Barnard? Also, what gave you the idea that the aforementioned colleges view “traditional” and “non-traditional” applicants differently ie. why are you “non-traditional” for the rest, but not “non-traditional” for Columbia College/SEAS (which would be more like the other colleges on your list than GS)?</p>
<p>As an answer to your last question, a “non-traditional” student applying to Middlebury, Smith (though this school has a separate pool for us) and Reed doesn’t need to submit a separately application unlike in the case of Columbia which has a separate school for such students. If you’re so familiar with my previous posts, you should already know that I couldn’t apply to Barnard Cornell, etc as I didn’t have my SAT subject test scores.
Anyway, if you look at my previous posts carefully you will realize that I haven’t mentioned anything about my High School graduation date. Well, this is obviously because I haven’t formally graduated. But thankfully, since I used to study under the British system of education, I’ve already earned a few credits for college. I’ve sent the same essay, explaining the same situation, to all the schools I’ve applied to (including GS). Deciding whether I fall in the category of a “traditional” student or that of a “non-traditional” is completely up to them.</p>
<p>Please do not accuse people before getting to know the whole story. Just because your friend got into GS as s/he could in no way have got into Columbia College certainly doesn’t mean everyone else would follow his/her footsteps.
I could have easily taken a gap year (like you mentioned in your reply to a previous post) to apply to the other ivy league schools, but It’s already been long since I left High School. I do not want to waste more time.</p>
<p>How long has it been since you’ve left high school and how old are you?</p>
<p>You’re confusing being “non-traditional” with not being able to take the SAT subject tests. In that case, a lot of high school students who couldn’t take SAT IIs for several extenuating circumstances would be considered “non-traditional”, but that’s not how it works. Also, you’ve chosen GS only because it’s the only place in the Ivy League that seems to exclude the subject tests in evaluating candidates-which is not the best way to go about choosing colleges. Your argument of “wasting” another year doesn’t hold water because you’ve mentioned you’re willing to defer attending college by a year to collect money (GS isn’t for students who feel they’re wasting time-the students are usually older and respect the value of their non-academic lives on college). If you’re really determined about attending an Ivy League college for whatever reason (“prestige” being primary, I’m guessing), take the subject tests and apply to whichever Ivy League colleges you like next year. Don’t fool yourself into believing you’re “non-traditional” just because you haven’t taken subject tests and you’ve had to go through difficult times through high school. If you’re about to take the A-Levels or have taken them last year, whether it’s through British Council or a Cambridge Examination accredited school, you’re still “traditional”. Your case would be similar to home schooled candidates or students who earn their GED privately in America-who are still eligible to apply to “traditional” colleges across the board. I don’t know why you want to be foolhardy and call yourself “non-traditional” especially when you’re expecting Financial Aid from School of General Studies. That’s my only grouse because you’re letting yourself believe that GS is “prestigious” and doesn’t require subject tests and you seem to think you’re “non-traditional” by regular colleges’ standards (even though you applied to several colleges that would be comparable to Columbia/Barnard), therefore GS will offer you money and admission. It doesn’t work that way.</p>
<p>Like I said, if your family has the resources to afford nearly $100,000 a year (nearly double the cost of a regular full-freight top tier college), please go ahead and apply. I wish you the best of luck in that case, but what you’re doing is expecting that GS will view you as “non-traditional” and dole you enough money for you to attend-that never happens. It’s an expensive place for a reason, it’s meant for people who didn’t have the opportunity to complete a college degree (example: entrepreneurs, sportsmen, actors etc.), but are reasonably far ahead in their professional careers to be able to either afford to pay the entire amount or incur $20,000 debt without as much difficulty as a “traditional” college graduate.</p>
<p>No, not having taken the SAT subject tests has nothing to do with my being a “non-traditional” student.
I was in the illusion that “non-traditional” student are students who’ve had a break in their HS education (in fact, this is what I was told). Oh, btw, I was talking about deferring a semester, not a year. Anyway, I guess you’re right. Should I withdraw my application to GS?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>Well, I don’t know. The decision of withdrawing your application is entirely upto you. I just wanted you to realise that you definition of “non-traditional” doesn’t mesh with the generally accepted definition of non-traditional students. When you’ve had a break in high school education, there are still resources available outside of school to help you-homeschooling, private examinations etc., but GS (and other programmes supporting “non-traditional” students) doesn’t seek to address that; it seeks to address students who for various reasons have not been able to either go to college or complete college. I’m glad you understood that. My intention wasn’t to accuse you, but to make you realise that you’re not the kind of student GS is looking for, unless you can pay full freight. Good Luck with your applications and decisions. Remember, even though there’s a blinding obsession with the Ivy League and its prestige, there are lots of other places that are just as good and even better-so just because Columbia or other colleges won’t accept you, doesn’t mean you can’t do well.</p>
<p>Yes, I do understand. Thanks once again :D</p>
<p>Institutional scholarships make up a portion of the aid at GS. Those scholarships are merit based, not need based. That is to say you’re current financial situation will not be factored in when considering how much to give you. Your past and anticipated successes will decide how much money is, essentially, gifted to you.</p>
<p>Regardless of what you may hear/read on this forum, plenty of talented students get significant amounts of money from Columbia to attend GS. I know a couple of PALS students - who aren’t paying anything to attend - and I am lucky enough to be one of the people who literally doesn’t have to take out any private loans to cover the cost. </p>
<p>Granted, I have other scholarships that help support my stay in New York City, books, etc. But these are all supplementary to the generous scholarship from the university itself. Given the large number of international students, I’d assume that this generosity may be extended to them, as well. </p>
<p>Of course, you should direct your specific questions to Mr. Skip Bailey in Student Financial Planning. He’s a pretty helpful fellow.</p>
<p>^hellojan, the generosity would be extended if the candidate we’re talking about was actually part of the GS target student body as mentioned. My friend, however, told me that almost all the international students he’s met at GS are full-pays, and that does make sense considering GS’ financial aid is limited when compared to the college etc. Would you say that isn’t case? International students are doled out enough money to attend? Especially those, that are still high school students?</p>