<p>Hi!
I have a couple of questions about financial aid.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>When you write to appeal an financial aid award,
a. do you state how much you can afford or do just explain why you cannot afford what they have offered?
b. do you use the word “appeal” in your letter?</p></li>
<li><p>As international students, are there any additional costs that colleges may not include in their personal expenses (most colleges set this at ~ $2000/yr) ? I know of health insurance and travel expenses, anything else?</p></li>
<li><p>What are the rules for F-1 Visa students during breaks? How much can you earn, can you earn off-campus, where can you stay?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Hi, I am answering not only to bump your thread but maybe it will also help you</p>
<p>I would appeal as soon as possible
Yes, I guess the point of appealing is to say how much you can/ can’t afford, provide proof etc - maybe there is something they missed??
Yes - why wouldn’t you use the word appeal if you wanted to?</p>
<p>Expenses, your college should be able to provide this, it’s usually on the website - I doubt there would be any hidden expenses.</p>
<p>Not sure about visas - but if you don’t get a response here you could always check with your nearest embassy or their website - it will state the rules of how many hours you can work - the university doesn’t have a say on this.</p>
<p>I am not sure that you can calculate what you can afford based on your earnings during breaks - what if you don’t get a job? I don’t know if you can actually get a visa based on that. I may be wrong and other more experienced members can answer that for you.
Good Luck</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for your reply! It cleared many of my doubts. :)</p>
<p>If there is anyone who knows more about working/earning/expenses during breaks, I’d love to know. I don’t intend to rely on getting a job, but it would certainly take a bit of pressure off from my parents as they will have to stretch to be able to afford an education in the US. If I could earn an addition 2k over breaks (and use that to pay for the travel back home and the remaining incidentals) then my parents would be paying only what is billed by the college.</p>
<p>I would not use the word “appeal.” I would ask for clarification, an explanation or reconsideration. “Could you give my financial aid application a second look because…” sounds much more polite and less demanding than “I hereby appeal my financial aid award.”</p>
<p>You are allowed to work <em>on campus</em> full time during break. It will depend on your college if/what sort of jobs are available to students when classes are not in session. You can probably find a job for the summer but I would not count on the shorter breaks.</p>
<p>After your first year you may also pursue off-campus work during breaks on OPT. Note that your total OPT time is limited and some students choose to save it for their first job after graduation.</p>
<p>As an additional expense, I would like to include expenses during the short breaks. Most international students stay on campus during short breaks like Thanksgiving and Spring break. Since dining halls are often closed, they will be forced to buy meals. These expenses do add up.</p>