<p>I'm an international student applying to colleges this year.</p>
<p>My family's income before tax is somewhere between 100k~130k.</p>
<p>I know for sure that the disposable income would be well under 100k..</p>
<p>I have a young sibling 2 years younger than me; college education is needed for her.</p>
<p>Would I qualify for need-based aid?</p>
<p>First of all, most colleges don’t give ANY money to int’ls.</p>
<p>There are a few that “meet need”, but some are “need aware.” these are the schools that are the most difficult to get accepted to. </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter that you have a younger sister who will later be going to college. That doesn’t really matter now. You’re the only one going to college next year.</p>
<p>What are your test scores and GPA?</p>
<p>What schools are you applying to?</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>Your family will have a high “family contribution”, how much will they pay each year? If you don’t know, ask your parents how much they’ll pay.</p>
<p>You’ll have to show that you have complete funding before you can get a visa.</p>
<p>If your stats are high enough, some schools mightl give you merit scholarships…but not likely full rides…maybe half tuition or full tuition, but your family would still have to pay the rest (remaining tuition, fees, room, board, books, personal expenses, travel, etc)</p>
<p>*
I’ll go straight to the point</p>
<p>GPA: 3.9 / 4
SAT I: 2340 R+M=1540
SAT II: Math2 800
US History 740</p>
<p>APs: Micro/Macro/Psych/USHistory/Stats/Cal BC - All 5s</p>
<p>ECs: leader of volunteering club; raised money then donated
school newspaper- co-editor
varsity soccer
varsity basketball
intern at consulting firm- summer 2012</p>
<p>and some many others;</p>
<p>ECs are average, I guess</p>
<p>I plan to major in Mathematics</p>
<p>Please chance me for
Dartmouth,
Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona and Harvey Mudd</p>
<p>Please!*</p>
<p>You have very good stats. However, at those schools you’ll likely have a high Family Contribution…probably around $40k per year or more. I’m not sure if all those schools promised to meet 100% of need to int’ls or not. </p>
<p>Since some/all of those schools put loans & work-study in pkgs for domestic students to help meet need, I don’t know what they do with int’ls since they don’t qualify for student loans or work-study… Perhaps int’ls are given a higher “family contribution”??? </p>
<p>^^^Anyone know? It wouldn’t seem fair if domestic students get loans/ws in FA pkgs but then int’ls only get grants. So, does that suggest higher “family contributions” from int’ls at those kind of schools?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids: thank you please for your kind reply…</p>
<p>I am probably able to receive around 13K per year from a company my father works at. I probably have to take care of the rest by myself… my parents are not willing to pay more than 10K per year besides the grant from the company</p>
<p>Since the money from your dad’s company is unknown, and your parents will only pay $10k, then you may end up with some unaffordable schools. </p>
<p>Along with schools that give need-based aid, apply to a couple of schools that give large merit for stats as back up schools. </p>
<p>If the money that your dad’s company gives is considered a scholarship, then that will reduce need-based aid awards. It won’t reduce your “family contribution”</p>
<p>Ok… so at my family’s level of income, is it unlikely that I will receive any need-based aid?? That’s a bit depressing
Are you, by any chance, aware of some LACs that tend to give aid to international students?</p>
<p>Yes, at your family’s level of income you are unlikely to receive NEED based aid. BUT there are a number of schools that would offer you MERIT aid. That merit aid along with the $10,000 per year your family will contribute and $10,000 or so from your dad’s company would likely enable you to study in the U.S. BUT this will not be any of the Ivy League schools which give ONLY need based aid.</p>
<p>At some of the Ivy League schools you might receive some need based aid as some of these schools award need based aid to families with incomes up to $150,000 per year. You will need to check the websites yourself to see which ones do this.</p>
<p>ALSO your stats are very good, but so are the stats of MOST applicants to these very competitive schools. They accept about 10% of applicants…and it is likely that the %age of international acceptances is lower. Your first hurdle will be to get accepted.</p>
<p>Please, cast a wider net than the most competitive schools. You need places where you will get the aid you need AND where you are assured an acceptance. Find those schools first.</p>
<p>I am guessing that at your family’s income level, even if you were eligible for need-based aid, your EFC (expected family contribution) would still be higher than the $23k you have available from your parents and your father’s company. If that’s the case, you have a problem before you even get to the fact that you’re international. But, it’s easy enough to find out - just run the net price calculator for each of the schools you’re interested in. The income figure you’d use is your family’s income before taxes. The results you get won’t be exact . . . but they’ll give you a pretty good idea what you’d be expected to pay at each school.</p>
<p>Bottom line is that if your EFC is greater than what your family is willing to pay, then you have to focus on schools that give generous merit aid. With your stat’s, there are plenty of schools where you’d qualify (as noted above) for awards that would more than cover the gap between your parents’ contribution and the cost of attendance. Whether any of these awards are restricted to domestic students only, I do not know - you’d have to look at the school’s individual scholarship requirements to find that out.</p>
<p>At least one of the schools you’re already looking at (Harvey Mudd) offers merit aid. Take a look and see if any of the others do, as well. But keep in mind that you won’t be the only applicant to these schools with strong grades and test scores . . . so even if getting merit aid is possible, it’s far from a sure thing.</p>
<p>Then take a look at the schools listed [here[/url</a>], that give automatic/guaranteed scholarships based on a student’s stat’s and test scores. There not as well known or prestigious . . . but they’re good schools and might be quite affordable for you.</p>
<p>Then go through the schools listed on [url=<a href=“http://www.princetonreview.com/schoolsearch.aspx]Princeton”>College Search | The Princeton Review]Princeton</a> Review](<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html]here[/url”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html) - looking for schools where your grades and test scores are well above average. Those are the schools where you’d have a good shot at getting the merit aid that you need. It’s going to take some work to identify the schools you’re interested in where you’d have a good chance of getting good merit aid, but it will be time well spent. To reiterate: the further your grades and tests score are above the average, the better your chances of being awarded merit aid. So, your “reach” schools would be those where your stat’s are at the top end of what’s customary for that school. Your “matches” and “safeties” (for purposes of merit aid) would be those where your stat’s are either above or significantly above the top end of what’s customary for that school.</p>
<p>Since you’re interested in liberal arts colleges, look for some liberal arts colleges that just aren’t quite so competitive as the ones you’ve already selected. There are plenty out there! If you need some ideas, look at the website for the [Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/).</p>
<p>Understand that your situation is not remarkable. There are many domestic applicants in the same situation - with an expected family contribution that’s higher than what the student’s family is willing or able to pay. But your high stat’s give you options that many of these students don’t have . . . so consider yourself fortunate!</p>
<p>*Yes, at your family’s level of income you are unlikely to receive NEED based aid. BUT there are a number of schools that would offer you MERIT aid. That merit aid along with the $10,000 per year your family will contribute and $10,000 or so from your dad’s company would likely enable you to study in the U.S. BUT this will not be any of the Ivy League schools which give ONLY need based aid.</p>
<p>At some of the Ivy League schools you might receive some need based aid as some of these schools award need based aid to families with incomes up to $150,000 per year. You will need to check the websites yourself to see which ones do this.</p>
<p>ALSO your stats are very good, but so are the stats of MOST applicants to these very competitive schools. They accept about 10% of applicants…and it is likely that the %age of international acceptances is lower. Your first hurdle will be to get accepted.*</p>
<p>Thumper is right. At that income level, you won’t likely receive much/any need-based aid at most schools. </p>
<p>HYPS do have “super aid,” but they are the hardest to get into. Their acceptance rates are very low…maybe like 6%??? But even LOWER for int’ls…especially those from countries that they get a ton of applicants…Asian countries, India, European countries, etc.</p>
<p>S is “need aware” for int’ls. Don’t know for sure about the others.</p>
<p>What country are you from?</p>
<p>I am from S. Korea, unfortunately… there is a very competitive pool of applicants from my country, I suppose…</p>
<p>Thank you so much
Thumper1, dodgersmom, mom2collegekids
for your kind and specific reply… I didn’t even imagine of getting a response THIS specific in an online forum like this!!</p>
<p>Too late to add to above, so…</p>
<p>Thumper is right about applying to a few schools that will give you large merit…especially at least two schools that will give you ASSURED large merit for your stats. Those can be your financial safety schools. There are a small number of schools that will give ASSURED large merit for stats for int’ls.</p>
<p>As Thumper mentioned, if you get a good sized merit scholarship (at least free tuition), the the $20k from parents and company will pay for room, board, books, fees, insurance, domestic travel, international travel, and personal expenses. These costs can easily run $20k per year. Insurance can be $2000 or more at some schools. R&B can run up to $15k at some schools. </p>
<p>With the above in mind, you would need at LEAST a full tuition merit scholarship for those schools to be affordable. A half tuition scholarship or whatever, will leave you with too much of a balance to cover. </p>
<p>Merit scholarships are usually different from need-based aid. Merit scholarships can often be stacked with outside scholarships (dad’s company)…and the result can mean that your family gets to pay a LOT less than the “family contribution”. </p>
<p>Need based aid is often reduced if you receive outside scholarships (company) because your family is expected to pay the family contribution. </p>
<p>Because you’re an int’l, you have to show that you have all costs covered before a Visa is given.</p>
<p>International students, by definition, are ineligible for all forms of federal and state aid because they are neither US citizens nor eligible non-citizens. In addition, prior to obtainig a student visa, they are required to prove that they have the financial resources to attend college. Yes, there may be some schools that provide international students with merit aid, the majority do not as international students provide much needed tuition and fee revenue.</p>
<p>@FinAidPro</p>
<p>Yes, I am aware… I am targeting for FA from collges…</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids
I am feeling I have to persuade my mom to pay a little bit more for college…</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t know if a “bit more” will be enough. Remember, these schools get to look over your family income, savings, investments, etc and THEY decide how much your parents should pay. </p>
<p>Have you run any of the Net Price Calculators at the schools that give aid to int’ls? I don’t know how well they work with int’ls. Maybe they don’t work if they include federal aid which you wouldn’t qualify for.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt, unfortunately, that you will get any merit aid from the top U.S schools (or even get accepted to be honest) but maybe if you are applying to lower tier U.S schools that offer merit aid to internationals, and even then it’s not guaranteed. If you haven’t already, you should start looking seriously at educational opportunities at home.</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids/ Yes, but I don’t have the exact numbers so it seemed meaningless …</p>
<p>@cortana431/ I agree; there will be no merit scholarships for me to the colleges I will be applying to. A few of the LACs, however, are more tolerant when it comes to awarding need-based aid to internationals.
I will be staying at home if I am not accepted to any of the colleges, which I will all apply for financial aid.
Safety schools would pretty much be the schools at home. I am already guaranteed a spot here</p>
<p>I don’t think that it is a matter of getting need based aid. You will get some sembalance of need based aid at all of the schools on your list if accepted. However, the monies from your father’s company will first be used to reduce any self help aid (an on campus job), then it will reduce the need based aid that the school is giving you. It does not reduce how much your parents will be required to pay.</p>
<p>Your challenge is that there is a big disconnect between what your parents are willing to pay ($10k) and what the school will determine your EFC to be ($25-30K). Where will the the balance of what your parents are expected to pay come from?</p>
<p>Have you read through everything at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov%5DEducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov) ? If not, do that. Then make an appointment with the counselors at the advising center closest to you. There are several in South Korea: [EducationUSA</a> - Find an Advising Center](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.info/SouthKorea#.UCUGqu1vRmI]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.info/SouthKorea#.UCUGqu1vRmI) The people there work with students like you all the time, and they will be able to help you determine whether or not it is worth the effort to apply anywhere in the US. They can tell you where students like you have been admitted in the past few years, and whether or not any of them received enough aid to make their educations here possible. EducationUSA is a not-for-profit organization that prides itself on providing reliable unbiased information. There may be some small charge for its services, but those fees are designed to be affordable. If the people in the office you visit are as good as the ones I used to work with in South America, you will be in good hands.</p>
<p>Some of the scholarships that are listed in the Merit-based scholarship threads in this forum are only for US applicants, but some are also for international applicants. Read through those threads and find out if any of those would work for you.</p>
<p>Wishing you all the best!</p>
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<p>Well, now the responses you’ve received have covered all possible bases . . . from “merit aid is possible” to “merit aid is impossible” and from “need-based aid is unlikely” to “need-based aid is assured.”</p>
<p>I think, at this point, the only thing you can be assured of is that some of the posters above know what they’re talking about . . . and some don’t.</p>
<p>It’s time to sit down with your parents and get the most accurate figures you can so that you can run the Net Price Calculators at the schools you’re interested in, as mom2collegekids suggested above.</p>
<p>And if the schools that offer merit awards (guaranteed or otherwise) don’t state whether those awards are available to international students, it’s time to contact the schools directly and ask.</p>
<p>You stat’s are exemplary, and the student poster above who suggested that you wouldn’t even be eligible for admission at your target schools is, in my opinion, way off base. But getting in won’t help unless you can also get the aid you need, so it’s time to get to work and find out which schools are going to be willing to help you!</p>
<p>P.S. And I know nothing about EducationUSA, but if they can help and their services are affordable - and you find you can’t get the information you need through your own research - then you might consider using their services.</p>