I’ve recently been given a small scholarship of $8,500 to a top school of mine. I’m also applying for Financial Aid as an international. However, the school is still somewhat expensive. Is it appropriate to send a letter with details on why I could use the additional money, if I have legitimate reasons?
You can ask. They can say no.
you can ask but you likely won’t get anything extra.
Of course they can say no, but it wouldn’t hurt to actually try, would it?
It won’t hurt. Just don’t expect anything.
I heard that Liberal Arts schools tend to be a bit more generous when it comes to situations like these, and can usually help. Do you think this is true? A lot of people I know got more aid when sending financial aid appeals to smaller schools.
What is the school policy about awarding aid to international students? If the school states that limited aid is available for international students…then don’t expect more aid.
No harm in asking…but as noted…the answer could very well be no.
Also, how much more do you need? There is a difference between asking for $1000 and $10,000.
Well the school costs around $50,000. I got a scholarship of $8,500, which makes the cost around $41,500. However, i’m sending in a Financial Aid application, so I might or might not get more financial aid. Even if I do, i’m guessing it would probably be less than $10,000, depending on how much they can actually give, which would leave me around the $30,000. I would be able to afford around that range, but i’m just hoping I would be able to ask for a bit more if they leave me at, say for example, $35,000.
…and everybody has the same tuition costs, whether you’re an international or not. It wouldn’t matter for in-state and out of state students.
Read what the college says about financial aid for international students. Get all the requested FA documents in on time. It sounds like you are still working on that step. Also, note that many schools will not stack the merit award on top of any need based award – they will often just reduce the need based grants by the merit aid amount, so the school doesn’t get any cheaper.
Do you have an affordable option if this doesn’t work out?
“Read what the college says about financial aid for international students.”
this^^^
Most colleges do NOT give FA to International students. Have you been accepted at the college?
Was the scholarship from them or from an outside source?
I’ve been accepted to the college with no problem and yes, the scholarship was from them. I got an email from the admissions counselor with the FA form and she told me to fill it out and send it ASAP. It clearly says on the paper “International Student Financial Aid Application ISFAA”.
If you’ll be traveling from abroad, you will have extra costs as well…int’l travel and health insurance…so figure at least about $4k-5k per year for those two expenses.
I’m aware of the extra costs, since I am, as a matter of fact, traveling from abroad.
Wait until you find out what your complete financial aid package is, merit plus need-based, before you ask for more money. Asking now would be premature.
Obviously i’m going to wait until I find out what my package will consist of. I can’t just ask for money before even getting some… 
You are getting some already - you said that the school has given you a scholarship of $8,500. Why would you even ask this question then before getting the whole package, unless you were confident that it wasn’t going to be enough for you? Your OP makes it sound like it’s a foregone conclusion.
Because I might get need-based aid along with the merit scholarship. I’m asking in case I make a stupid mistake.