My son has applied to a few private liberal arts colleges for early decision and early action. Most of those we have submitted CSS and in some cases additional details like Tax forms, employer certificates and Bank statements.
Even then a few colleges are sending a form/query asking how much are we willing to pay towards the college cost per year. Is this a common practice?
My question are:
For an international student do colleges use this “willingness” amount rather than other financial forms to decide the need-based aid as well as whether to admit the student or not?
If we indicate 25-35K USD/year out of 65-75K USD of total cost of attendance as the amount we are willing to spend, will it be considered acceptable?
SAT: 1480
UWGPA: 4.0
EC’s: @10 activities which are average to good range.
Essays: I would rank them as good.
Major: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
LACs applied to: Grinnell (ED), Colorado College(EA), College of Wooster(EA), University of Richmond (EA), Reed (EA), Rollins (Priority)
Grinnell is explicit that they consider how much financial aid an international student requires as part of the selection process. Nobody can tell you how much Grinnell will be willing to gift your student in financial aid, as it will depend in large part on what the pool looks like that year. It’s not about whether they think the number is “acceptable”- it’s about how they divide the funds available.
You can do a little sleuthing: section H6 of the Common Data Set for Grinnell indicates that last year the average aid to nonresident alien students was $48K. But 1) that is an average and 2) you don’t know anything about the relative strengths of those students vis-a-vis your student, much less those in this years applicant pool. All it really tells you is that big awards can happen.
So, it’s a gamble. On the one hand, nobody wants to pay more than they absolutely have to, so do you go for the biggest award you think you can get? On the other hand, you don’t want to lose an offer b/c you tried to get as much ‘free’ stuff as possible- there’s a reason there are so many stories of people who lose the treasure because they try and take more than they can carry!
I’m not a gambler, so imo the best path forward is to following the bidding rules my parents taught us: ‘as high as you can without going over’. You want to be able to afford it (and be able to prove that you can afford it, for the Visa app), and any amount that you get ‘free’ is a gift.
ps, not your question, but Colorado College is a serious ‘fit’ school: it really suits, or it really, really does not. The % acceptance rate reflects a recent boom in popularity, not ‘better’ academics (nor ‘worse’). I strongly, strongly urge you to be sure that your student visits - during term- before making a decision to attend. The rest all have distinct personalities, but will suit a broader range of students (except Reed, but given the interest in a PhD path that should be fine).
Thanks for the detailed and carefully drafted answer! Confusion happens because the willingness to pay changes depending on the school characteristics Especially for international folks usually earnings per year will not be huge but Indians are savers so savings can be large which can be dipped into if required. Indians are usually close family so even grandparents may be willing to contribute. This is where worthiness of the school vis-a-vis willingness to play becomes an interesting game!
I know bit about Reed idiosyncrasies. Could you elaborate a bit about CC? Other than block program it seemed like a good college to me. Your guidance is appreciated.
I want to be careful about what I say about CC, in part b/c schools do change (though generally more slowly and less dramatically than people think). My last direct experience of CC is now 4 years old, so things may be different. However, that particular student was also headed for a bio-domain grad school. One of the things that had attracted her- the block system- grew to be a negative as she got into upper-level courses and found it hard to shape her coursework as she wanted. She also felt that the % of students who were academically oriented (in a way / at a level that was similar to her) was too small. That is anecdotal, obviously, but something I have heard from other students in previous years. Overall, she would say now, after working for a few years at a research center (a job she got starting as a volunteer through friends of her parents),and finally getting into the grad program she wanted, that she while enjoyed many aspects of CC as an experience, she wishes she had chosen differently. The mix of structure and personality suits particular students- you just want to be sure that it suits yours.
I get that 100% on the ‘worthiness’ of the school! But in a US context, keep in mind is that, genuinely, you can get into top-tier grad schools from very ordinary undergrads. The differential in potential between the schools on your list is not particularly big.
Thanks much. Block plan is most certainly something out of ordinary. We will surely look at it closely if my son gets an admit at CC. Also depending on how Grinnell pans out we will apply for at least 4 more colleges and while choosing will keep the the view about low ranked colleges being equally suitable for grad admissions in mind. Rollins College which we have already applied to may be a safety? Elizabethtown is another one we are considering.
I don’t know whether you are aware of the Friends of International Students (FIS) program at Grinnell. I heard it is really good. Good luck in your application!
Yes. Looks very interesting. Fingers crossed for a positive result from Grinnell from ED. Although I read somewhere that internationals most of the time get deferred at best. Not sure if accurate information.
Especially for international folks usually earnings per year will not be huge but Indians are savers so savings can be large which can be dipped into if required. Indians are usually close family so even grandparents may be willing to contribute. This is where worthiness of the school vis-a-vis willingness to play becomes an interesting game!