As a low-income international student, is there any chance of getting a full ride or at least 98% of aid at barnard?
Did anyone knows any international student at barnard w full scolarship?
When you mean “full ride” do you mean tuition, fees, books AND room & board?
No, Barnard is not need blind to international students. Your ability to pay will be a factor in the admissions process. However if admitted they would meet 100% of your demonstrated need. This does not mean free. Barnard determines your need and you would still have a student contribution that would be a few thousand dollars
Very few schools offer free rides. I think the University of Alabama has automatic free rides for people with the right qualifications. Check their website for the latest.
Most schools offer some form of student contribution, even if the student is very poor. That can come through work study and a few loans. There may also be a small parental contributions. The school with the lowest costs outside of UA is I think Princeton. Then maybe Vassar, Amherst, Colby, and Grinnell, but check each school out.
Use this government site to guide you in approximately how much you would pay for your income level – if you were a US citizen. It’s called College Navigator and you click on the “net cost” tab for the school that interests you. Bear in mind that state schools only show costs for in-state tuition. Also international students rarely get aid from schools. I believe that Bryn Mawr and Mt. Holyoke give FA to foreign students, but I’m not sure whether others do. And none give free rides.
Most offer FEDERAL work study and FEDERAL loans. An international student would not be eligible.
Here’s what Barnard says on its site:
From: https://admissions.barnard.edu/apply-barnard/international-students/fin-aid
Barnard financial aid packages generally include a self-help component – the amount of money the student is supposed to contribute from earnings. While federal work-study is one way of meeting need for domestic students, it is not the only way. In addition to work-study, Barnard offers an on-campus job program, and placement for off campus jobs. An international student with a student visa would be eligible to take the on-campus jobs during their first year, and ad some types of off campus placement later on.
See: https://barnard.edu/finaid/budgeting-and-awarding-procedures
& https://www.uscis.gov/working-united-states/students-and-exchange-visitors/students-and-employment
When my daughter was a student at Barnard, the international students she knew came from very wealthy families.
While I am sure that in fact, Barnard does offer a “small number of need-based scholarships” to international students as it says – a need sensitive practice can also take into consideration the amount of financial need. So many of that “small number” of scholarship recipients might be students who need help that falls very short of a full ride – a $35K scholarship would offer a generous boost to many students, but would cover less than half of overall COA.
So no – chances at Barnard are not good. You can try, but you would probably do better to research to find out which colleges are need-blind to international students; which of those promise to meet full need; and which colleges offer generous merit aid to international students.