Hi, so I intended to apply for these schools but I need good financial aid package because my parents can’t afford the full cost (including books, housing,…). I need your advice on any of these schools. Much appreciated. 
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
Indiana University - Bloomington
Ohio State University - Columbus
Bentley University
Bryant University
Syracuse University
University of Massachusetts - Amherst
University of Iowa
Pennsylvania State University–University Park
Many thankssss
What “advice” do you need? This is a nebulous question.
Are you instate for any of these? (Many schools offer very little aid OOS)
Are your stats high enough for merit aid?
Whats your EFC?
Each school has NPC that will tell you your personal cost to attend that school
Penn State will not give you much or any aid if you live out of state.
How much financial aid a school gives is based on many factors that are unique to each student, and every school distributes institutional financial aid according to their own rules. Meaning, without knowing your unique academic and financial situation, no one can possibly rank those schools for financial aid for you.
Do your own ranking, with your own data. As suggested above, use the net price calculator on each school’s website to get the information you want.
Hi,
I’m an international student and my parents can pay about 25-30k each year. According to what I have been researching, some school such as Illinois hardly give international students good package of financial aid So I want to hear more from your experiences. I will use net price calculator too.
Thank youu
The net price calculator doesn’t apply to international students (or students whose parents are divorced or students whose family owns a business). Very few US schools give financial aid to international students and those are usually very competitive.
how about liberal arts college ? And how can you defind “competitive” because my profile is just so-so to reach those schools i listed above @Otterma
Sorry, I wasn’t very clear on that definition. I think, to be competitive for international aid, your test scores and GPA should be well above the 75th percentile for students admitted to that college. Your only realistic chance for aid is to apply to schools where your stats would make the school look good.
The thread that Erin’s Dad posted has some great suggestions for schools your family might be able to afford. Remember to factor in travel costs.
Some of the NPCs work just fine for single parents. You enter the info for the parent the student lives with. If the eis a huge amount of child support paid, you might have to adjust that. For the schools that include merit awards in the NPC, it shouldn’t matter if the parent is self employed or divorced.
None of the colleges on your list guarantee to meet full need for international students. At all those public universities, you will be a full pay student with costs at or near $50,000 a year. If your parents can only pay $25,000-$30,000 a year…they will be unaffordable.
@twoinanddone This is an international student. Not likely that the net price calculators will be accurate. This student is not eligible for any federally funded need based aid. And many schools give limited aid to international students. Unless the NPC specifically asks if the student is an international student…you can assume the results will be very iffy.
Anecdotally, I have seen a number of international students report good funding from Earlham and Clark, both smaller schools that are somewhat less competitive for admission, but still very good schools.
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I’m an international student and my parents can pay about 25-30k each year. According to what I have been researching, some school such as Illinois hardly give international students good package of financial aid So I want to hear more from your experiences. I will use net price calculator too.
TOEFL : 91
New SAT: 1300
Class rank: 5/30
GPA: I’m an international student so my scale is different. However, my grade is out-standing in my class (according to class rank)
Marketing major
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Your “new SAT” score is a 1300, which is not as high as a 1300 on the old SAT (M+CR). That is not high enough for much or any merit at your list of schools. (I think your new SAT is about equivalent to a 1240 on the old SAT M+CR)
I’m not sure if your TOEFL needs to be higher as well. What is the typical req’t?
You need to retest and get a higher SAT. Also…look at schools where the COA is within the $25k30k per year budget.
Look at the thread that lists many low cost colleges.
Original post didn’t say international. Posters have to include information if they want us to give quality answers.
Very true. The OP should include all relevant info…and that would include int’l status, stats, and the amount parents will pay.
The OP said s/he was an international student in post #5 at 1253PM (according to what I see). That should have been considered in posts 3 hours later.
@mom2collegekids Hi, thanks for your advice. I will retake the 2 tests again. But do you think I can stand any chances to get into one of those schools ? (I’m not talking about merit yet)
@thumper1 Are you saying that private universities tend to offer a better package of aid ?
@mamaedefamilia thank you so much! I will take them into my considerations
@lilysteward
I’m saying that NONE of the schools on your current list will be affordable as an international student who can pay max $30,000 a year.
My opinion.