在钱的申请有两个非常重要的概念，我们要先明确一下：
1、 奖学金-Scholarships:此类奖学金根据学生的优异程度(诸如领导力，学业成绩，社会成就，学科成就，课外活动等等进行评估后，给予一定固定金额范围的奖励，其以各种名义颁发给学生，比如Dean Scholarships.极少出现全额奖学金。
2、 助学金-Financial Aid：此类资助根据学校相应的政策执行。比如我们熟知的Need-blind和Need-based就是助学金的政策。用于给优秀的顶尖学生不用过分担忧家庭负担而成立的政策，本国和国际学生通常都适用，也就是本科生阶段常说的全额“奖学金”
第一类大学：我有能力给全奖!
美国部分顶尖的大学在Need-blind或Need-based下的光环作用，让每个美国大学转学申请者都有最大的可能性获得全额助学金。如果学校想要录取你，他将会根据你申请时递交的相关财力表格来尽全力给予你多少奖学金!
(注意，并不是所有情况下都是100%满足的，比如Columbia College在转学生申请这么回复申请者While we do not guarantee that we can meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted transfer students, Columbia recently announced extensive enhancements to its undergraduate financial aid program. )并且，这些是对国际学生开放的!所以各位同学，如果你有足够强大的背景和梦想，不妨勇敢地去尝试!
我们来参考下Cornell和Columbia是怎么说的：
Cornell University:
Cornell has a need-blind admissions policy, which means that we review your admissions application without considering whether you’ve applied for aid; Cornell awards all financial aid on the basis of demonstrated financial need. Cornell is pleased to be able to provide financial aid to students who are citizens of countries other than the United States.
Columbia University:
For foreign students (students who are NOT United States, Mexican and Canadian citizens, permanent residents of the United States or students granted refugee visas by the United States): Financial aid is available for foreign students.
注意，此类大学在某些情况下不一定会100%满足，他们会尽力满足(注意，并不是所有情况下都是100%满足的，比如Columbia College在转学生申请这么回复申请者While we do not guarantee that we can meet 100% of demonstrated financial need for admitted transfer students, Columbia recently announced extensive enhancements to its undergraduate financial aid program.)
第二类大学：我的助学金有限，你可以来试试
此类大学对于自己的美国国际学生美国大学转学阶段奖学金政策模棱两可。因为他们对于本科新生的政策非常明显，通常是Need-blind或Need-based的。他们在满足胃口日益增长的本科新生后，才能将剩下的钱拿出一定的预算来支持转学生，然后再是国际转学生。所以在这里笔者有一个建议，当我们中国学生在争取此类高校奖学金时，要尽量和学校确定他们剩余的资金是否充裕给我们国际学生。有时候学校获得的预算比较高，那转学生就非常有可能可以获得助学金，然后踏入美国大学!
此类学校代表有：
University of Pennsylvania:
Is there financial aid available for domestic and international transfer students?
If you are applying as an international transfer student we do have some funding available, but it is very limited.
Colgate University:
It is rare for Colgate to be able to offer financial aid to transfer students. This applies for both domestic and international transfer applicants. If aid is available for transfer students, it is awarded based on demonstrated need. The university does not offer academic merit aid.
你会发现，学校在措词上通常以rare，very limited作为修饰。所以我们一定要确定这个very limited的程度是多少，这对于你进行申请会很有帮助!
第三类大学：我有许多奖学金
美国有许多的大学并不提供助学金给国际学生。但是为了吸引国际学生来申请，他们会有各种名义的奖学金提供，通常金额在$100-$20000不等。此类奖学金不需要国际学生递交额外的奖学金申请表，学校会根据你的取得的成就进行客观评估，然后在今年录取的所有孩子中进行筛选，给予奖励。
常见的有：
University of Oregon:
International Cultural Service Program (ICSP) Tuition Scholarships
The ICSP scholarship awards 30-40 competitive scholarships to international students each year. Scholarships apply to tuition only, and range from $6,000-$20,000 per year.
International Dean’s Excellence Award (IDEA) for New International Students
The IDEA scholarship is a merit-based, partial-tuition scholarship awarded to new international undergraduate applicants entering in the fall (September). All international students who apply for admission by the priority deadline of February 15 are considered for this award. A separate application is not required. The scholarship is valued at $4,000–$8,000 each and is renewable based on academic performance.
在此笔者提醒各位申请者，此类奖学金通常有递交网申时间限制，也就是你在某个特定日前递交网申，才会被考虑奖学金。
第四类大学：我们基本没有奖
诚然，美国许多著名的大学都有丰厚的财政支持，但是这绝对不是让我们申请者一条线一概而论。在美国也有许多著名大学明确说明对于国际学生是不提供任何财政帮助的!当你看到这类政策和规则赫然印在他们的官方网站上，请你不要随便去挑战这个制度，如果助学金对于你的留学有着决定作用的话，那我建议你直接避开此类学校。
例如：
Duke University：
There is no need-based financial aid available for international transfer students.
University of Chicago：
International Transfer students must be able to document that they are fully able to finance their education at Chicago. Financial aid is not available to international Transfer applicants.
Carnegie Mellon University：
Carnegie Mellon does not offer financial aid to international students
Vassar College：
We are sorry, but Vassar does not award financial assistance to international transfer students.
在此类学校中，绝大多数属于助学金政策完全不对美国大学转学生开放，但是这些完全说不的学校中存在一些奖学金Scholarships，每年根据学校获得的资助程度不同可能增加也可能减少，所以如果你心意的学校看似基本不提供任何补助给你时，别忘记再多看一眼他们有没有Scholarships.
明确美国大学转学生申请的财政策略，有的放矢才能让你的钱途光明。