myUface Blog

Over the past two days we’ve discussed the first two “steps” in getting the financial aid you need in order to study at a U.S. university.  Step One was to identify the cost of the education you’re pursuing; Step Two was to identify the assets you yourself possess (or that your family is willing to give you).

Once you complete these two steps, you should have a good idea of the amount of financial aid you’ll need to identify from outside sources:

Cost of your education – Assets of you / your family = needed aid.

So, for example, if you have researched a program that will cost $150,000 over four years, and you and your family can contribute only $60,000 over those years, you’ll need to identify $90,000.

Step Three is identifying the sources of those funds.

Over the next couple of days we’re going to delve deeply into the different potential sources of aid, but for today’s post I just want to breifly note the traditional sources of financial aid:

• Aid from your country’s government. Many countries have programs designed to subsidize the costs of education abroad.
• Aid from private institutions in your country. Domestic companies or foundations will sometimes sponsor students, particularly as part of a training program for employees.
• Aid from individuals in your country. Often, wealthy individuals will offer support to students as a way of “giving back” to their society.
• Aid from international organizations. Certain international organizations offer scholarships or support to international students.
• Aid from the U.S. government. The U.S. government administers several scholarship and fellowship programs for international students.
• Aid from private sources in the U.S. A very few foundations or other private sources in the U.S. offer scholarships to international students.
• Aid from universities. Some universities offer financial aid to international students.
• Loans. International students often take out loans to finance the cost of their education.  Banks or other lending institutions in your country may offer student loans. U.S. lending institutions will offer international students loans; usually, however, a credit-worthy U.S. citizen must co-sign the loan.
• Work-study. Some institutions will offer students the chance to work part-time as a way of financing part of their education.

Over the next few days we’ll cover each of these sources in greater detail.

For now, I want to ask you all the following question (and please leave your answer as a comment):  have you looked into these sources of aid?  All of them?  What have you found so far?

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available (This post)
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

A lot of students begin their search for financial aid by trying to find 100% support from U.S. sources.  After a few weeks of effort, most of them realize that a full scholarship isn’t likely.  Discouraged, they all too often give up their dreams of studying in the U.S.

But what if you don’t need 100% financing?  What if you need, say, only 50%?  What if you need only 25?  If you can find significant contributions from your own assets, you’ll significantly increase your chances of being able to find enough financial aid.

So, the very first place to start looking for financial aid for your U.S. education is . . . (drum roll please) . . .

Yourself.

First, do you have any savings?  Do you own any assets that you might sell?  How much money could you set aside over the next year if you started saving now?  Are there part-time jobs you could take in order to supplement your income?

What about your parents?  Now is a great time to have a frank, serious discussion about what, if anything, they can commit to your education.  In the U.S., families often take out loans on their homes or other real-estate property to finance college education for their kids.  Is that an option in your country?  Are your parents holding onto a piece of land without a clear plan for using it?  Do they have an extra car they’d be willing to sell?  It’s imperative that you identify as much as possible from within your own family.

Now, let’s pause for a moment.  Right now you might be thinking, Ask my parents to help?  Yeah, right.  They want me to stay at home and study at the local university, which costs MUCH less.  No way they’re going to help me go to study in the U.S. And besides, we don’t have nearly enough.

If you’re afraid your parents won’t help you, try  telling them how important studying in the U.S. is for you, and showing them how seriously you take it.  Don’t just ask for money and hope they’ll take care of everything.  Instead, show them how you’re looking for support from multiple sources – including yourself.  You might want to ask them to give you a loan instead of simply paying for your university (generally speaking, parents offer very good interest rates).  Involve your parents in the process of identifying and applying to U.S. universities, so they can see firsthand the advantages.  And most importantly, share your conviction that  a U.S. education is a great investment in your future.  Remember, the worst thing that happens is that they say “No.”  In which case, you won’t be any worse off.

After you’ve had a frank (and possibly awkward) conversation with your parents, go have the same frank conversation with other relatives.  Remember, you’re NOT asking for someone to pay for the entirety of your education.  You’re simply identifying small pieces of funding that, when added together, can reduce the amount of financial aid that you need from other sources.

Once you’ve identified as much funding as possible from yourself, your parents, and your other family members, it’s time to look for outside sources.

Closing Question: I’d be curious to know whether asking parents for money for university is considered “normal” in your culture.  Do parents generally fund their children’s education?  Do students ask their parents for financial assistance?

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets (This post)
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

Dear podcast listeners and blog readers!  You can now subscribe to the myUface weekly podcast via iTunes.

Before you being your search for financial aid, you need to know exactly how much money you’ll need to study at a university in the United States.  Having a realistic idea of the costs of university study is crucial to your success.

There are a few ways to research this information.  The most simple way is to use an online calculator like this one, provided by the student loan company Sallie Mae.  Calculators like this one have one major drawback, however:  they’re intended for U.S. students, so they won’t include costs like travel, visas, etc.  Still, if you go ahead and enter all the information – and list any random state as your place of residence – you will be able to get an estimate of what university study at a particular school would cost. 

Important Note about using this calculator: If you are researching a university in a particular state (California, for example), DO NOT choose  that state as your place of residence.  If you do, you’ll get in-state tuition figures for that university, which is SIGNIFICANTLY less than what you’ll actually be asked to pay as an international student.

As an example, let’s look at two particular colleges.  First, my alma mater, Pomona College.  Entering in all the relevant information, I find that attending Pomona will cost:

• $39,500 for tuition
• $13,650 for food, lodging, and personal expenses
• $400 for student fees
• about $1,000 for books

All together, that’s over $54,000 per year. Wow!  What’s more, because of inflation, the costs will rise, making the total cost of a four-year degree at Pomona a whopping $237,000!!!

Don’t worry!  Not every college is this expensive.  And even if you want to go to a college like Pomona there are many ways to save or to find assistance.

I can also find, on the other hand, that a two-year associate’s degree at East Los Angeles College will cost $3,700 per year in tuition.  The other costs for East Los Angeles aren’t available through this calculator, but you can see how different the costs are.

The second way to research university costs – and the way that is probably going to be more accurate – is to ask individual admissions departments about the costs of attending their school.  Most universities will have information specifically tailored for international students.

Regardless of how you get the information, you want to keep in mind all of the following costs:

1. Application fees. Generally these are $50-$100 for each university you apply to.  myUface will help with some universities by allowing you to submit one application (possibly without a fee at all)
2. Test fees. You’ll need to take several standardized tests, each of which costs money.  Count on spending between $300-$600 on tests (and test preparation)
3. Travel Fees. Getting to the U.S. will be a major cost.
4. Tuition. This should be readily available from universities.
5. Room and Board. Each university will be able to give you an estimate of how much this should cost.  Remember, you can spend less or more depending on your lifestyle.
6. Books. Usually between $500-$1,000 per year, but there are ways to save.
7. Health Insurance. A university should be able to tell you how much their plan costs, but about $500 / year sounds right.
8. Clothing, travel in the U.S., and other personal expenses.

Add all you costs up and you should have an estimate of what you’ll need, per year, to study in the U.S.  Don’t forget to factor in inflation if you’re planning to study more than one year (3-5%)

Now that you have an estimate, TWO IMPORTANT THINGS:

1. Don’t panic. You probably are looking at a big number.  But there are ways to make that number go down.
2. Don’t panic. Remember that a U.S. education is an investment.  It’s expensive, sure, but it WILL pay off over the course of your life.

Tomorrow we’ll start to think about how to find the money you need to make that investment happen.

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs (This post)
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education - 08 Jun

It’s the most common question we get from international students:

Can I get financial aid to study in the U.S.?

In order to fully answer that question, we’re introducing a new Series, “Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education.” It will start today and run off and on over the next month.

Right at the outset, though, I want to be clear about a few things:

1. I don’t have any “secret” to tell you that will allow you to easily get financial aid. That’s because there is no such secret.  Getting financial aid for study in the U.S. is extremely difficult.  According to the Institute for International Education, 81% of undergraduates finance their own education in the States.  Very few institutions offer any financial support to international students, and the competition for those scholarships that do exist is incredibly fierce.  So you should not expect that you will be able to get financial aid. You should certainly research the possibilities and try to get financial aid, but you should also keep your eyes open to other possibilities.
2. myUface does not have any financial aid available. This is important to note because already many students have asked this question.  We certainly will try to help you find financial aid, but we do not offer any ourselves.
3. If you’re interested in trying for financial aid in the U.S., you need to be very serious about it. There will be more forms to fill out, questions to ask, deadlines to meet, and so on and so forth.  Don’t expect the process to be easy.  We’ll try to sort out as many of the details as possible, but remember, you’re going to have to do some very serious work in order to secure anything.

Now, is it all doom and gloom?  No!  Thousands upon thousands of international students do get financial aid every year, so it is a definitie possibility.  What’s more, out of the 81% of students who do not get financial aid, many are from families without huge cash resources – and yet they manage to find a way to finance their U.S. education.  This series will therefore not only be about financial aid, but also about how, with a little creativity, you can survive without it.

As always, during the course of the series, feel free to ask questions by either leaving a comment or by e-mailing us at blog@myuface.com.

Posts in this Series

1. Your Education is an Investment - 08 Jul
2. Researching Scholarship Opportunities - 07 Jul
3. How to Ask Questions About Financial Aid - 28 Jun
4. Ninth Option for Financial Aid: Loans - 27 Jun
5. The Difference Between Scholarships and Fellowships - 26 Jun
6. Eigth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Universities - 25 Jun
7. Seventh Option for Financial Aid: Ethnic Communities in the United States - 24 Jun
8. Sixth Option for Financial Aid: Private Organizations in the U.S. - 23 Jun
9. Fifth Option for Financial Aid: U.S. Government Programs - 22 Jun
10. Fourth Option for Financial Aid: Scholarships from International Organizations - 20 Jun
11. How to Ask for Support - 18 Jun
12. Looking for Support in Your Country: Why it Makes Sense - 17 Jun
13. Third Option for Financial Aid: Individuals in Your Country - 16 Jun
14. Second Option for Financial Aid: Private Businesses or Foundations in Your Country - 15 Jun
15. First Option for Financial Aid: Government Programs in Your Country - 14 Jun
16. The Third Step in Financial Aid: Find What's Available - 11 Jun
17. The Second Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Assets - 10 Jun
18. The First Step In Financial Aid: Identify Your Needs - 09 Jun
19. Finding Financial Aid for your U.S. Education (This post)

Following up on yesterday’s podcast, I wanted to share five thoughts with you that I hope will make you feel better if you ever are rejected by a U.S. university (or any other university for that matter).  Hopefully this will never happen!

1. Tons of the world’s most successful people were rejected many, many times before they became successful.  For example:  Edmund Hillary, the first person to successfully climb Mount Everest, was made fun of by his gym teacher in school because he was very small for his age.  How many times do you think that gym teacher made it to the summit of a Himalayan mountain?  If you guessed zero, you’re right.
2. The rejection might be a sign that you need a year off.  Often times U.S. universities want candidates to get some more experience before continuing their studies (this is especially true of students looking for a Master’s degree).  In another year you might be much more ready to go to the U.S.  Maybe the rejection did you a favor!
3. Rejection is a great opportunity to prove someone wrong.  Don’t focus on the negative, wondering why you were unfairly rejected.  Focus on showing the schools that rejected you that they made a mistake!

I’m not sure that these thoughts, or any others, will make you feel much better after being rejected by a university you really wanted to attend.  The bottom line is, rejection hurts. But do your best not to take it personally.

All that a university rejection means is that admissions staff don’t think your candidacy (NOT YOU yourself) is a fit for the university.  If you are really determined to get into the university, focus on improving your candidacy, and try again next year!

The podcast for today asks what to do if your application to a university is rejected.  Hopefully you will not find a use for it!

As always, e-mail any podcast questions you may have to podcast@myuface.com.

Other podcasts

1. Podcast: Asking Questions - 18 Jul
2. Podcast: Give Yourself Time To Complete Your Application - 13 Jun
3. Podcast: What to Do if your Application is not Accepted (This post)
4. Podcast - The View from Albania - 23 May
5. Podcast: University Rankings - 16 May
6. Podcast: Timeline for Applying to a U.S. University - 09 May
7. The Inaugural myUface Podcast - 02 May

I received two questions for today’s mailbag.  Let’s get right to them:

What universities does myUface partner with?

Good question.  myUface started developing relationships with universities in March.  We’re going to continue establishing partnerships throughout the summer, at the same time as we continue to build the website and reach out to international students.

We’ll begin officially announcing our university partners sometime early this fall, and they’ll begin using myUface to connect with students at that time.

I can tell you this:  we have a lofty goal of 100 university partners by December 31, 2009.  What that will mean is this: by filling out a myUface profile, you’d effectively be applying to 100 different universities at the same time, with just one application.

Is myUface on Facebook?

OK, I have a confession to make. I only received one mailbag question.  I made this one up.

But I just really wanted the opportunity to tell you that YES, myUFace is now on facebook. And if you become a fan, I’ll give you a cookie!  Well, not really.  But I’ll hope that someone else gives you a cookie.

When it comes time to apply to universities, most students think of themselves as a potential client of a university.  The application process, therefore, is one in which you – the client – makes a bid for a product which the university is selling: namely, an education.

While there is some truth to thinking of the application process in this way, today I’d like to encourage you all to think about applying to universities in a slightly different way.  What if the university was the client and you were the “supplier.”  The university puts out a request for a particular product – “we need 1,500 freshmen with these particular specifications” – and you put in a bid to partially fulfill that request.

It may seem strange to suggest that a university is “buying” you when, in fact, you’re the one that pays tuition.  But universities do look at students as “assets” they’d like to acquire, and not merely as individuals who will pay tuition.

It’s useful to think about just a few of the many different ways in which you are an asset to a university:

1. Most obviously, you pay tuition.  This helps the university covers its operational costs (paying teachers, heating bills for the buildings, etc.)
2. Your educational background and experiences will form a crucial part of any classroom in which you’re a student.  The questions you ask, the essays you write, and the comments you make will either improve or degrade the quality of the educational outcomes for that class.
3. Your social characteristics – your ability to make friends, your interest in participating in hobbies and sports, etc. – will contribute to the on-campus atmosphere of the university.  This is important. If a university admits 1,500 excellent students who all pay full tuition, but they’re all anti-social and hate other people, do you think that university will be a nice place to work or study?
4. When you become an alumnus, you will have the opportunity to contribute to the university both financially (through alumni donations) and socially (through giving the university and its students access to your personal and professional networks).

There are a number of other ways you are an asset to a university, but let’s stop at these four for now.  What this means is that a university views a potential student as an asset that covers costs, improves the quality of the university’s product, maintains a healthy atmosphere on campus, and develops the university’s professional and academic networks.

Now, if you think of yourself as a potential asset, then in applying to a university you have to sell yourself by convincing the university that you’re a stronger asset than other students.  We’ll talk at great length about how you can do that in later posts, but the crucial point here is just to realize that an application for a university is very much like an advertisement for a product:  if you create a good advertisement, the chances that the product will be “bought” are much higher.

What do you think? Are you an asset?  Should universities view students this way?

In the process of applying to a U.S. university, you’re going to be asked a number of questions – in essays, in interviews, and in the application – about your plans for the future.  The more time you spend seriously considering your goals and career plans, the better prepared you’ll be to answer these questions.

For that reason, I’m going to start a periodic series called “Three Questions.”  This will basically be an occasional post that asks – you guessed it – three questions designed to make you think about the world and your place in it.  By considering these questions in your free time, I hope you’ll be able to generate the kind of introspection that will help you on your essays, in your interviews, and throughout your application.

Each “question” will actually be a series of questions – one main question with a series of follow-ups.

Without further ado, here’s the first installment of “Three Questions:”

1. What is the biggest problem in your society? What, if anything, can an individual like yourself do to change it?  Is changing it something in which you are interested?  Why or why not?
2. What do you think is the proper balance between work and family life? In your culture, is it common for people to be more committed to their work or to their family?  Is it even possible to maintain a balance?
3. In sports, is it more important to win or to follow the rules? Why?

More Questions . . .

1. Three Questions - 29 Jun
2. Three Important Questions to Consider (This post)