International + FinAid: Suggestions?

Paying for College
1

<p>** General Info*[ul]
[<em>] Gender: F
[</em>] Location: South-East Asia, ORM
[<em>] Ethnicity: Mixed race, still South-East Asian though
[</em>] College Class Year: 2016
[<em>] High School Type: sends many grads to top schools
[</em>] Income Bracket: High
[<em>] Will apply for financial aid: Yes, probably won’t get it though <a href="should%20I%20apply?">b</a>*
[li] Interests: Anthropology, Sociology, Art History, History, Political Science[/li][/ul]
Objective:[ul]
[</em>] ACT: 32 Composite, 28E, 33M, 36R, 31S
[<em>] SAT II: Math 1 750, Physics 760, Chemistry 720
[</em>] Unweighted GPA (out of 4.0): IDK, we don’t have GPA. Should be 3.9+
[<em>] Rank (percentile if rank is unavailable): Doesn’t rank, according to counsellor.
[</em>] AP (place score in parenthesis): European History (4), Comp. Gov (4)
[<em>] Senior Year Course Load: A Levels for Physics, Math, Chemistry, Economics. APs in WH, USH and Psych.
[</em>] Major Awards (USAMO, Intel etc.): National astronomy awards, Asia Pacific Astronomy Olympiad Honorable Mention
[/ul]
Subjective:[ul]
[<em>] Extracurriculars (place leadership in parenthesis):
[list][li]Science Club (Secretary 2008, Vice-chairperson 2009)[/li][</em>]Astronomy Club (Treasurer 2010)
[<em>]Current Affairs Society (Part of newspaper team)
[</em>]Class chairperson 2010[/ul]
[<em>] Job/Work Experience: Volunteered at a museum in 2009; Planning to volunteer there again soon
[</em>] Volunteer/Community service: Part of concert organising team
[<em>] Summer Activities: International Year of Astronomy Holiday Workshops (2009). Other summers were spent doing research and participating in competitions
[/list]
** Desired College Characteristics:**[ul]
[</em>] Location type: Anything really
[<em>] Size: Small (Under 2,500), Medium Small (2,500 - 5,000)
[</em>] Women's colleges: No
[<em>] With religious affiliation: No
[</em>] Area: East Coast, West Coast
[/ul]</p>

<p>I'm looking for LACs or universities with a small LAC-like feel. </p>

<p>Also, because my family's income bracket is high, would it be better if I applied for financial aid (would like some!) or not?</p>

<p>Thanks for the answers!</p>

2

<p>Check out Hobart & William Smith (NY) </p>

<p>Nice location & they do give some aid to internationals. Best of luck!</p>

3

<p>Lots of people from my school are in love with Wesleyan. It’s very expensive though.</p>

<p>With your grades you might be able to qualify for need-based scholarships. Might as well try :slight_smile: Hope that helps.</p>

4

<p>Thanks RiversChoice and ladyengineertobe!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I posted something similar and someone else did suggest that to me. I’ll look into it!</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>In fact, Wesleyan has a special country-based scholarship. I don’t know whether they are strong in the subjects I’m interested in so I’ll check that out too.</p>

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<p>If your income is high, you won’t likely qualify for any need-based aid. However, you should apply to schools that will give you merit based aid.</p>

<p>How much will your parents pay each year?</p>

6

<p>I think they can cover 2-3 years of college.</p>

7

<p>I need more suggestions!</p>

8

<p>Third post in a row!</p>

9

<p>Have you looked at any of these schools? </p>

<p>Sarah Lawrence (NY)
Connecticut College (CT) (not much merit there)
Drew University (NJ)
Colgate University (NY)
Hamilton College (NY)
Middlebury (VT)
Rollins College (FL)
St. Lawrence University (NY) </p>

<p>Not sure about merit aid at any of these, though, you will have to check them out.</p>

10

<p>Most colleges will not permit international students to apply for financial aid after they have been accepted. At the same time, applying for financial aid makes for an even more competitive process. </p>

<p>Your parents can pay for 2 to 3 years at what price tag? The cost of college increases every year. Many top schools these days cost > $50 thousand per year. Other colleges cost less. If you do not end up receiving need based financial aid, you may want to consider a college that accepts your AP credits, and otherwise makes it easy (easier) to graduate in three years. </p>

<p>In addition, public liberal arts colleges (listed here: [COPLAC</a> | Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges](<a href=“http://www.coplac.org/members.html]COPLAC”>http://www.coplac.org/members.html)) may be less expensive than private liberal arts colleges. </p>

<p>If you are willing to relax your location requirements, you might find more merit money in the midwest or the south. You might also want to check out colleges that change lives ([Colleges</a> That Change Lives | Changing Lives, One Student at a Time](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)). </p>

<p>It looks like Allegheny offers limited merit scholarships to internationals. </p>

<p>I would also suggest investigating which colleges graduates of your high school have attended. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

11

<p>

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<p>I’ve looked at some of these colleges, particularly Middlebury. I check out the rest soon.

That really wouldn’t be a good idea because each year my school sends about 1-2 to HM, 3-5 to YP, 10 to Stanford and a lot of other great schools. So yeah…</p>

12

<p>Since you have a high income, you won’t qualify for financial aid.</p>

<p>Since your parents will only pay for 2 -3 years of college, then choosing schools where you won’t get merit will mean that you won’t be able to finish your education.</p>

<p>So, either you’ll have to go to school in your own country, or you have to lower your sights and apply to schools that give merit to int’l students.</p>

13

<p>Hmm, actually right now they can pay for 2-3 years. By sophomore year of college, they can pay in full. </p>

<p>My country has full scholarships too.</p>

14

<p>You sound like you will be in good shape with those stats.
Many colleges are “need aware” for internationals, so if there is any way your parents can pay for you without asking for financial aid, it might give you an edge in admissions.</p>

<p>“Need aware” means that they take into consideration whether you need aid before deciding whether to admit you. Most US colleges claim to be “need blind” for US citizens, but not necessarily for internationals.</p>

<p>Check the individual colleges’ web sites for their policies.</p>

15

<p>*Hmm, actually right now they can pay for 2-3 years. By sophomore year of college, they can pay in full. </p>

<p>My country has full scholarships too. *</p>

<p>???</p>

<p>Then WHY are you asking for financial aid suggestions? You won’t qualify for any because you will be a full pay student.</p>

16

<p>Apologies since I’m unclear.</p>

<p>The question that I really wanted to ask was actually whether I should apply for financial aid since that’ll decrease my chances of admission. My parents are aware that I won’t get it so I figured that I might as well not apply for financial aid since it will be harder to enter if I indicated so.</p>

17

<p>So you are thinking you will not qualify for need-based aid?
A full pay international student, maybe that is a “hook” for you! </p>

<p>But if things should change financially for your family then what? Sometimes schools won’t give you any need-based aid if you haven’t applied for it from the very beginning!
No one has a crystal ball as we all know. Certainly you should sit down with your parents & have a serious discussion about applying for financial aid, what they can afford etc.</p>

18

<p>Since your parents can full pay and many schools are “need aware” for int’ls, don’t apply for FA.</p>

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<p>Check out Amherst college, MA. </p>

<p>Amherst is one of a handful of colleges that is need-blind for international students.</p>

20

<p>She doesn’t want a school that is need blind. That’s no help for her. She needs some schools that are need aware since she won’t qualify for aid, and doesn’t need aid.</p>

<p>She needs the nudge that being a full pay student will give.</p>