<p>Hello everyone,
I'm an international student applying for the class of 2014 and now that my commonapps are out, all that's left to do for me are the financial aid forms.</p>
<p>Unfortunately I have huge problems filling out the International Student Financial Aid Application (from collegeboard) and the International Student Certification of Finances. I mean, they ask questions like what will you be able to pay from your vacations's earnings in the year 2013-14! How can I know? And how can I know about what my parent's savings at that time? There are a lot of questions where I have to think more than 2 years ahead which is rather impossible for me! </p>
<p>In addition, I don't qualify for any scholarships because my country and organizations here do not award any for undergraduate studies outside of Europe and my family contribution will not be more than $ 6000 per year. </p>
<p>So, all in all I'm just worried that even if I will be accepted to my college choices (with high tuitions), my rather vague answers (because I have to estimate so much!!) and my small financial assets will jeopardize my visa qualification!</p>
<p>I would be more than happy if someone could help out with how exact the numbers for FA documents have to be and if a visa cannot be granted if an international student does not have too much money.
Thanks in advance!!!</p>
<p>Your family will have to verify that they have enough money to cover your expenses for college and living here for at least the first year you are here…or you won’t be able to secure a visa to study here. This money can include financial aid from your college that you are awarded. </p>
<p>You should also understand…this is not just a requirement in the U.S. When my son did a study abroad, we had to sign an affidavit and provide bank statements and pay stubs to prove that WE were able to pay all of his bills while while he was a student in a foreign country.</p>
<p>Since none of us knows which school you have applied to and we also don’t know your parents’ finances (income and assets…all we know is what they have TOLD you they will pay which sometimes is very different than what the financial aid computations say they CAN pay), it is impossible to tell you whether or not you will have sufficient financial aid to attend college in the United States.</p>
<p>Re: the forms…make your answers as accurate as possible.</p>
<p>I mean, they ask questions like what will you be able to pay from your vacations’s earnings in the year 2013-14! How can I know?</p>
<p>They are asking for an estimation. Such as…if you think that you can get a summer job in your home country that will pay you the equivalent of - say - $3000 (US) over 3 months time, how much of that can be used towards your education? </p>
<p>If your family can only pay $6k per year, you could have 2 problems: 1) the school may think your family can/should pay a lot more. 2) the school may not give much aid, and you’ll have a huge gap.</p>
<p>VERY FEW schools give $45k in aid to int’ls (which is what you’d likely need), if you’re applying to popular private schools. If you’re applying to publics, then you’ll likely get little or no aid, since most don’t give aid to int’ls.</p>
<p>I know that the US gives the appearance of being a rich country, but most its schools can’t meet need of Americans, but less int’ls. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but I really wonder why so many int’ls think that US schools have huge amounts of aid available to give to them? Again, I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but I do wonder about that when I keep seeing posts from int’ls that have only small amounts of money to pay for their education, but they expect US schools to pay for them. American students who only have small amounts of money, often can’t get the aid that they need. Most int’ls that go to school in the US have to pay for ALL of their expenses.</p>
<p>thanks a lot for those quick answers!
Don’t worry about sounding harsh, I just want to make clear that I’m totally not applying to US colleges because I wish for a “for free education!” I’m totally aware of the large amounts of money a great education at a top university costs and I do my best working towards a larger financial contribution from my part. It’s just that I didn’t want my family’s relatively low income for a top school hinder me in applying for a US college. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, thank you both for helping me so quickly!</p>