122: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (International Version)

SHOW NOTES

This is part two of three in my series with Jeff Levy and Jennie Kent. In our last episode we covered which schools are most generous with financial aid for domestic students (i.e students applying from within the US), while the episode you’re about to hear, with Jennie Kent, covers which schools are most generous with financial aid for international students (i.e. students applying from outside the US).

Jennie and Jeff have painstakingly pored over many many college websites and talked over the phone with many many colleges to put together a spreadsheet that lists over 400 colleges and not only what their total cost of attendance is (because that’s easy to find), but what percentage of financial need they meet, and--get this--what percentage of students receive merit aid from the school AND what the average merit aid award is. So: how much money does the school give to international students and to how many students per year.

On this episode I talk with Jennie about:

  • Why she created the chart in the first place

  • She explains why your student doesn’t have to be incredible in order to get merit aid

  • How much students’ ability to pay matters in admissions

  • How to use the chart, including how Jennie walks students through a consultation

  • Why students might decline to ask for merit-based aid

PLAY-BY-PLAY

Who is Jennie Kent? [2:43]
How Jennie got from kids books to educational consulting [4:14]
Why Jennie created this resource in the first place [8:43]
What is the chart and why is it useful? [10:17]
Why your student doesn’t have to be incredible in order to get merit aid [17:00]
A quick run-down of two important financial aid concepts [17:26]
How much does students’ ability to pay matter in admissions? [20:26]
Examples of how students have used the chart successfully [23:30]
How an international student with some financial need would use the chart [27:02]
How to calculate how much need you might have [28:54]
Why students might decline to ask for merit-based aid [31:34]
How Jennie first walks students through a consultation [32:16]
What international students should know about applying to US schools [33:44]
Jennie, why do you do what you do? [36:39]
Jennie’s Show and Tell [38:51]
Ethan’s Show and Tell [40:57

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Additional CEG Resources for International Students