<p>@theGame: Can you please cite the sources you read? Thanks</p>
<p>^ Try these:</p>
<p>Ask</a> the Guru: Early Decision - My College Guide</p>
<p>However, it is conflicting:</p>
<p>Next</a> magazine - Is ED the best choice?</p>
<p>Here is more prove, though:</p>
<p>JHNewsletter</a> - ED remains popular..</p>
<p>Make up your mind. I think on the balance of play, you can opt out.</p>
<p>All right, we definitely need to put things into perspective here. Columbia is not stingy with finaid for internationals. I'm from Europe and get plenty of aid. In fact, a Columbia alum donated $400 mio. last year and required that the bulk of it goes to finaid. He was a German immigrant, so obviously international students will benefit from his generous donations as well.</p>
<p>@Pearfire, I understand that top, need-aware schools like columbia and upenn allocate a significate amount of funds to assist intl. students financially, but I'm still unsure of how my EFC is calculated and am worried that they'd expect my family to pay more than we can afford to. I think I'd feel better if I apply EA and RD so I can compare fin. offers since financial aid is a very important factor for me to consider. And congrats on getting into Columbia with aid. If you dont mind, can you tell me if the package consisted of any loans, your home country and your stats if you still have them? TIA :)</p>
<p>Congratulations to frankechanel for getting into Columbia !!!!!
How do you think my chances are of getting into a top college...
SAT 1 - 2300
SAT 2 - 2400
All on first attempts.........combine with some work with the government regarding the waste disposal system of my city, part time computer game designer, 500 hours community service at various institutions as a teacher.
Oh..........and I'm applying for financial aid.</p>
<p>EFC? It's been a while since I went through the college application process, I'm a junior at Columbia. </p>
<p>What grade are you in? If you're a junior, ED will give you a huge boost! I know of about 20 int. kids in my class who also applied for aid and all of us received VERY generous aid. We're all from upper-middle class and only contribute 10-15k per year, which is doable in my opinion. Finaid packages at Columbia contain ZERO loans, it's all grants. Also if your household makes less than 60K, you'll get a free ride. </p>
<p>Besides, there's a Scholar program at Columbia that takes about 5-10% of all accepted applicants. For those Scholars, Columbia tries to really push the limits of financial aid and "accidentally" a disproportionate number of Scholars are international kids. You see, Columbia tries everything to give good aid to international kids.</p>
<p>^ Do a large percentage of int'l students receive FA from Columbia?</p>
<p>EFC is the estimated family contribution, basically how much your family has to pay. The no-loan packages sound awesome too. Thanks pearfire for giving us intl students requiring aid some hope ;) And I'll cehck out the scholars program too! Thanks :)</p>
<p>One thing, I read from the Columbia website that for household income <$60 000 and 'assuming typical assets' you basically get a free ride. Can someone clarify what are 'typical assets', I assume it includes your parents' investment, savings? But does it include the home we're living in right now and my parents' retirement savings?</p>
<p>Yes, there's a line for houses and I'm pretty sure you have to include savings in general. I wouldn't worry too much about finaid as of right now. Apply first and you'll be assigned a financial aid officer once you get accepted, who will go through everything with you if you want.</p>