Today, I’m answering a couple of questions about the bank statement for Graduate School Application and Admission in the USA.
I am applying for the Fall semester for a graduate program (Ph.D.) in the biological sciences. I would like to know more about bank statements as I need to show loans as my source of finance.
As most banks I talked to say that they can give me bank statements only when the university confirms the admission, how can I send my application to the school without my bank statements, as it is one of the requirements in the application kit that needs to be sent?
Please advise me for both UK and US Universities. Please also tell me what other financial statements can be presented. Plus, I like to know if property papers need to be shown instead of the bank statement.
A bank statement and a bank loan are two different things. Here’re the contents of a Bank Statement that universities expect to see.
Sample Bank Statement
Financial Affidavit vs. Bank Statement
Some colleges and universities will request a Financial affidavit in addition to the Bank Statement.
Here’s a sample Financial Affidavit from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Check with the college you are applying. They should have instructions on the Admission page for International Students on the list of required documents to receive I-20.
Some Universities in the U.S. will ask international students to send financial affidavits along with their bank statements.
Property Papers for Bank Balance
No, you can’t use property documents as bank balance.
You will need to show your bank balance in the form of liquid cash.
From the sample bank statements in above links, you will see USD equivalent of Indian Rupees.
Property can be used for immovable property during the student visa interview as the source of income and show ties to your country.
Yes, brothers and relatives can be sponsors instead of you or your parents as sponsors. You have to get bank statement from them. He/they have to fill out the financial affidavit form that the University provides or get the bank statement with their name.
When the I-20 is issued, his/their name will be listed as your sponsor. When appearing for the visa, your brother has to another bank statement ( same format as above) and affidavit form (varies based on your location/country).
Usually, students who apply for graduate school admission or even undergraduate education in U.S. Universities will usually borrow money from relatives and friends and deposit in their bank accounts. After 1 or 2 days, they will get bank statements from the manager and then return the money back.
I hope the suggestions and answers I shared here will help you with your questions. Again, I hope it’s clear that you can always get bank statements while student loans are possible only after admissions.
Good luck! Let me know if you have any further questions.
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can we change our majors after coming to US?i have strong background in electrical engineering. Therefore i have written my SOP in control systems and applied to universities. But i want to change my specialization to VLSI in computer engineering. Am I allowed to do that after entering the university?
Raghuram Sukumar says: Yes, you can. vikram reddy says:My cousin brother(my dad’s brother son) lives in US.He has same last name as mine. should i tell the visa officer that my brother lives in US if asked?
Raghuram Sukumar says: Brother = Your brother, immediate family members of your parents (not cousin). Saad Murtaza Khan says: Can more than one relatives or friends be the sponsor in the same graduate application. venkatesh says:sir, am venkatesh .i have completed my b.tech in 2010.i wanna pursue MS in ee.i dont know which universities are better.recently i took the gre and toefl scores are 1100 and 105.i will go in fall so kindly send me the best universities as early as possible.
Diane says:Hi. I came in US thru F1 visa. But I did not disclose during interview that I have finished already one degree from my country. Now I finished my degree on US and was granted and completed OPT for one year. Now my employer is petitioning me for H1b visa for the work related to my first degree. But I did not say this during interview. Do you think this will affect my petition?
mina donkoh says:pls i want to study in the us but i dont hav that much in my account,wat do u tink i shd do,i hva some1 willin to give a statement but should it b the same statement i will submitte at the embasy?pls advice me
mohi says: even after getting funding from university do i hv 2 think about bank statement ?? HSB says: Not required if you have 100% funding. RollR says:Is it not required at the embassy either? For the visa…
My parents have a house here so my stay is not gonna cost any extra above tuition which is completely covered by the university. I hope they'll consider this at least.
hi, my name is rajnish and i want to apply for MBA in usa.for the admission purpose i have to show the bank statement but i dont have any sponsors nor anyone in my family has that much money to show.so what should i do? should i consult an agent and tell him to help me with finance or what? further, i have 600 on gmat,5 on awa, 100 in toefl ibt,gpa of 3.65.i have dont my Bsc in physics major and got gold medal in that.then i have one year of work experience and currently am doing masters in human resource management.so i want to apply for MBA for fall-2010.i just wanted to know in which all universities should i apply so that i get some funding from them in the form of scholarship or GA? please do let me know.
HSB says:Rajnish – It's tough, but you have to show the bank balance to apply for admission and for visa. If you get scholarship, you may not required to show bank balance during visa. Good luck.
Roland says:Hi Rajnish, I can verify what HSB just told you. Another thing that you might not know is that you can also apply to grad school with a bachelor's degree in the U.S. You might want to do that, because grad schools waive the tuition fee and provide you stipends more often than in case of going for the master's degree. Surf the internet and I'm quite confident that you'll find something that appeals to you. Best regards, Roland
Poornima Prabhu says:I applying this year. My dad is supporting me.. We have assets distributed in FDs in bank and in Shares. Can I send a bank statement and a financial statement from depository?
Roland says:Hi everyone, this seems a great forum to discuss my problems. I really hope, someone will be able to enlighten me regarding these questions. I'm a foreign citizen, (Hungarian) but I'm already in the U.S. with a visitor visa. I'm currently preparing for my GRE and TOEFL tests which are due the end of the month. It seems to me that you have to present your financial background when applying for the F1 visa, which is okay, but what if the graduate program that I'm interested in (and going to apply to) is tuition fee-free, moreover, they give a stipend to their students. What's the case in this situation? Do I have to pay for tuition? Will I be eligible for the stipend being a foreign citizen? The other thing is, as I already mentioned, I'm already in the U.S. which means it would be one hell of a trip to go to my country of citizenship just to get my visa "updated" to F1. Does anyone know of a possibility that I can achieve the same thing without going "abroad"? Thank you in advance for your responses! Best regards, Roland
HSB says:It seems to me that you have to present your financial background when applying for the F1 visa, which is okay, but what if the graduate program that I’m interested in (and going to apply to) is tuition fee-free
You can call or check the program website for admissions information. Usually, even if you will be given scholarship, you are required to send bank document for admission to get I-20. moreover, they give a stipend to their students. What’s the case in this situation? Do I have to pay for tuition? Will I be eligible for the stipend being a foreign citizen?
>> Yes, students can get Stipend or Financial Aid while in F1 Visa The other thing is, as I already mentioned, I’m already in the U.S. which means it would be one hell of a trip to go to my country of citizenship just to get my visa “updated” to F1. Does anyone know of a possibility that I can achieve the same thing without going “abroad”?
You can apply for Change of Status while in US from your current Visa to F1 visa provided there is no restrictions on your current visa nor it's expired. Best way to find all the info is to call the International office in the school you are planning to apply.
Roland and all friends that is the simple way of this blog who ever care to comes to this blog will be responded positively provided the request is a valid inquiry thank you HSB You keep me motivated to care and share with zero expectations and i am blessed some one is here to lend a helping hand to touch a life with Hope thanks immensely with unending love easwaran
Aditi Ahlawat says:Hi, I wanted to know if my guardian could show financial statement for me who is in the US, he is not my blood relative and we just momentarily wanted him to show finances for me on his behalf… if that is okay because I thought one could NOT show their PPF, investments and LIC funds. If that is the case then my parents can show finances, however on the certificate of finances for U of Illinois it was clearly written that ONLY LIQUID ASSETS, SAVINGS and CHECKING ACCOUNTS MONEY…What should I do? Should I get my parents to send a financial statement instead….
easwaran says:@Aditi Ahlawat you are welcome to the HSB if you have some time in reading the posted informative articles you would got most of your doubts cleared. but honestly nothing in life comes free, that is true with Education in USA. to get more and apt information to your queries i would request you to become a Paid "Premium club Member, which is getting closed for 2009 the last date is 29th September 2009 since 30th September 2009 the banks are closed.in india so take this opportunity to use this golden information to upgrade your self and be on the plane to usa university your dream goal to get fulfilled Hurry up and welcome to the world of experienced,explored information. the key to winning admission your mission to vision cheers Easwaran India
sakina says: same situation here. any help Ajay says:Hi, Its really a tricky situation for any student who is willing to study in US. Showing Bank statement and trying to get money into the bank account during application process really takes a lot. I have a question on finananial statements that we send during the application process. Can we show the provident fund money of our parents while applying for universities? Do they consider it to be a genunine document. Please reply. Thanks
elveen says:my friend is taking up her masterals in the US. because of the recession, banks have increased the interest on her credit cards and it's becoming difficult for her to keep up. she's thinking about filing for bankruptcy. would this affect her F1 visa status?
HSB says:She will run into lot of problem for next 7 years after filing. She can work with credit card companies to avoid that. By the way how did she get into debt while in school?
elveen says:she was previously on h1b… then the company closed… then she converted to f1. she lived almost solely on credit cards during the transition. so the debt was not "while" in school, but "before". unable to work fulltime, the debt grew bigger. a paralegal she consulted yesterday did say that filing bankruptcy might give her problems later during the green card process.
Utsav Pandey says:Hello- I think the example which you gave in the above of the requirement of University Of texas is 25000$. I dont think my dad's savings wud get me that.Can i take money from my uncle and deposit it in my dad's account and would return to him as soon as i get a loan from the bank after showing I-20 from the University. Will it be a problem in visa or in getting admission if i take it from my uncle without letting the university to know that and get that money deposited in my dad's account. Plz letme know its yet another doubt for me….
Raghu says:@kiran: Yes, you can. But try to show 1.5 times the first year fee. Reason being, if you show for 2 years, in I-20 they will list the tuition fee for 12 months, when appearing for visa, you will have to show more cash in account.
kiran says:hi, In the bank statement how much amount should we show in the account? U had mentioned it is sufficient if we show more than 1year tution fees. Is it gud to show twice the amount of 1st year tutiom fee.
