When you apply to a U.S. college, you are likely to pay an application fee for your application.

As of October 15, 2015, the average non-refundable application fee for applying to a U.S. college is about $40 US dollars.        Top private schools like Stanford could charge you $90 for it.

Aside from the costly SAT/ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, or other required tests for your admission to a U.S. college or university, the application fees could wreck your wallet even deeper.

Below are 5 tips revealed by International Business Times on getting application fee waivers from the schools that you are applying. We believe that the tips (except #4) are helpful to international students.

1. Demonstrate need: If you could not afford to take a test such as SAT, the College Board (the organization in charge of SAT test) will let you take the test for free.  Aside from this, the College Board will provide you with four application fee waivers which you could use for your college applications.
2. Do it online: Many U.S. colleges and universities waive the application fee for online applicants.
3. Use your connections: According to International Business Times, Schools like the Rochester Institute of Technology (Rochester, NY), Towson University (Towson, MD), and the University of St. Francis (Joliet, IL) allow each graduate to request one waiver for a prospective student each year.   You may ask your friends who are graduates of those school to get a waiver for you.  If your parents are alumni of the University of New Haven (West Haven, CT) and Bryant University (Smithfield, RI), you may apply to the schools without application fees.
4. Visit the campus. (We think this tip is good only when you are already in the U.S., and the school you want to apply to is not far from where you are.)  Many schools can waive your application fees if you pay a visit to them before applying.
5. Choose your colleges carefully. There are many U.S. colleges and universities which don’t charge any application fee.   However, top national schools without application fees are rare.   Here we gathered some info for your reference:

• 124 Best Colleges with No Application Fees (2016)
• 11 Top Tuition-Free Colleges and Universities
• 45 Top Two-Year Colleges Lead To High Salaries
• 23 Low-Cost High-Yielding Four-Year Colleges