Cornell & Canadian Universities

[randomnbgd]

I seriously consider applying to Cornell and I have checked all the data about it, including financial aid. I have also been at IAC, and Elizabeth Chung concluded from the data available that they are quite generous when giving aid for international students. However, I have found on their site (what I haven't noticed earlier) that financial aid for international students is very limited. I've come across many similar statements on aid from other universities, such as Dartmouth (which is generous taking in account all the data I found on their site, on College Board site and at IAC). Now, is there anything changed in their financial aid policy this year, or they simply try reduce the number of financial aid application by this. Or, a third alternative, does it anything have to do with the fact that they are consisted of both private and public colleges? Perhaps, since public institutions do not award need based aid for foreigners, the amount of aid on the level of entire university is not sky-high, but on the level of the private part it is OK. What interpretation is the most possible?

Another question relates to Canadian universities (McGill & Toronto). Since the aid for foreigners is minimal, they recommend taking scholarships from another foundations, or their countries of origin (which is not possible in this case...). Does anybody have any useful information about this?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Janko Ilic

[randomnbgd]

I should have put this topic in the Scholarships section... Sorry for that.

[elz]

Hi Dear...one question are you at Cornell University or Cornell College? Cornell University has been quite generous in the past. Sorry did not make that clear! ! ! MY BAD

I will check with the McGill person. Also I will ask Vedrana to contact the Canadian schools to clarify, since she is OUR ALUM FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH ! ! !

Elz

[randomnbgd]

Hi Dear...one question are you at Cornell University or Cornell College? Cornell University has been quite generous in the past. Sorry did not make that clear! ! ! MY BAD

I will check with the McGill person. Also I will ask Vedrana to contact the Canadian schools to clarify, since she is OUR ALUM FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH ! ! !

Elz

That is Cornell University (I forgot about Cornell College - I did not think of it at all). However, here is the quote from their site: "Cornell University maintains only a very limited program of financial assistance for international students who are not citizens or permanent residents of the United States, Canada, or Mexico. Those who do receive funds have exceptional credentials and demonstrate financial need. This information is not intended to discourage you from applying, but to give you a realistic understanding of the nuances for receiving financial aid to attend Cornell." How exceptional these credentials must be?

According to your instruction, I talked with Vedrana about the Canadian universities, and she suggested me to address to the admissions offices of those I would like to apply to. I will do it probably today, and I hope they will reply in a reasonable time. I say this because some universities maybe do not even read messages - like Harvard, my friend had an unpleasant experience with them. Since McGill and Toronto are giant universities, they might do the same.

Thank you for your reply.

[elz]

You gotta be the best of the best....very exceptional...that is true of almost any financial aid package based on academic merit.

He he..yeah they are not the greatest message readers on the planet - especially during the admissions season. They are busier than we are. However, as EducationUSA we have alternative forms of contact - on the other hand, just to warn you and other dear readers - we do not contact admission officers upon student demand. We contact them strategically. Otherwise they would ignore us as well. It is unfortunate that sometimes students begin to think we are "their girl Friday"...he he he..and that they can demand that we jump and we respond, "How high?".

Also we tend to initiate contact on behalf of students that are known to us due to credibility issues - it makes no sense for me to say someone is a great student when I do not the person. If we start doing that, then we also lose the ears of the admission officers. So as you can see the contact issue is very complex. It. must be a suitable situation for contact.

However, it is time to begin to explore Canadian schools and we can start to initiate contact.

Elz

[randomnbgd]

Regarding Cornell... I found this on intenationalstudent.com and it is everything but nice:

School/ College Total Annual Cost # of Int'l Students # Awarded Aid Average Award

Cornell University $47,502 1092 20 $36,230

This makes Cornell the stingiest Ivy. Far in front of Columbia and Penn, that are also at most times reluctant to give aid to foreigners. It's a pity...

Now, my question. Are the information and my conclusion above true, or Cornell has some secret funds? I know of the discretionary right of universities and colleges to admit someone to funded schooling, but who would do so for hundreds of students? There aren't that many alumni children in a generation... If this points true, what would you advise me? Thanks in advance.

Edit: The site which data I brought might be unreliable, some statistics on financial aid do not agree with those published on collegeboard.com. Which site should be trusted more? I am afraid, that with so many contradictions, it is impossible to make a list of colleges with certain predictions of financial opportunities... Even that I have finalized the list, I am still going over the whole decision again and again. Anyways, I shall make only minor changes to the list: I've got several substitutes ready to jump in if any of the presently chosen options fails. Would it be better if I inform you of the list here or at the IAC?

Best regards,

Janko Ilic

[randomnbgd]

Following our talk on Friday, I am posting a message to signalize the previous post.

[elz]

The lists reporting financial aid are not without flaws - there is always going to be a margin of error. There are no guarantees. In general, the better you are, the greater your chances of the school trying to find enough money to cover the costs of your education. The good news is that there is a great deal more funding at the grad school level Of course this is not of great interest to you at this moment.

Of course you want to be aware of the general track record of schools in terms of financial aid for international applicants, but there is a moment when you financial aid application rides on a wing and a prayer so to speak. It is not an exact science and it has no guarantees. You just have to work as strategically as possible and at the same time recognize there is an element of chance.

Elz

[randomnbgd]

There is always a moment of chance, but chances are unlikely according to all the data I have found. According to this data, 2% of enrolled students receive financial aid. It means several times more applicants are competing for the same resources. Do you have some other data that show financial aid at Cornell is not that scarce? How large is the margin of error you mentioned? I'm asking this because of the strategy, just like you said . There are similar universities to Cornell, and if there are better chances of both being admitted and receiving financial aid, then I think there would be no point for me to apply where the competition is as fierce as it can be. I am aware that I am not the only one, but one of the many with awards from competitions, lots of extracurricular activities and so on. Of course, if there are no certain indicators for aid at Cornell, then I'll have to take the risk probably. Or would it be a better solution to apply to a university that is more competitive, but has vast financial resources for foreigners as well? I'm speaking of Harvard and Yale for instance.

Janko

[elz]

Well you just have to weigh these factors out and then make your own decision - like I said - a wing and a prayer.

Elz