<p>You are lucky to have this offer! Grab it unless one of currently employed your parents suddenly loses a job or has a terminal illness!! Most of us have to pay $60K a year!!!</p>
<p>File the appeal with a letter explaining that with your parent’s income of $X, it is imporssible for them to come up with the difference, and that you need some assistance in ideas of how you can bridge some of the gap. See if you can work with them. Yes, bring up the health insurance issue too. Some schools will scratch up some funds to cover it if it’s over the expenses considered.</p>
<p>Having a dream is wonderful, but is it realistic? No because it’s a dream. You applied ED and now you are beginning to worry. What else aren’t you prepared for?</p>
<p>Without knowing your major and the sacrifices that your family has to make, will you be employable in your country after graduation to pay back family debts? You can’t assume that having been admitted to an American university automatically gives you job opportunities and immigration status in the US. (Unless you’re already a US citizen?)
You will face more hurdles and more money issues. YOU/YOUR FAMILY will be incurring a lot of debt, not the posters on this thread. </p>
<p>File an appeal, but don’t expect a whole lot of changes. Try to get an RA position to help cut down the housing cost. Some universities have too many students seeking minimal RA positions. Don’t assume an RA position is automatic. If you can’t get an RA position you will probably have to live off-campus, in cheaper housing with roommates, and “transportation” expenses in all sorts of weather. This may impact your study time and grades.</p>
<p>Speaking from personal experience as a former bachelors and masters student, it gets really old being broke “all of the time”. It affects how you eat and study and get to class. And, as a graduate student, you will be incurring even more debt.</p>
<p>As a parent, who has taken out loans for her children and herself, I caution your enthusiasm to attend a university you can barely afford. The daily guilt you will face, knowing what your parents are sacrificing, will hit you everyday and will affect you. If you can make it work, great. If you can’t, then it will always be a struggle.</p>
<p>There are other schools out there that could possibly meet your full needs and are still accepting applications. Have a back-up plan. Give it a shot and don’t limit yourself.</p>
<p>Another idea: Campus job. Back in the stone age I worked as a Lab Teaching Assistant for 2 biology teachers at Colgate and made decent $. The library also has student jobs. Inquire now before ED II and RD students are asking.</p>
<p>My point earlier is that it is incredibly difficult to be accepted with FA as an international applicant and don’t give up this opportunity unless you have a better option.</p>
<p>First of all, I just want to say that I’m glad I opened this thread and that I deeply appreciate all your comments. I’m currently waiting for a reply from the financial aid office to see if they could support me with the medical insurance and holiday lodging, since those are what I’m currently worried about. I never expected to actually be admitted to Colgate so this is an amazing chance that neither I nor my parents want to pass up on. If estate value goes up and my family can sell the piece of land, I won’t have to take out a loan and be able to graduate debt-free. Hopefully I can get a job and start repaying my parents soon after graduation.
Oh, and yes I’ll talk to them about the campus jobs, thank you for reminding.</p>
<p>Word to the wise: Use the college’s net price calculator. There shouldn’t be this degree of sticker shock, if used properly:
[Net</a> Price Calculator for Attending Colgate University](<a href=“http://www.colgate.edu/admission-financial-aid/financial-aid/net-price-calculator]Net”>http://www.colgate.edu/admission-financial-aid/financial-aid/net-price-calculator)</p>
<p>chisieumap, i have told you already that during christmas break for those international students who are unable to go home, they are given free board/lodging.</p>
<p>Loans and jobs can make up the difference. But, if you can not.afford a private college, there are some public colleges in America where the TOTAL cost for international students is under $20,000 a year. Brigham Young is very affordable.</p>
<p>The College Board website provides detailed inforrmation on every college in America. Midwest colleges, such as the University of Iowa, have a history of welcoming international students.</p>
<p>Yeah Colgate has that problem. They state that they cover full need but their way of calculating need is different from other schools and tends to be less. When I was accepted I was required to pay $36,000 full per year, something which would had been almost impossible for my family. Fortunately, I was later accepted to another schools with a financial aid packet that made my family pay only $15,000 per year. The huge difference makes me question their way of evaluating need. You should have not applied early decision to Colgate, but rather wait for other offers in the regular round.</p>
<p>I think 14K a year for Colgate is a steal. Compare it with your RD offers and see if it isn’t the best package anybody is offering.</p>
<p>@moneyp Sorry i just jumped in.I was wondering about breaking the ed agreement …Does that mean that you are withdrawing your application from that college or you are indirectly stating that “I will compare your aid with other school in Rd and then I will decide”??..Thank you in advance</p>
<p>No, you will not be able to compare your aid with RD schools. If you can’t afford your ED school, you will need to let them before the ED deadline, which is usually around Jan.</p>
<p>Thanks oldfort, you have answered feynman10’s question for me.</p>