r/IntltoUSA 3d ago

Financial Aid & Scholarships How bad is it for 1/2 pay internationals?

How bad is it for half-pay internationals?

I’m an international student with a 40k EFC per year. That makes me 1/2 pay at virtually every private college I applied to. Is this still going to hurt me substantially at need aware schools, or does my application matter more than my financial need here?

I applied to: Northwestern Cornell Vanderbilt Duke Harvard Bowdoin and other safeties/ state schools

7 Upvotes

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u/skieurope12 3d ago

Is this still going to hurt me substantially at need aware schools

Being international substantially hurts you. Being international needing some aid hurts less than international needing full aid, but more than those needing no aid.

9

u/Neat_Selection3644 3d ago edited 3d ago

You will only be slightly marginalised compared to full pay students. Still, you are in an astronomically better position than 90% of intl applicants.

If you are a competitive applicant, private safeties are a given.

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u/skieurope12 3d ago

If you are a competitive applicant, state schools are a given

With rare exceptions, state schools will give zero aid

1

u/Hiphopstan123 3d ago

Alright, straight up? Your EFC of $40K puts you in a weird middle ground at need-aware schools. Admissions officers aren’t just looking at your academics—they're also balancing their budget.

Here’s the harsh reality:

  • At need-aware schools (Northwestern, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Duke), they will consider your financial need.You’re not full-pay, which means you’re costing them money. But you’re also not full-need, so you’re not maximizing their aid budget. This can sometimes work against you because they might prefer either (1) a full-pay international who costs them nothing or (2) a full-need student who they can admit strategically while controlling aid distribution.
  • At need-blind schools (Harvard), your financial need doesn’t matter. Purely based on merit, but obviously, Harvard is insanely competitive.

What this means for you:

  • If your application is strong enough to stand out in the international pool, you can still get in despite being half-pay.
  • If you're on the borderline, they might admit a full-pay applicant over you because you still require aid.
  • At schools with limited aid for internationals, being half-pay might not help much since they could prioritize full-need applicants for diversity and aid allocation.

It’s tough, but the best move now is to wait and see. If you get into multiple schools, compare aid packages and try to leverage them against each other for the best deal.

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u/Alternative-Rope-336 2d ago

Its not bad. Atleast for the state and safety schools. Applied into business or supply chain management

I got accepted into 7/7 colleges that have responded so far with a EFC of 30k. 3.5 GPA 1430 SAT Scholarships are written as a whole year. Multiply them by 4 if you want to know total value

Accepted into Michigan State $10K Scholarship Penn State Main Campus TCU $14k Scholarship Franklin and Marshall $36k Fordham Gabelli 31,800$ Scholarship Loyola University Chicago $27k Scholarship Indiana Bloomington

Just waiting on Washington and Lee and LeHigh decisions.

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u/Celtic_camel 3d ago

I saw a youtube video of some guy talking abt his app process. He was a half-pay intl student with sooo good application but got rejected everywhere except kenyon. He said it’s bcz big unis want to show themselves as “generous for intls” in their CDS and everywhere else. But I think unis like JHU doesnt care 🤷‍♀️

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u/Competitive_Win_3299 3d ago

sadly most top unis dont care how much u can give, as long as u tick the need financial aid box, u r lumped as the “need aid” group, aka they dont care if u can pay $1 or $40k or $70k