<p>Like the title says, I am an international applicant and I got accepted to a college through early decision. I didn't request any financial aid when I applied, but I was wondering if I could ask for financial aid(such as aid packages based on my academic progress, or something similar) in the future. Also I've heard some rumors about people getting financial aid starting from their second sememster or their second year in college. Is it true? Do all my questions depend on my college? Thank you for your time.</p>
<p>Colleges do NOT like it when students apply and claim that they don’t need FA, but then later ask for it.</p>
<p>It’s obvious that you didn’t ask for FA because you thought it would help with admissions. I really doubt you’ll get the FA you need now. </p>
<p>I’ve never heard of an ED type of school that gives aid packages later based on “academic progress”.</p>
<p>As far as I know, the people who get FA later (when they didn’t ask for it before), have special circumstances that they can demonstrate - such as death of a parent who was the primary income.</p>
<p>Don’t forget that you’ll need to show a whole year’s funding before you’ll be given a visa (if you’re not already here.)</p>
<p>What school did you get accepted to?</p>
<p>It depends on the school. Some schools are NOT need blind for admissions for international students. You indicated you would be a FULL PAY by checking the box that says you didn’t need financial aid. For schools that are not need blind for admissions, that may have tipped admissions in your favor. Unlikely they will grant you aid after the fact. Some schools also will not allow international students to apply for need based aid in subsequent years if they didn’t apply for it as a freshman.</p>
<p>Does your school offer merit aid? Some do not. And some offer very limited merit aid for international students.</p>
<p>If you NEEDED financial aid to attend this college, why did you check the box that said you did NOT need financial aid? It does no good to get accepted to a college when you need financial aid to attend…and don’t request it.</p>
<p>Merit aid awards from outside sources (not from the colleges themselves) are very limited for international students.</p>
<p>When you apply for your student visa you will need to provide financial documentation showing you have the money to pay for school. You will not get a student visa otherwise.</p>
<p>Many schools that provide FA for international students will not allow students to change from not requiring FA to requiring FA. You will need to check with the school you have been accepted to for their policies. Some say quite specifically on their web sites that you cannot change.</p>
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No. Sometimes, depending on the school, there may be merit scholarships for second year students but they are generally pretty limited. And many schools that do ED do not offer merit scholarships at all.</p>
<p>It is pointless to say you are not applying for FA to try and get an admissions edge if, without financial aid, you can’t afford to attend once admitted.</p>
<p>How much can your family pay each year?</p>
<p>I’m guessing that the COA for your college is about $53k per year - possibly more if int’l travel is also involved. There are no scholarships, etc, that are now going to pay that amount.</p>
<p>What school did you apply to?</p>
<p>I got into Brandeis, and I am asking this because there may be some financial problems in the future. My family is sure they can provide my first year’s tuition, but for the years after, it would be a great burden(Not saying that it is completely impossible) for them and I would like to take responsibility for at least part of the tuition. I get the feeling that a full scholarship would be impossible. So has anyone heard of early decision applicants getting some sort of aid(Includuing merit based) starting from their second year? Thanks for your time everyone.</p>
<p>antonyoo, you will need to contact Brandeis to ask their policies on providing aid to international students who do not APPLY for aid when they initially apply. </p>
<p>Need based aid is applied for annually for colleges in the United States. HOWEVER, some schools do not permit international students to apply for need based aid after their freshman year IF they didn’t indicate a need to do so when they applied as freshmen. I don’t know Brandeis’s policy on this matter. </p>
<p>Their website does say that they provide aid to international students. If your issue is with subsequent college years, you would need to apply for that year anyway. Email them and ask…nothing ventured…nothing gained. Their finaid office will know the answer. But do this Monday. Many of these administrative offices will be on holiday break…if they aren’t already.</p>
<p>from the Brandeis website
[Scholarships</a> and Financial Aid](<a href=“First-Year Applicants | Application Process | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University”>First-Year Applicants | Application Process | Apply | Undergraduate Admissions | Brandeis University)</p>
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<p>Yeah… thats why I’ve been worried after my parents told me that I should look for some sort of financial aid.</p>
<p>As thumper said, I think it would be better to ask the college. Thanks for the replies everyone.</p>
<p>May I STRONGLY suggest you quickly prepare applications to some other colleges asap!!! Administrators at colleges EXPECT that if you are smart enough to go to college you are smart enough to able to understand any written policy that they have published on their website, and as Brandeis’s FA policy is crystal clear regarding international students, it is highly unlikely that they will make an exception for you in this case. I wouldn’t count on it any any rate. So if you do not get a positive response to your request, be sure to let Brandeis know you have to decline, with regret, their ED offer because of unforeseen financial difficulties, so you can be released from your ED commitment to apply to other colleges. The last thing you would need at that point is for another college to not even consider your application because Brandeis has let them know that you were accepted ED, and have not been released from that commitment.</p>
<p>Ok, I think I didn’t clarify something. It is not impossible for my family to pay my tuition. Its a great burden, but not impossible. I just dont want to be a big pain in the … in such a bad economy. Anyways thanks for your help everyone.</p>
<p>Brandeis website: *Please note that international students who are not awarded financial aid for their first year will not be able to receive financial aid in future years. It is imperative that applicants who will need financial aid during college apply for financial aid when they apply for admission. </p>
<h2>All Scholarships are awarded for four years of study at Brandeis, **beginning with the semester for which the student is admitted. ** *</h2>
<p>*I’ve been worried after my parents told me that I should look for some sort of financial aid.
*</p>
<p>Well, since the school’s website clearly states that you must apply during your first year AND scholarships are awarded as freshmen (not later), your family needs to understand that there won’t likely be aid coming from Brandeis. You can’t blame Brandeis for this policy. Otherwise, people would just save for the first year, get admitted by saying that they don’t need aid, and then later ask for aid.</p>
<p>You need to have a “heart to heart” with your parents. If they truly believe that they can only justify paying for one year of your costs (about $55k including your int’l travel) and that they won’t be able to pay $55k for each subsequent year, then you need to think about other options for college. Your statement that “it is not impossible for my family to pay my tuition,” isnt’ the issue…the issue is: are they willing to pay. </p>
<p>Don’t forget that you’ll have to show that you have funding BEFORE your visa is granted. Are your parents prepared to show funding for each year?</p>
<p>It’s highly unlikely you will find scholarship money outside of your country. If this is a major burden for your family, reconsider.</p>
<p>Why Brandeis? It is pretty much unheard of outside of it’s region and it will not allow you to stay in the US upon graduation. Consider undergrad in your country and going to the US for grad school.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice mom2collegekids. I had a talk about the financial part, and sorted things out. And hmom5, you pretty much summed up what my dad said :). But I really want to study aborad for many personal reasons, and I am realy looking forward to getting an education at such a fine school. Thanks for all the replies everyone.</p>
<p>Oh, I need to clarify things again… when I said I had a talk, I meant that I had a talk with my dad</p>
<p>Glad to hear that you talked it out with your dad. Does he feel that the family can afford to pay for your four years or not? What does he want you to do?</p>