Quite a few questions that need answers(personal)

Paying for College
1

Firstly, I apologize for the length, but I need caring honest minds to honor my plea.
I’m an international student, and this i m second shot at Universities in the US. I have an SAT of 1520,1600, a perfect 4.0 GPA on my transcript and West African Examinations, a WES Evaluation of 4/4, and a TOEFL of 119/120.That’s my academics resume. I also have many extracurriculars, such as being a member and avid contributor in Youth Journalism International, fundraiser, donating an amount up to 1000 US dollars to orphanages in my home country(Which is quite a lot where I’m from), Being President of four clubs in my school, being a contributor for a national newspaper in my country, being a member of football, basketball and relay teams(with medals to show) and basically what I considered an impressive academic and extracurricular resume.

My first year, I feel it was a combination of bad luck and bad decisions. Firstly, I removed a bit of my extracurricular achievements. The parts which I no longer had material proof of. I wanted my applications to look as honest as possible, and I’m quite nervy so if it came up in an interview with no proof I don’t know how I would look. Secondly, I didn’t make a notable effort in my resume. I felt my stats were enough. I didn’t know basically everyone had those stats. Furthermore, my school choice was a bit poor. I need a substantial amount of financial aid, and I thought all the 100% need met schools would be good choices, but I was wrong. I applied to Harvard, MIT, Cornell, and my two safety schools, Howard University and the University of Rochester. Then came my next mistake. I don’t know if my parents were a bit too honest in their CSS profile, or made assets known they didn’t have at the time, but my CSS profile must have been bad. Because when I got into Cornell(the only Ivy League school I got into, to my dismay), I was given an EFC of over 20,000 USD. I knew my parents could barely pay 5k. I was surprised. One of the things I feel might have been wrong, was declaring assets we had in 2016, as well as my parents’ 2016 salaries. We had a financial crisis from 2016-2017, where we lost a lot of money, but honestly, even in 2016, we couldn’t afford more than 8000, so the 20k was a bit rash.

Then in my “safety schools”, RI didn’t get Rochester’s full ride, and my EFC there was 15000. Still unpayable. My last hope was Howard. I qualified for their Presidential Scholarship, only to find out the next day their Presidential Scholarship had been cut to 16,000 dollars out of 40k. Anyone else surprised by this? I can’t seem to find this fact any where on the internet, with Howard’s website still saying Presidential is full ride.
So here, in my second time applying, I’m very scared. I’ve researched over 40 schools, with 12 offering full ride, but I can’t help but feel scared. I don’t know which school I can apply to that is “safe” for full ride, and I don’t know about applying to need meeting schools that don’t really meet need…Can anyone understand where I’m coming from? Or offer any form of assistance?

2

At the top of the Financial Aid forum, there is a thread that lists all of the automatic full-tuition and full-ride scholarships that we are aware of. Some are open to international students. Read through that thread, and check each scholarship that is listed. Some will change for this coming year, but some will still exist. If any new ones appear, they will get added as soon as we know about them. @paul2752 has one of these scholarships and may have good advice for you.

3

How good are you at football?

4

A copy of your CSS profile and look it over with your parents. The only assets that should be declared our assets held at the moment you file CSS profile. Don’t list assets that were held at a previous time.

Instead of declining Cornell, you should’ve asked to delay enrollment for a year or corrected your CSS profile. Maybe you should contact Cornell and ask if instead of declining you can delay enrollment for a year.

5

Quite good, and by football I meant soccer.

6

Okay, here’s what you need to do. It’s not easy but it’s worth it.
1° develop a video, about 5 mn, as professional as possible (cuts, editing, etc). In the first 30 seconds you introduce yourself (“hello, my name is, I’m a forward for Club Z, U19 champions in Lagos”), then you showcase your skills (technique, agility, strength … you with the ball, one-on-one, passing others in a variety of configurations, etc.)
2° email the coaches of every university in the top 250 for Forbes or top 75 national university, top 75 LAC, top 25 regional universities (all 4 regions). Introduce yourself; list your GPA, TOEFL, SAT score; position played, athletic honors; explain you think you could be an asset to their team but you’d like to know whether he might evaluate you and give you an idea, as it’d be an honor for you to join their squad; attach the video; Sign: Thank you. Sincerely, ReligiousDude.

It’s going to be a LOT of work, but applying to universities where coaches are interested is going to make your life MUCH easier.

7

Soccer is a sport that recruits early. This is now a high school grad plus a year, so a lot older than most of the high school sophomores/juniors the coaches are looking for. I think it is more than a long shot. At many of the ‘meets full needs’ schools, the athletic recruits get a bump in admissions but not a bump in financial aid. This student has been getting into the schools but just not getting enough financial aid.

If he wants FA for soccer, he’s going to have to apply to schools that give FA for athletics. Cornell and MIT do not.

8

Thanks for the advice. I really want to know what happened at Howard this year though, Any ideas?

And also, how probable is it to get a full ride for a January admission?

9

Schools have had to restructure scholarships. Temple had to, Howard had to. California eliminated need based FA for OOS students a few years ago. There isn’t just endless money.

10

Actually, for internationals, the criteria used for Americans don’t apply. And no, FA for athletics isn’t the best bet. They may well get priority in fund allocation at meet need or need aware universities, including at D3 (especially NESCAC but not only), Patriot League, and Ivy League universities. A strong international soccer player holds a lot of cards if s/he’s also got test scores and GPA. It’s a HUGE tip for internationals.
However there’s no January admission with financial aid. So this student needs to get things done now and as quickly as possible, then keep up with the replies. He’ll likely have to be tapped for ED somewhere and his contact window is between now and end of June for best chances, then July-August.

11

“I felt my stats were enough.” No, never enough, for the holistic colleges.

And I don’t know what country OPis from, but there are acres of very solid candidates from each, including African nations, and only so many that any college will accept in a given year. If they already have a good number from country X, they look to other regional countries in the next round. It’s part of geographical diversity.

As for Howard, technically, it doesn’t promise a full ride. It shows categories covered, without defining how $ is distributed. And this: “Scholarships are awarded until all funds have been exhausted and not all eligible applications will receive an award.”

Did you go back to Cornell and review the FA offer with them, in case there was some error or misunderstanding?

Ithink the sports angle boat has left the dock.

12

Low

13

I did a bit of research myself, and I found some schools with financial aid offers in Spring, with the University of Alabama in Huntsville seeming to offer full ride in January. Right now, I sent countless emails to ask them if it’s automatic or competitive, which hasn’t been replied.

And as for Cornell, I’m afraid I also sent emails, but I also got the same, “This is your aidas calculated by your CSS profile, I could look into it again and get back to you” responses, with no further responses. I guess I felt Howard was sure enough for me not to bother with Cornell. Was a big mistake.

14

And also, since my dream was always an Ivy League education, but I’m not taking any risks this time, is it a good idea to apply to the sub-Ivies? Like Arhmerst, Dartmouth, Davidson etc. These schools have low acceptance rates and high average SAT’s. But they promise to meet hundred percent of need.

And about the need part, I was thinking if I did my CSS profile “well”, I could at least get a substantial amount. My dad is currently retired, and my mom makes less than 5000 US dollars a year. My dad is also suffering from various ailments, and has spent over 50,000 dollars seeking remedies, most to no avail, coupled with the fees he still has to pay for my siblings and for upkeep of the house/allowances he gives to his sisters and brothers, I’m sure his expected contribution would be zero. Leaving only my mom’s income.

I know the CSS profile is for 2017, and he retired in 2018, but it’s possible for him to get an approval of his retirement in 2017. I know this is underhanded, but what would be quite unfair would be using 2017’s income, where most of it is down the drain due to medical bills, and the last time I tried to be honest, I was told to pay 17k more than I could afford.

Or is it all just a bad idea that should be ignored? Thoughts?

15

Don’t do the CSS “well,” if that means dishonestly.
And I don’t think you can expect FA to go over your award and the info you submitted by *email. *

Dartmouth is an Ivy. Many of us aren’t comfortable with calling other top colleges “sub Ivy.” At this point you have no idea where you’ll land and may end up much lower than Amherst or Davidson both top ten colleges. Adjust those dreams. There are so many strong candidates from Africa and only so many slots.

16

I think even at schools like Arhmerst, Dartmouth, and Davidson, the admission officers probably take into account the factor that you are applying for financial aid when they are reviewing your application. Doubtlessly, they don’t have an infinite amount of fund and they want to spend most of the fund designated to financial aid. Therefore, they have to purposefully fit the number of students they admit and their fund size. That being said, personally I believe applying for financial aid makes your chances smaller regardless of where you apply to. So my suggestion is to lower your expectations a bit and look into more schools. Also you’ve made factual mistakes including Dartmouth is not an ivy and that Dartmouth offers need-blind financial aid.(I heard that they don’t offer that this year)

17

“upkeep of the house/allowances he gives to his sisters and brothers, I’m sure his expected contribution would be zero”

How much money does your dad give away to his brothers and sisters?

That’s money that could instead go to pay for college.

18

Good point. Unfortunately, the generous colleges don’t say, “Ok, here’s the income, here’s what can be paid for college, but let’s offer lots of financial aid to make up for what the family gives to relatives.” Nor will they change the reporting year based on this.

19

Yes, money given to relatives is a choice. Either your father prioritized you or his relatives/adult children not in college.

20

The Dartmouth error was a mistake, and not necessarily Ahmerst and the likes. Aren’t there need blind schools(who don’t take need into admissions decision but meet hundred percent need once admitted)? The likes of Swarthmore, Colby or Grinell?

And how probable is it to apply and get a work visa if I attend a school not ranked so highly?