Other institutions, like Stanford, Duke, Rice, etc. give scholarships as a mechanism for encouraging particular students, regardless of income level, to choose their institution over another. Hence, Tiger Woods’ free ride for his brief stint at Stanford. The ivies do not award athletic , artistic, or, even, merit based scholarships.

However, they are still super selective, and there are other non-Ivy unis that offer the same thing (Shelly’s list has about 60 I believe) so it’s still a bit dodgy to base your applications on whoever can give you the most money. It can be a consideration after your acceptance is confirmed, and sometimes you can leverage one uni’s offer to get a better offer from elsewhere. But it’s extremely dangerous to apply only on the basis of money, As with everything else, there are more than one factor.

For these “top universities,” the poorer you are, the better. These universities shower financial aid (which are made up of 95% scholarship, 5% workstudy) to all admitted poor students — ask any Malaysian studying there. And I use the term “poor” in relative terms. “Poor,” according to the financial aid office for Harvard and Yale, is anyone earning less than ~$60,000 a year. These “poor” students get their education for free.

Whereas a smaller private university who doesn’t have the $35 billion dollar endowment of Harvard or the $20 billion dollar endowment of Princeton would find it tough to provide the average Malaysian student with a free education. And so the average Malaysian student wouldn’t be able to afford the hefty price tag of going to the smaller private university.

- from a Malaysian who is studying at one of those “top universities” mentioned and who is very happy there, having participated in really cool projects which are completely covered by the univ’s huge endowment. For example, this Malaysian has participated in study abroad programs for credit, worked in a brewery for three months, volunteered in a homeless shelter in Argentina, studied the process of silk-making in Thai factories — all expenses covered. Such opportunities, of course, are only possible in “top universities” … because they are the only ones rich enough to foot the bill.

(Follow me — butwait — on Twitter for more college counseling “fun”… )

for US universities, or those that I have listed at least, financial aid is separate from scholarships, and financial aid is awarded as long as you need it – and the prerequisite is that you are admitted.

as for other countries, i’m not qualified to comment – but what i have said all along is based on US universities.

Scholarships are a form of financial aid. Financial aid is the big umbrella of services that assist students with paying their costs for education – this includes scholarships, loans, work-study agreements, etc. They are all difficult to obtain, no matter how smart or poor or amazing or whatever you are.

Financial aid is different from scholarship. Financial aid is a guarantee that aid will be given based on need automatically once a student is admitted.

Longer version:
International need-blind financial aid awards are offered as long as students get admitted. It is a *guarantee* that being admitted automatically provide students aid. Yeaps, ‘need-blind’ means that admissions decisions are made without consideration of financial need. But the award will be given based on the finance office’s evaluation of the students need – which are really generous.

Essentially, as long as a student can secure a place at international need-blind schools, finance will definitely (really!) not be a problem.

Furthermore, Harvard and Yale guarantees 100% aid to admitted students coming from family with household income less than USD$60,000.

I know this my sound unbelievable, but it’s really true! Fastest way to confirm is to call the financial aid office of any of the universities I’ve listed. Alternatively, ask any of your friends at those universities.

=)

[My previous comment appeared twice.. =) ]

(edit: found them! They did indeed get caught by Akismet’s spam catcher. They tend to catch comments that have more than one link in them.)

I happily agree and concede that I have made an error previously, so here’s my new, slightly revised argument:

If getting treatment from among the best oncologists in the world is within the means for a cancer patient, chances are she will do so.

Any fallacy?

The point is not that there is only one best – the point is that given an option, people will opt for the better choice, if they can, for what they need – food, shoes, computer etc, based on their own criteria or judgment of what’s among the best.

The same goes to design, music, etc. Musicians would like to go to the Julliard school, or the Peabody institute (or many other leading institutions) for training if they can. Besides, I have never mentioned on any occasion there’s only one best. The line you quoted was to highlight a general principle.

Please read the tinkosong article in its entirety, for it mentions the schools that offer international need-blind financial aid. Yale actually speaks for most Ivies (or similar schools).

Moreover, I quote from Edupass.org/financial aid:
“There is **very little** financial aid for foreign nationals to study in the US, with the possible exception of citizens of Canada and Mexico.”
The “very little” refers to the few schools including Ivies that offer international need-blind financial aid.

Here are proof for the 6 schools I know of that offers international need-blind financial aid:

1) Harvard (“Our financial aid policies apply equally to international students and to U.S. citizens.”)
http://www.admissions.college.harvard.edu/utilities/faq/international/financial/index.html

2) Yale: Yale has already been covered, but a quick check on Yale’s website will confirm.

3) MIT (“We have a single set of financial aid policies that apply to current as well as incoming students, regardless of citizenship or permanent residence.”):
http://web.mit.edu/sfs/financial_aid/enhancement_QandA.html

4) Princeton (“Princeton has a need-blind admission policy, which means we evaluate student credentials without considering financial circumstances. This policy covers all admission applicants, including international students.”):
http://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/financial_aid_faqs/

5) Dartmouth:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2008/01/22.html

The same goes for Williams and Middlebury. Many merit-based scholarships are offered to international students too.

Finally, talking to a US counselor from an Asian/non-US school may give a better picture. Here is another source of information:
http://www.rjc.edu.sg/usapps/FAQ/$$$matters.asp