I have my SAT scores, wrote an essay, had my transcript uploaded… But now I found out that almost all my colleges require the CSS profile and that this costs a lot of money. I can’t afford to send the CSS profile to my colleges.
Which colleges accept the ISFAA profile? I can send this one for free and then I can see which colleges I am interested in who accept the ISFAA.
I am very upset about this and it feels like all my hard work will be ruined.
(For those who will now say something along the lines of ‘‘If you can’t afford to send out CSS profiles, how do you expect to afford US education?’’ My parents are in debt so we are not allowed to access our bank accounts, making that I can’t send the scores via College Board)
@studyinus21 - does CB not give fee waivers for CSS? I don’t know what ISFAA is, but I am sure if you check their website, it will tell you which colleges accept that.
@studyinus21 - I suggest you contact the colleges you want to apply to and explain your hardship to them. I am sure Some of them will help you out.
Sending official test scores to colleges also costs money - another expense to consider.
Email admissions right away and ask if 1) they accept ISFAA or 2) would provide you with a css profile fee waiver for their specific college.
I already send all my test scores to the colleges which wanted them send directly. Others just wanted them listed on my transcript. Thanks for pointing it out though!
I’m not talking about test scores - there are fee waivers for the CSS Profile. COlleges give you a code (a number) that you enter on the payment page for CSS Profile.
Thank you @MYOS1634, your advice is very helpful.
^ However not all colleges grant the request so you have to be prepared for “we don’t accept ISFAA and we don’t grant CSS Profile fee waivers” 
Have you already submitted the applications? Almost every school has an application fee.
Yes, most I’m applying to don’t have a fee or I have the College Board fee waiver which was also confirmed by my counselor.
So even though I applied to sixteen colleges, I now have my full hopes set on the four who accept the ISFA
You’ve already asked the other twelve colleges about CSS Profile fee waivers, and they all said no?
Most said they don’t offer those to international students.
I applied regardless and hope that they will then accept me and I can still file it, but then just for one college which I want to attend. I can ask a friend to pay 25 bucks, but not so much money for all colleges.
quote
[/quote]
This is a very good question. Incidental expenses for an international student attending college in the U.S. will certainly total much more than the cost to send the Profile to a dozen colleges.
@BelknapPoint Luckily by the time I’m attending college I won’t be raising my hand at my mommy and daddy but actually saving money because right now I’m working 30 hours a week outside of school hours to save money. But as you could have read, our account is frozen and it’s in no way possible for me to take out money for the CSS. I stated this in my opening so people would actually come with helpful solutions rather than just seeking ways to make someone who is already feeling bad feel worse.
I will have access to my own bank account when I’m eighteen and no longer responsible for my parents debts.
In what country is a child responsible for the debts of a parent? And yes, I did read that your parent’s account is frozen, but you didn’t say anything else in your first post about working 30 hours per week to save money. If that’s the case, why not use some of your work earnings to pay for CSS Profile fees?
Because the account is frozen and so is my own account until I am 18. The logic according to the government in that is that if it weren’t, my parents would be able to indirectly have a lot of money on my bank account and live off of that, while being on state welfare. That’s why the government freezes my account also until I’m 18.