<p>I'm a student applying for the Undergraduate Fall 2013 term. I'm from El Salvador and I fulfill all the requirements for almost all universities (SAT Score: 1980, TOEFL score: 101/120, GPA: 3.80, I took the IB Program (150+ community service and I got the highest math score of my whole class) and got the diploma, and I'm on the top 10% of my class {which consists of 63 students}), EXCEPT the financial proof and support from my parents.</p>
<p>I have a few questions regarding this:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I've read through a lot of websites, and they mostly ask for a bank statement. Can someone explain me HOW should this statement be or WHAT should it include? I frankly don't understand. Does it needs to put how much money my dad puts in his account and how much he spends? Or the total savings it has? </p></li>
<li><p>Frankly and honestly talking, I'm facing financial problems right now. I've talked with my parents and the most they could possibly give me is $5000 every year. That's why I've applied to 4 universities and 3/4 offers different scholarships that could add up the full cost of attendance.
HOWEVER, I think I need to be admitted first to be considered for those scholarships, and to be admitted I need to provide this financial support, which I can't. I can only show I could pay $5000 a year while this colleges are worth $30000 a year... (UAH, USF, and UOregon) </p></li>
</ol>
<p>What should I do? I just read a thread and I plan to add a last and 5th college to my list (Troy University) because it's the most I can afford for applications right now. I've saved $500 in the last 2 years (graduation present, birthday presents, and christmas presents) and I've wasted $350 in just filling out applications for 4 Universities... I don't think I can continue spending money in more applications...
That's why I need an advice from someone who can help me, please.</p>
<p>I was thinking of sending a personal letter to each of these universities explaining my current situation, how much I can afford, and if they can help me study in their institution, regardless of my financial situation, but I don't know if that's a good idea.
I still need to send through mail my high school transcripts and this financial proof (which I don't know how should I do it; that's another help I need)</p>
<p>By law, universities are required to verify that you have liquid funds to cover the cost of attendance of the first year before issuing your visa documents. Universities that don’t give much financial aid to international students often require this documentation with the original application (no point admitting a student who can’t afford to attend).</p>
<p>If you can’t pay more than $5,000/year, you could try sending the university documentation that you have those $5,000 together with an explanation that you’ll only be able to attend if awarded a scholarship that brings your cost of attendance down to that level. </p>
<p>$5,000 will just barely cover your plane ticket, personal expenses and health insurance, so you’d need a full ride to attend. Please be aware that the 3 universities you have named above are extremely unlikely to offer you a full ride with your current test scores. You’d need to be among their very best students, but your SAT score hovers around their 75th percentile.</p>
<p>You could write the college and ask them to grant you a fee waiver or ask your guidance counselor to do it. That way you could apply to more schools. The school should send your transcript for you and your father can go to the bank and request a bank statement for his savings account. You could also send a letter from his employer.</p>
<p>You would probably be better off applying to schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need of all admitted students. Don’t be deterred if you are not over the 75 percentile or even below the 25 percentile, having compelling essays and great ECs may get you in. Try applying to skidmore, trinity college, colby, st olaf, franklin and marshall, college of wooster, grinnel<em>, colgate</em>, amherst*(never hurts to throw in a needblind school)</p>
<p>*more competitive to get in
For the others I know students in the 1800- 2100 SAT range who got in with great aid. For both ends of spectrum - 2080 SAT got a 53 k aid to Franklin and Marshall and another had 1830 SAT and got 47 k to St. Olaf.</p>
<p>-b@r!um. Thanks for replying! I understand what you mean. The U.S. government demands the universities to prove that the students can pay the years of attendance so they can get a student visa. }
So you’re saying that it’s okay to send that letter? I plan to send it in an envelope with other documents I need to send (bank statements and high school transcripts). There’s no problem? And like you said, in that letter I’ll put how much my father can afford (my mother in unemployed) and that I could only pay if I get scholarships and financial aid, and a brief, personal statement.
Also, those universities DON’T offer full-ride scholarships. However, they offer a number of different scholarships that if I were to get them all I CAN pay for the university. That’s what I meant.</p>
<p>-nocknock: Thank you too for replying! For the fee waiver, I don’t have an idea of how to ask for it. I also don’t have contact with my counsellor anymore since I’m already out of high school (I graduated on June/2012).
Thank you very much! I’ll look at those colleges and apply to the best 2 that can guarantee helping me. I also plan to apply to Troy University, and I COULD have applied to Berea College, which is a GREAT college for low-economic level students, but International students must send a mail application (not online) and the deadline is next Monday. There’s no way my documents will arrive online.</p>
<p>The thing is that, like b@r!um said, I need a full-ride, or many scholarships, so I can afford going there. It’s sad that many universities don’t really care about that (they just care about money) but they have the power, not me lol. And it’s also harder for me since I’m Latino, and according to my understanding, Americans HATE Latinos since there are lots of illegal latinos over there. That’s why I barely see scholarships for latinos. The international scholarships I found are only for womens, african-americans, or Asians. :(</p>
<p>Can you guys give me any additional advice? Or anyone else who reads this wants to help? Thanks!</p>
<p>I am not an expert but I think you have an advantage being a latino with those scores. Americans don’t hate latinos but yes, there are a lot of illegal immigrants over there which make some people frustrated (since they are there illegally).</p>
<p>Good luck, I hope you get sufficient aid. I also need a lot of aid to be able to study in the US and have actually wondered the exact same thing about bank statements. I still don’t know the best way to say that I can afford the education while saying that I need almost a full ride. Do we all need to send an extra note stating that we can’t really afford it if we are international students? Seems kind of roundabout to me…</p>
Yes, I would write a letter clarifying your intentions. You’ve got nothing to lose, really. The alternative is that your application gets marked as incomplete (due to the missing financial documents) and eventually goes straight to the trash can without even being read…</p>
<p>-SwedishChris: Thank you too for helping! Haha I don’t think so man. I remember that in 2011 a Mexican got accepted at Yale, Harvard, MIT, and Stanford. There are latinos with much better scores than mines. And also, Colleges don’t consider where you are from when checking the scores. They consider the international applicants as a whole. That’s why I don’t have a chance thanks to Asians
And good luck to you too! I’m wondering the same about those things.</p>
<p>–b@r!um: Thank you. I sent you a PM regarding that subject. And also, do the bank statements need to be in English? My bank just issues them in Spanish and a translation won’t have the signature and seal of the bank. Many have told me that I should send them in my native language, but I don’t know. Do you know about this? Thank you.</p>
<p>Any other one who wants to post his opinion? If I stand a chance or if I’m completely screwed?</p>
<p>The college staff may or may not be able to read Spanish. Personally, I would submit a translation along with the original bank statement. Preferably a certified translation. (Remember that colleges need that bank statement for legal reasons. I’d make sure that my financial documentation is trustworthy.)</p>
<p>I also don’t mean to be unnecessarily negative, but do you have a back-up plan for if you don’t get enough aid to attend these schools? Most of the time, these scholarships are rarely given to just one student, and with your average SAT score, the international factor may not be enough to justify giving you enough scholarships to attend schools. And like you’ve said before, public schools (and smaller private schools) really look to international students to be full-pay, and I would be surprised (but extremely happy) for you if you received enough cobbled merit aid to attend school in the US.</p>
<p>-b@r!um: I just talked with the bank. They DON’T give bank statements. I mean, I searched online and a statement must say: “Dear college, we the bank certify that…” They told me they can’t do that. However, they will give me a document where it says the current amount of $ my dad has on his account and the incomes and outcomes it makes from it. Will this work? I plan to attach a letter where my dad says that he can just pay $5000.
Also, would you mind reading the PM and help me with what I ask you?</p>
<p>-Purpleacorn: I know that I don’t have chances man. It’s not being negative… it’s being realistic. And yeah… I plan to enroll in college here on August if I don’t receive anything, which may be my case. And for the SAT, this is my first SAT ever done, but since I did it on November, the next one I should have done should have been on January, but deadlines close in this month… I started my college plans VERY late, but like you said, 0 universities will consider my case, or give my application a special review…</p>
<p>The statement from your Dad will not be enough, because you don’t determine how much you are able to pay, but the school (using their formulas) will. Even if you think you are able to pay $5k USD, the school may look at your household, assets, and income and decide that they think you may be able to pay Y or Z amount. This is the same for American students as well.</p>
<p>-prupleacorn: And how will they look at those things? Like I told you, the bank will just give me a document stating the current amount of $ my dad has right now, and the incomes (the times he put money on his account) and outcomes (the things he has wasted money on).
And also, one of them asks for the CollegeBoard COF, were my sponsor (or dad) puts how much he will give me each year.</p>
<p>You should be able to run Net Price calculators (or NPCs) at your schools, but I’m not sure if they use the same formula for international students. Very few expenses are considered, btw (some medical care costs are, off the top of my head). Your need is typically determined by your income (which is not necessarily the money put into the bank, but the amount he earns in a year), and his assets (which include the amount of money in the bank right now).</p>
<p>-Purpleacorn: The thing is that my dad owns a business. My family has his own business, but it is solely managed by my dad. My mom doesn’t works. That’s why I can’t find any other way to say the money I can afford since my dad is his own employer.</p>
<p>purpleacorn: it sounds like you are describing need-based aid. I think Guille19 is hoping for merit scholarships, which should be independent of his family finances at those universities. He’ll only need financial documents to satisfy the visa requirements.</p>
<p>Sorry, that’s true, oop. But Guille19, also make sure that the merit scholarships do not have a need-based component-- some scholarships may also consider need as a factor. Also find out if you are able to ‘stack’ scholarships.</p>
<p>purpleacorn was saying, ‘You can’t just tell colleges how much you want to pay. They’ll look at your whole finances and determine a family contribution from there.’ </p>
<p>I responded, ‘That’s how need-based aid works, but the OP is applying for merit-based scholarships [the type of aid offered to international students at those universities you selected].’</p>
