Need-blind aid for international transfer: criteria?

<p>Hi. I am absolutely new to this and can barely distinguish merit-based from need. </p>

<h2>I was wondering about the criteria that an international transfer student might be subject to when applying for need-blind financial aid at, say… Yale. Big school, lovely academics, lots of cash, loads of competition, the works. Here goes:</h2>

<li><p>My understanding of need-blind: the applicants’ requests for money do not factor into the school’s selection of students. Have I got this right? </p></li>
<li><p>The big question: Is it possible for a school to accept a student and deny the student any financial aid sought, at the same time?</p></li>
<li><p>If a school <em>can</em> say YES to an applicant but also say NO to financial aid, what are the specific criteria of a NO?
-Are financial aid applicants’ papers drawn on a scale from well-off to minimum-wage - and then cut beneath a certain line?
-Are international market currencies and things taken into consideration? My parents are both lawyers, but their meager pay belies the posh-sounding job description; besides, life necessities cost a lot in Seoul, where we live.
-Does the presence of siblings enhance chances of a YES? I have a little brother who will be entering college very soon, and I’d hate to hog the family finances.
-I read somewhere that in the case of some transfers, the schools that are “transferred to” (for lack of a better word) look at the cost of the school that is “transferred from” when settling tuition fees. Is this true in the case of Yale?</p></li>
<li><p>Can being an international student, or being a transfer student, or being both, play down an applicant’s chances?</p></li>
<li><p>Does need-blind financial aid have interest, and are beneficiaries expected to return the money …like a loan?</p></li>
</ol>

<h2>6. Is need-blind financial aid 100%? Or can percentage etc. vary depending on the sort of family circumstances I fretted over in question number 3? </h2>

<p>Sorry, I’m a wordy nerd, scared stiff by the prospect of having no money to pay tuition, applying transfer to the most scrumptious college imaginable. Help would really be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.</p>

<p>first off -- Yale offers no merit aid, which means that any financial aid offered will be based on what the school calculates your demonstrated need is. They look at the assets and income of both parents and the student and calculate what they feel the family should be paying -- and they do expect parents to make sacrifices in their current living situation to pay, borrow against assets or sell them, use savings for college and they expect the student to work -- both during the year and during the summer to pay towards their schooling. Most families are surprised by the amount that the school expects them to pay -- and your parents can always tell you no and the school will still expect the same payment.</p>

<p>Yale is need-blind for international students -- but yale is extrememely competitive for admissions and even more competitive for internationals, Asians and transfer students (they take only a few each year and most from peer institutions). so -- you are in the most competitive group at an extremely competitive school. Your chances of admissions even with excellent stats are slim -- so make sure you aren't counting on it.</p>

<p>Any financial aid package will be made up of different parts -- grants that do not have to be paid back, loans that do have to be paid back and work-study where you work during the school year and earn money.</p>

<p>finally -- schools do not have to meet that demonstrated need. They can "gap" you however they wish. Yale is a school that meets demonstrated need -- but they are the ones that calculate the need and it may be different than you expect.</p>

<p>Spend some time reading the different threads here on CC and at Yale. here are some to start you off:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.yale.edu/admit/international/financial_aid/index.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.yale.edu/admit/international/financial_aid/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151609%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=151609&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>
[quote]
My understanding of need-blind: the applicants' requests for money do not factor into the school's selection of students. Have I got this right?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yes, however very there are very few schools that are need blind. Most are need sensitive or need aware. As far as international students are concerned, there is an even smaller number of need blind schools and those only take a small number of international students. For international students applying at most colleges, your ability to pay will be a factor in the admissions decision.</p>

<p>
[quote]
The big question: Is it possible for a school to accept a student and deny the student any financial aid sought, at the same time?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>As an international student because you are not eligible for federal aid, many schools will not admit you unless they can give you sufficient aid (the school determines what is sufficient). As Stef mentioned, schools that do not meet 100% of demonstrated need (the majority of colleges in this country) they can give you an "admit-deny" where you are admitted to the college but it is financially impossible for you to attend.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Are international market currencies and things taken into consideration? My parents are both lawyers, but their meager pay belies the posh-sounding job description; besides, life necessities cost a lot in Seoul, where we live.
-Does the presence of siblings enhance chances of a YES? I have a little brother who will be entering college very soon, and I'd hate to hog the family finances.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Since your tuition has to be paid in US funds, most schools do not look at market fluxuations in currency (it could be harder to be admitted if you are coming from a place with an unstable economy).</p>

<p>
[quote]
I read somewhere that in the case of some transfers, the schools that are "transferred to" (for lack of a better word) look at the cost of the school that is "transferred from" when settling tuition fees. Is this true in the case of Yale?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The transfer situation can be very tricky as most of the elite schools have very few transfer spots open. Even then, many schools do not offer any type of financial aid to transfer students (which goes back to your ability to pay as a factor in the admission decision).</p>

<p>
[quote]
4. Can being an international student, or being a transfer student, or being both, play down an applicant's chances?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>At most colleges, definitely as the international pool is very competitive and there are very few openings at each college.</p>

<p>
[quote]
Is need-blind financial aid 100%?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Need blind is only used in the admissions process. Colleges meet demonstrated need. There are very few schools that meet 100%demonstrated for both US citizens and international students (they are also the hardest schools in which to gain admissions).</p>

<p>good luck to you</p>

<p>Wow, thanks a lot for the great help, the links and the answers! I realize I've not got much of a chance, but this is the one thing I really want, so I think I should apply myself as best I can. </p>

<p>It's sad that admit-deny is possible... a friend of a friend was accepted to Yale on RD, but couldn't go because the school's calculated costs expected her parents to sell practically all of their posessions in order to meet expenses. I just wondered if transfer might be any different, but apparently not... </p>

<p>Just wondering, though, is financial aid 'fixed' for all four years of college, or can it change depending on changes in family circumstances? For example, if someone in my family were to make truckfuls of money quite suddenly in my sophomore year, would that be gobbled up by a college tuition
adjusted to meet that shift in income?</p>

<p>And about the financial aid package - can I select which sort of aid I want to mark out as a primary source of aid? Is there, say, a sort of form on which I can indicate that I want my aid to comprise only 'work-study aid'?</p>

<p>Thanks very much, again.</p>

<p>With financial aid at any university, you have to apply for aid each year for the reason you listed. If your financial status changes, then your financial award will change. </p>

<p>To your second question, you can't decide what type of aid you can receive (if that was the case everyone would ask for grants lol). But there are some exceptions to the rule. I bet at many universities if you don't want to work in the summer (there is usually a summer work expectation) or do a work study, they can convert those funds into loans. Realize that a work-study will usually amount to $2500-$3000 per year, so don't get your hopes up about making work-study your primary source of aid.</p>

<p>Most families are surprised at what colleges expect them to pay, many like your friends feel they would need to sell everything to pay. Colleges are not looking for you to pay out of current income. They assume parents have saved over the years and have a college fund. They expect sacrifices in lifestyle too.</p>

<p>If only aid were ever like you're asking--just give me work study. Unfortunately that never happens. At most US colleges the major component is the loan. Only at the very top, very rich colleges do they have ample money to give all accepted that have need some grants. A few colleges expect nothing from the very poor, very few.</p>

<p>Aid is reviewed every year, if your parents make more you get less. At full need schools if they make less you get more but at most schools you don't.</p>

<p>Most schools do not meet need, that is the most important thing to keep in mind.</p>

<p>Eee. I guess I overestimated the efficacy of work-study. It's a bit disturbing that colleges would "assume," though - aren't we asked to list all our savings as well? If the colleges "assume" we have hidden away even more savings than the ones we list, and charge us for what is invisible to them, I don't know what we're to do. I mean, lifestyle changes are understandable and expected, but I'm not looking forward to selling our one car, getting kicked out of our little apartment house, and making my little brother drop out of school - just because a school expected us to be richer than we said we were. :( Oh well. </p>

<p>But since I am talking about the "very top, very rich colleges," I guess there's some hope for "some grants." Thanks for the help, really</p>

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<p>Oh yes....and these schools also use the Profile which factors in home equity. Your assets are considered by all schools. And YES, they expect you to use those assets and equity to help finance college expenses. It's a choice either to do so or not. </p>

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<p>No. You cannot choose the type of finaid you are given by the college. In other words, you can't say "I only want work study or grants.". BUT once you are awarded your financial aid, you have the option of accepting or rejecting any portion of it. For example, you could choose not to take the loan portion. BUT the school would not make up that loan difference with the "kind of aid you want".</p>

<p>the only need-blind colleges you can apply to in the US as an international transfer student are harvard, yale, MIT, and middlebury. williams and princeton and both need-blind for international freshmen students, but while williams doesn't accept any international transfer students, princeton doesn't accept any transfer students at all.</p>