<p>Hey guys, I'm new over here and need a massive help from all of you. I have several question. I hope you guys can help me. First of all, do Harvard cover living expenses fro international applicant. How do we get our aid. Secondly, I'm from Malaysia. There are not much ECA around to participate. So are there any other ways for me to get in. I do work approx 60 hours a week. I'm not rich so yeah i got to. I read that Harvard do not penalized applicant who require financial aid. How true is that? And how do i request a waiver for application fee...please help me....hav a dozen questions more......</p>
<p>to qualify for financial aid you need to fill out several forms. if your parents are together, then you need to fill out the Finanical Statement for Foreign Students. all forms can be found on [Forms</a> and Publications](<a href=“http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu:80/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page230186]Forms”>http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu:80/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page230186). you will also need to attach a statment from your parents bank or employer verifying their income as applicable. if your parents are separated then you need to complete the monthly cash flow statement for the parent you are not living with and you’ll have to also provide a statement verifying the income as applicable if not already presented. if you have income tax/ income tax returns then you need to fill out the forms for those for each parent as applicable.</p>
<p>you might ask if applying for financial aid affects your chances at harvard. the simple answer is this - harvard “claims” that their admissions process is need blind which means they accept anyone regardless of their ability to pay. this doesn’t mean that we know for sure what goes on during the admissions meetings. nothing is certain. at any rate, my advice is this. you need not worry about financial aid till you get in. that said, if you dont apply for financial aid during the application process and then you happen to get in then you can still apply for financial aid even if the deadline has long passed. if you don’t get in then you dont need financial aid at all. generally speaking, harvad has an extra-ordinarily strong and compelling international reputation that might convince someone or some organisation to sponsor your education. so basicaly theres no telling for sure whether or not you should apply for financial aid, you need to weigh your chances and risks.</p>
<p>hmm ok, so is it wise for me not to apply financial aid during appliacation and only apply it once i got admitted, if i got admitted i mean…anyways, what if my ECA is not top notch and not compelling…i work most of the time to gather money for my college…sometimes it reaches to 40 hours a week…do they discriminate…and yeah does the financial aid covers living expenses…i wanna go there so badly…wanna study economics…ok final question is it consider rigorous if a student takes mathematics,chemistry,physics,economics and general paper for a levels and get straight a’s for that plus work 40 hours a week…thanks</p>
<p>your financial aid award has nothing to do you with your courseload at harvard or at highschool. your admission into harvard is the only requirement [obviously]. your admisison of course is based on a hell lot of things. they do not discrimate between students on the basis of their jobs, in fact, your job earnings will count towards your student contributions, if you mention them on the financial statement. The amount of aid you received depends on your financial position. if your total family income is les than 60Ka year then basically your parents are expected to contribute nothing to your education. unless of course they have 1m dollar sitting in their bank accounts. in other words, your family assets are also considered. so are your own earnings. what they do is, determine how much you need which typically totals to 55.7K and then determine how much you have to spend and they give you the difference between the two. finaly, it is not necessarily wise to apply for FA after you get in. in other words, i am not endorsing this action in any way. nevetheless, i did apply for FA after i got in and was awarded a full ride plus other stuff like travel allowances/travel allowance/living expenses so you never know. its up to you</p>
<p>hey thanks for the info, but how about getting in…the financial aid is not my concern, i am only concern bout the admission letter…its so complicated…i mean how do i send my documents such as sat test scores, common application and stuff like financial aid form…its very complicated…ok first of all, when is it advised to take my sat…harvard need three sat 2…which subjects should i choose…ok can u please share your experience with me…what courses you took academically and your extracurricular activities as well…seriously, i dont mind the stress but the only thing that i’m afraid is the application…</p>
<p>Its funny that the only thing you are afraid of is the application when in fact its the only thing. Well, the first thing is that the application for admission is entirely separate from the application for financial aid. The only link is that on the Common application (CA) you need to say whether or not you intend to apply for financial aid (FA). To apply for admission, you need to submit the CA which can be found at <a href=“http://www.commonapp.org%5B/url%5D”>www.commonapp.org</a>. You need to create an account on this site first. After you’ve created your account, you will go to the “My colleges” section and add the universities you want to apply to. You can make changes to this list whenever you want but you can’t remove a college after you apply to it and you can’t add a college after the deadline for application has passed. Then you proceed to the various secitons of the CA. You will need to fill out some personal information and basic academic information. You will also need to write an essay of about (500-650) words long. The essay topic is entirely up to you although there are some suggested topics (5 of them). You are not obliged in any way to choose any of them, and you can write about toenails if you want to and still get in [you are gonna have to be really creative to write about toenails to get into Harvard, but the point is you can write about “anything”]</p>
<p>Then there is a short answer [150 words] which you need to write about any one your activities (usually the one that means the most to you). You will also have to briefly outline your extra-curricular activities (ECA). You can mention up to 7 of them. There is also an additional section called “additional information” here you can put anything extra you want to tell the admissions office. Please don’t attach another essay unless its aboslutely necessary. There is also another section on your plans for the future. Here you need to say what you want to study, where, when bla bla bla.</p>
<p>In addition to the CA, you need to submit the Harvard supplement which can be found on the CA website under the “supplements” tab. There, you fill out the Harvard supplement. The Harvard supplement may change between any two years although it hasn’t recently. You have the opportunity to write an additional essay if you want (it’s optional). This is your chance to tell the office something that you weren’t able to say before. I suggest you utilize this opportunity. You won’t be penalized for not writing, but not having the advantage of sending additional useful information is a disadvantage in itself. There might a question asking what you want to do with your education.</p>
<p>After you submit the CA and the supplement, you need to submit the online fee. If you can’t submit the online fee you can waiver it. To waiver the fee, click on the payment seciton and when you choose the form of payment, “fee waiver” will be listed there. There will be several types of fee wavers. As an international student you need to choose the one that isn’t specificed - I think its called “other”. Then you check the box saying that you contacted the university and asked them what you need to send to waive the fee [you need to do this!] </p>
<p>Finally, you ask your teachers to fill out the Teacher evaluation forms. Those can be found at [Harvard</a> College Admissions Office: frequently asked questions](<a href=“http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/download/index.html]Harvard”>http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/electronic_resources/download/index.html) There you download the form and print two copies of it. Fill out your portion of the form on each one and give them to two teachers. Your teachers need to fill them out and send them to the universities. I suggest you give your teachers stamped envelopes so they can send them immediately after fill out the forms. You also need to send in the secondary school report which can be found on the same site from which you got the teacher applications. Give this to your school counselor who has to fill them out (don’t forget to fill your portion on it before handing it to your counselor) and attach official copies of your schoool report and send them to the office. Again I suggest you give the counselor a stamped envelope. All materials need to submitted by Jan 1 of the year you are applying. Don’t worry about the documents that your teachers/counselor have to send; those need to be postmarked by Jan 1 even if they arrive a bit late. As long as you complete your portion of the college application on time, the office will accept the teacher’s side of the application whenever they receive them. Just make sure they don’t get in at like March 31! </p>
<p>Once your application is received, you get an email saying just that and you get an access code that you can use to track your applicaiton materials from the Harvard College admissions site. As for the SAT tests, do them whenever you want to as long as you have enough time to try them several times and make sure you are prepared well and got your highest score. Harvard accepts the Score Choice policy from Collegeboard [::</a> College Planning Made Easy | Inside Source for College Admissions Requirements<a href=“the%20organization%20that%20does%20the%20SAT”>/url</a>, which means you can choose which scores to send. Not all universities accept this. </p>
<p>As an international applicant you need to send your TOEFL scores unless your english scores on the SAT critical reading and writing are 650+. Also, you want to fill out the international secondary school supplement which is found on the same site you got the teacher evaluation forms from. You don’t have to send this, but I strongly recommend that you do. Your school counselor must do this and should send the form along with your school report.</p>
<p>If any part of the application is incomplete for any reason, don’t worry. You will be notified by the office and you can have you teachers fax in the materials to make sure they get in fast. Don’t forget that you can follow up with the admissions office by calling them on their office hours 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM EST (GMT -5). You can contact an admissions officer. I think the officer in charge for International Admissions is Mrs. Heather Roney. I can’t give out here e-mail, but I’m sure you can contact her in some way. [I can contact her on your behalf if you want]</p>
<p>As for the Financial Aid applicaiton. You need to go to [url=<a href=“http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu:80/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page230186]Forms”>http://www.fao.fas.harvard.edu:80/icb/icb.do?keyword=k51861&pageid=icb.page230186]Forms</a> and Publications](<a href=“http://www.collegeboard.com%5D::”>http://www.collegeboard.com) and download all the forms that apply to you. Typically, you need to send the Foreign Student Financial Statement. You need to send in statements from you parent’s employers verifying their income. You also need to send in any income tax/ income tax return statements to the office. If you’re parents are divorced, you need to send the last two pages of the Foreign Students Financial Statement to your non-custodial parent (the one you don’t live with). Again you need send in any documents to verify income/taxes etc. for both parents. If you family owns a business etc; you need to fill out the appropriate forms on the stite. The post-mark deadline for the forms is March 1st.</p>
<p>Good luck with your application</p>
<p>Wow, and i thought it was easy. Hey can i scan and email the forms to them. This is because if i send them via post it will hurt my wallet badly. Ok how do i verify the income tax document. Do i need to go to the court and get a stamp( because the last time i verified a document the same way). Hey you said that if i get 650+ on Sat’s critical reading and writing then i don’t need to send TOEFL result. But isn’t it a must. Anyways, i’m going to take it. So don’t mind me asking , what course are you pursuing in Harvard and how is it over there. Hey thanks though for the explanation. Now i am getting a clearer picture on my application. Hey if i use the common application and select a few universities, will Harvard know about it??</p>
<p>You cannot scan and send documents to the admissions office at Harvard. They simply won’t open any attachments. I am sure sending mail from abroad to the U.S costs money, but you really have to figure it out. The best you can do is call up the office and ask them if you send them by fax, although fax may be just as expensive as mail, since its international (for you at least). Another more complicated alternative is to fill out the forms electronically. You will need a PDF file editor for this. You then send the completed forms by internet fax: [Free</a> Fax • Free Internet Faxing](<a href=“http://faxzero.com%5DFree”>http://faxzero.com). It costs about $2 per fax and up to 15 pages per fax. I don’t really use this service but it is very reliable. Filling forms electronically though can be hard because you need a full version of Adobe Acrobat Reader. Obviously you need to get a legal copy which is very expensive. You might want to ready everything on paper, then when you are ready to send, download a trial version of the software and use it to fill out the forms electronically. Once they are ready (make sure you attach the essays to their respective forms), you save the completed forms as PDF files and send them via internet fax [FaxZero]. The Common app will be about 10 pages once you add the essay the short answer and factor in the additional information. The supplement is about 5-7 pages. Since there is a 15 page limit for the charged internet fax service, you need to send each form individually. </p>
<p>I don’t know about income tax/tax returns because we don’t have them in our country, and I am sure protocol is different from one country to another. As for the income statement, an official letter signed by your parents’ employer(s) is enough. You can also send bank statements to verify income. Regarding the income tax/tax returns, you need to check this with whatever authority that handles it. Typically, if there is any statement that your parents receive indicating the income tax/tax return, just send it to the office. As long as you are not lying, the office will help you verify the information. At any rate, your financial aid, like you offer of admission, is not final. The Financial Aid office may not be very strict about verification at the beginning to speed-up opertations and tell you what your financial aid will be like, but during about May you will receive an e-mail telling you if any further information is required.</p>
<p>I don’t really know much about Harvard since I have yet to go there, and I have never visited the university. About my study plans though, I am considering a joint-concentration in Physics and Philosophy.</p>
<p>Okay, so common application and financial aid form should be sent separately? Can i segregate it into four sections :common application, financial aid form, teacher 1 recommendation, teacher 2 recommendation? Is there anything left. Hey by the way, when i sign up for SAT using college board, they give me 4 free reports to be sent. So how long will the admission office keep the report. Can i decide when to sent the SAT score since I would like to complete both and sent it simultaneously? Hey will verifying documents from a judge or court help? Anyways, all the best for your psychology in Harvard. And yeah, in another thread i heard that the transport allowance is not given although written. Is that true??</p>
<p>You need to put your thoughts together. You can’t segregate your application. You separate it. And yes you can. Don’t forget the Secondary School Report. The admissions office will keep your SAT scores in its record for as long as it wants - forever. You can send the scores whenever you want. Each time you send them, reports for all the other tests will be sent as well. I think that when you send SAT I scores then only all previous SAT I scores only are sent and the same with the SAT II scores. I am not sure about this, you need to check with Collegeboard. I don’t think the court has anything to do with verifying documents, at least not in our country. Again I say, it differs from one country to another. If your court does verfiy documents for other institutions, I can’t imagine it hurting anything so go ahead. If it takes a long process, though, it may not be worth your while.</p>
<p>I am going to study Physics and Philolsophy, not Psychology. And I don’t know what you mean when you say that travel allowance is written but not given. Your financial aid statement tells you how much aid you will receive. They might put your travel allowance under your budget needs, but not necessarily under the financial aid award if thats what you mean. If your total budget is 55K and your FA award is 50K then some portion (5K) is not covered by your award, it usually is the personal expenses or the travel. However, if your total award equals your budget, and the travel allowance is included in your budget, then you should be getting just that. At any rate, Harvard won’t lie to you about the money they give you. When you get your award, call up the office if you are not sure what it means. +1 617-495-1581</p>
<p>Hey, if i fill the common application, then will Harvard know the other universities that i have applied? Do you have other tips. Hey is Harvard college endowment affected with the current state of the economy.</p>
<p>Harvard might know you are applying elsewhere. It doesn’t matter. The best tip I have now is to work hard and figure this whole process out because you seem very lost. Harvard’s endowment dropped by 8bn. So yeah, it got “affected”, and no, the university probably won’t shut down yet.</p>
<p>hmm ok thanks. hey if i apply at 2010 december then what class am i considered</p>
<p>your class is the year you graduate in. figure it out.</p>
<p>oh ok, got it…so how are your preparation goin on…must be excited to go to harvard rite…congrats though…so wat we ur sat score…maybe i can set that as my benchmark…</p>
<p>yeah i am excited to go. my SAT scores are: R 790 - W 790 - M 800.
Physics 800 - Math Level 2 - 800 - Chem 780 - French with Listening 790. dont compare scores cuz there are ppl withe scores like 600 and still got in. its all about your overall performance. SAT scores are only a data point</p>
<p>hmm, hey how do you get those perfect scores. I’m not familiar with SAT. Is it easy if you study or are there problems which are not in the book. Which book would you recommend me to purchase. Am short of cash so what are the important books. Hey is it possible to get 2400/2400 for SAT 1. Can you describe the difference between reading, writing and mathematics. How do they assess you. Any tips for me to succeed? And yeah why dont i see people taking Maths 1 for SAT Subject Test. Is it considered weak??</p>
<p>this must be some sort of a joke. otherwise, im sorry, it’s highly unlikely you are getting into Harvard.</p>
<p>hey just because i ask too many questions doesnt mean i’m dumb. I did my research as well. Am just asking for additional info .I know all about the books such as kaplan and barron, and princeton review. Am just asking which one is better.And I also know the college board book is a must. You got in so i thought maybe u can give me some good suggestion. Ok i admit this is a stupid question ‘Can you describe the difference between reading, writing and mathematics.How do they assess you. Any tips for me to succeed?’ .Anyways, you have been helpful so thank you and see you in Harvard</p>
<p>hey sorry if that sounded rude. No intention to be so. And yeah thinking bout it, i find it stupid to post such questions. But the last question i doubt is stupid.why dont i see people taking Maths 1 for SAT Subject Test. Is it considered weak??</p>