<p>Even with princeton's financial aid, I will need to find some merit based scholarships to make up the school's tuition costs. Problem is: I am a Canadian student who wants to study in the US. What merit based scholarships are available for someone like me who wants to study in the US from a foreign country??!!</p>
<p>I really don't know where to turn and kind of feel blocked out of a great education like the one Princeton or any other Ivy can provide...</p>
<p>Does anyone know of such merit based scholarships?</p>
<p>Why do you think that Princeton’s financial aid will not be adequate? Princeton provides the same level of financial aid to international and U.S. applicants.</p>
<p>Financial aid should be good. They provide equal aid no matter where you are from. You should probably look online for merit based scholarships like that. There are lists upon lists.</p>
<p>I think princeton’s aid wont be enough because my family falls into the category of 100-180k income. Thus, my aid won’t be as substantial especially when families below 60k are not making a contribution at all.</p>
<p>Believe me, it will make a difference. I am not 100% sure about Princeton, but at Harvard, you only pay 10% of your family’s income if it is below 180,000 (I believe), so I believe Princeton offers a similar program. You could also take out a student loan.</p>
<p>Here are some websites I found. I don’t know if they will be helpful, but I do hope they help.</p>
<p>Princeton’s financial aid policy is very similar to Yale’s and Harvard’s policies (considering Princeton first came up with the policy, and Harvard and Yale followed suit a few years later). I would try the financial aid estimator, as ray121988 has stated, to see how much you can get.</p>
<p>Keep this in mind: Princeton and Yale (I don’t know about the other schools) have very similar financial aid policies with regards to outside scholarships. They only allow the outside scholarship to reduce the amount that they expect you to contribute as a Summer Work Contribution, Savings Contribution, Work-Study (Federal and non-federal), and any loans (In Princeton and Yale’s case, you won’t have loans as a part of your package). The rest of the amount of your scholarship will reduce the amount of your University Grant. It won’t let you reduce the amount that they designate that your parents are able to and are expected to pay.</p>
<p>I think that Princeton’s financial aid policy is fair and generous in most cases. If you feel that the amount that they award you is not appropriate, talk to the officers about it and try to give them reasoning, such as medical expenses, or why your income is not representative of your actual cash inflows, etc.</p>
<p>raudong is right. The cost of attending Princeton is $50,620 according to the aid website. If the school decides that your parents should contribute $10k, they’ll give you $40,620. If you get a $10k scholarship, it won’t cover your parental contribution. Instead, the school will give you $30,620. Kind of annoying, but I see where they’re coming from. Most schools, since they are being very generous ($40,620 is a lot of money), expect your family to be willing to sacrifice a bit for your education. It can be hard, but I think it’s pretty fair. </p>
<p>But I think there may be ways to get a little of the scholarship back. I read on Princeton’s SCI website that if you’re purchasing a computer through the school and your aid was reduced because of a scholarship, you can use the money you lost to buy a computer. I’m not sure if I misinterpreted it but here it is</p>
<p>from the website: “If you are receiving a Princeton grant but the amount was reduced as the result of an outside scholarship, you may use lost grant funds toward the purchase of a computer. Select “Financial Aid Loan” as your payment option; we will automatically use grant funds, up to the amount your grant was reduced for the receipt of the outside award. This option is available once during your undergraduate years at Princeton. (Note: If your outside scholarship exceeds your need, you are not eligible for University grant funds to purchase a computer)”</p>
<p>Yup. There is definitely an incentive to earning a scholarship that is worth more than your student contribution. Like bubblebuddy said, you can use it to recoup the cost of a computer purchase. If you purchase it outside of SCI, you can still get these benefits by showing the FA office your receipts and they will credit your account.</p>
<p>Just don’t forget that the school specifies an amount that your parents should be able to pay, and an expected contribution from the student’s end as well. All freshmen are expected to pay: </p>
<p>~5% of their assets (checkings, savings accts)</p>
<p>$1500 Summer Earnings (from summer job or other source. They don’t keep tabs on whether or not you work during the summer. If you make $5000 in the summer or $0 during the summer, they still expect you to be responsible for this $1500. Also keep in mind that this amount will increase to $2500 for your 2nd-4th years because they expect that you have greater accessibility to better jobs)</p>
<p>Work-study amount. If it’s private, it’s around $2345. I don’t know what their expected term-time earnings are for a student on Federal Work-Study.</p>
<p>So, theoretically, if the school decides that you parents should contribute $10k, and you should contribute $4000, and you get a scholarship for $10000, this is how it would break down:</p>
<p>Your ‘total family contribution’ of $14000 will be supplemented by $4000 from your scholarship credit, and your university grant will be decreased by the remaining $6000.</p>
<p>Of that $6000, you can reclaim up to $3000 for the purchase of a computer.</p>
<p>Oh. By the way, to directly answer your original question…</p>
<p>I feel like scholarships that you can find on the those internet sites are rarely fruitful. Try searching for local scholarships first with special requirements, such as being a student at a certain high school district, and ask them if they will honor the scholarship funds for a US university. I hear of people winning substantial amounts from local/regional levels more often than national.</p>
<p>Oh. By the way, to directly answer your original question…</p>
<p>I feel like scholarships that you can find on the those internet sites are rarely fruitful. Try searching for local scholarships first with special requirements, such as being a student at a certain high school district, and ask them if they will honor the scholarship funds for a US university. I hear of people winning substantial amounts from local/regional levels more often than national.</p>
<p>lolkid, I was in your same shoes last year, as an international student seeking financial aid. I really understand how this can be a terrifying prospect especially since only a few schools offer aid to internationals at all and only a handful have need blind admissions for international students. Here are a few tips that should help you with the process:</p>
<p>1) Maximise the utility of the common app. Apply to as many needblind schools as you can - considering how selective many of them are, this will help your chances. Also remember that as a Canadian, your eligibile for need blind financial aid at certain schools(Upenn, and stanford?), that international students from other countries are not eligible for.</p>
<p>2) Never accept any financial aid offer as final if you’re not satisified with it. You can often negotiate with aid officers regarding your financial need. In the case of Princeton, I can guarantee you that they make a determined effort to meet your financial situation. Princeton has one of the best financial aid policies in the country and is need blind on top of that. Plus, the financial aid office is really accomodating.</p>
<p>3) Also don’t worry too much about your parents income bracket in regards to your aid package. Princeton and the other need blind schools take into account other factors that constitute your financial situation. </p>
<p>4) Sometimes when your filling out the countless forms required for all the different schools, it can seem quite desperate. Especially since we don’t have a unified form like the Fafsa we can just fill out once. Each school has a different set of documents required for international students. Don’t give up though. It’s all worth it when you get a good fin aid package. </p>
<p>Keep in mind what Rauduong said about merit aid. There is a point of no return so some your efforts might be wasted. Instead spend your time researching need blind schools and other universities that offer international students aid. Also use the Princeton finaid calc. for a rough estimate of what Princeton and other ivies will offer.Good Luck and ask me if you have anymore questions!</p>
<p>Princeton has the best Aid. I used the FA calculator on Pton’s website and it said I only need to pay $500 a year. I’m paying about 25,000 a year for my current school.</p>