so I’m international and I have a rough idea of how financial aid works. My situation is that I could full pay if I really needed to but financialaid even if only a few thousand would still be really helpful because US colleges aren’t cheap. For need-blind colleges can you apply to aid AFTER admittance (I know they’re supposedly need-blind but surely they need to make sure they need to admit enough fairly wealthy pupils before handing out aid. And with need-aware and other schools can you apply for aid but if they decide you don’t qualify can you get an offer anyway but WITHOUT aid.
Yes
There are only a handful of universities that are need-blind for international applicants. But for those, it depends on the university, but for many, yes. But really, apply for FA before the deadline.
Surely, they understand what they’re doing. And surely, they’ll understand what you’re doing if you apply for aid after acceptance.
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For the vast majority of colleges…international students are required to apply for aid when they apply for admission. If they don’t do so, they cannot apply in subsequent years.
The eight colleges that are both need blind for admissions and meet full financial need are HIGHLY competitive for admissions…single digit acceptance rates for international students…and below 5% at some. I think for these IF you get accepted, you can apply…but you really need to meet their financial aid application deadline which is clearly posted and is before acceptances are given.
If you need aid to attend, apply.
US colleges will have a deadline for applying for aid. It may not be exactly the same as their admissions application deadline, but you need to apply for aid by that deadline, and it is usually long before the notification date for admissions.
So some colleges will just go ahead and admit you and not offer you aid and then you can decide what to do. But it is a bit risky, not least for internationals, because if a need aware college thinks there is little to no chance you will actually be able to afford their college without aid they will potentially just reject you. But if you are more borderline they might go ahead and give you an offer, so . . . hard to predict.
When will you be starting college? What year?
I think an explanation of terms might also be helpful:
Need-blind only means a college doesn’t consider your financial need when making an admission decision. It does not necessarily mean they will meet your financial need. The vast majority of colleges (pretty much all the publics) are need blind but they will not provide aid if accepted regardless of whether you apply for aid before or after.
Some need-aware schools meet full need but you’ll need to apply for aid at the time of application.
The rules for international students are different than for domestic, so check each college’s policy.
Finally, it’s the college that determines whether you have financial need. What you can actually pay or want to pay is irrelevant.
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And if you think your financial situation is such that you can pay for college, but would prefer to get some aid, you are most likely not qualified to receive aid. Many middle class families in the US really struggle to pay for college due to in part of how hard it is to qualify for financial aid (just look at the student debt crisis, many have to take loans).
Expect to be full pay. The colleges that offer fin aid to intl are extremely selective; you need to be one of the very top students in your country. Less selective schools will happily take intl students at full price.
Make sure to make options in your own country, too.
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You can also apply for merit aid. Aid that isn’t based on need. Some schools that offer merit aid may not offer it to international students. So if you want merit aid look for schools that offer it to international students.
You have to read the financial aid policies. Look specifically at financial aid pages for international students to understand a school’s policies.
There may be supplemental applications for competitive (some will receive, but not all) merit aid verses automatic (everyone that qualifies usually test/gpa or equivalent gets) merit aid which usually only requires the application for admission.
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You got some great info and suggestions on your previous thread. You might want to read it…again.
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An FYI…you are going to be applying for a start date two years from now. (2026) It’s fine to do some research, but policies regarding financial aid do change.
On your previous thread, you indicate that $58,000 is the max you can spend on a college here. Keep in mind that the colleges calculate your family contribution. It’s not based on what your family has set as a limit. It is based on family income and assets. I guess the question will be…when you apply, is your family income such that you would even qualify for need based aid.
A suggestion was made to look for merit aid options. The highly selective schools that are both need blind and meet full need don’t really give merit aid awards.
You can look on any college site for “international student financial aid” and you should get some good info to help you. You will need to check back in again in fall 2025…to see if any policies have changed.
2026
So…if you are starting college in 2026, the financial aid forms will be for the 2026-2027 academic year. They will use income information from 2024 and you don’t have the full year of that…yet. The net price calculators for that year won’t be updated until summer 2025.
So…anything you get now really won’t apply to you two years from now!
i mean tbh I’m just considering whether its viable to apply because if financialaid or scholarships aren’t likely I’m obviously not going to waste time taking the SAT because that’s not relevant to applications to the UK, Canada, Hong Kong, etc. which is why I have so many questions (as you mentioned I had smth similar in my prev thread). In the UK we narrow down to three/four subjects in the last 2 yrs of high school and I’m probably going to drop maths but if I apply to the US I’d need to take extra courses for the SAT plus keep going with my extracurriculars. Whereas if I focus only on the UK then I’d be going for extracurriculars specifically for my intended degree not ECs
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