How "negotiable" is F.A.?

Colleges & Universities A-Z Stanford University
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<p>I'm an international applicant, and ever since I started to think of studying at American schools, I've always considered Stanford as my dream school (not only for its prestige, but becasue of its atmosphere, programs, locations etc.) However, financial aid is NOT need-based at Stanford for int'ls, unlike some schools on the east coast which I'm also applying to.</p>

<p>The "problem" is, since schools like HYP are need-based, for example, if I do (by some chance) get in to both Stanford and H, the FA offer is bound to be better at H. And since Stanford makes int'l applicants write how much they can pay on the application, the price difference could be huge (like $5000~10000/year --- I'm just guessing). Then, I would have to really consider going to these other schools, even if, I got in to Stanford (which would be very ironic).</p>

<p>So, I'm interested in knowing how "negotiable" financial aid offers are, at Stanford. (I understand that there is a large debate regarding this topic.)
(cf. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/260585-ny-times-article-business-negotiating-more-college-aid.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/260585-ny-times-article-business-negotiating-more-college-aid.html&lt;/a&gt;)&lt;/p>

<p>If anyone has experince "negotiating" FA offers at Stanford, could you please share your experiences? Thank you for reading.</p>

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<p>Not necessarily. Yes, Harvard has a bigger endowment, but the financial aid packages at both are awesome. If you get in with financial aid, you’re going to be choosing between the two based on the schools, not the financial aid packages.</p>

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<p>^ I understand that (=FA is “awesome” at both schools) is the situation for American students. But how is it for int’ls?</p>

<p>As I have stated, I have “compared the two schools” and would like to go to Stanford. However, it is hard to say that when, parents don’t really get my intention of going to Stanford, and another (fairly well known) school comes with a FA package that’s $5000~10000 better than the one at Stanford.</p>