Most international students applying to study in the USA will need to prove they can afford it. Firstly, they need to do this so the university knows that they are not wasting an acceptance letter on a student who ultimately cannot afford to enroll. Secondly, you will need to demonstrate sufficient finances when meeting with your Visa advisor to get approval for an F-1 Visa.
The form that universities require is known as a 'Certification of Finances' and requires the student to state where the money will be coming from (ie. personal savings, family contribution, governmentsal sponsoring, scholarships etc) and then will require the Sponsor to sign and verify. The obstacle that I discovered with these forms is that most universities then require an official signed bank statement that confirms the sponsor can indeed support the student.
Unfortunately, there are many international applicants out there that will struggle to pay the enormous price tag that can sometimes escalate over $50,000 per year. I am one of those applicants and I am relying upon school scholarships to be able to attend. Certification of finances forms do not take this into account and, from personal experience of ringing each and everyone of my college choices, schools will not accept that you can only attend with one of their scholarships; there simply aren't enough to go round.
What to do? Well the honest answer is that I don't have a fool-proof plan for every eventuality. What I did was speak to all my family members and ask them to sponsor me. At the end of the day, they won't actually be contributing any money because I'll only attend a university where I have received a scholarship and I can actually afford to go. But for the sake of the certification of finances form, asking family members to 'pitch in' might just do the trick.
For those applying to schools that offer need-based aid to internationals, the information above is much less relevant. In this case, be honest on your certification of finances. Sit down with your parents and figure out what you can viably afford to pay. Of course, it's not guaranteed that the college will pay the rest, but at least when they do come back with a Financial Aid offer, it'll hopefully be a realistic one.
I'll post soon with a list of colleges that are viewed as the 'best' for international need-based aid. Unfortuantely these colleges also tend to be the most competitive!
