<p>My college tuition is going to be covered by a scholarship from a local fund. The amount of this scholarship will depend on my rank and grades, so I will only find out at the end of my senior year.
I would like however to apply early. Can I do that and still be allowed to turn down an offer in case my funding is not enough to cover the fees for an US college?</p>
<p>If it’s Early Action, then it’s non-binding. Early Decision is binding – so you shouldn’t go that route. But even if your scholarship turns out to be less than expected, you can appeal the award from the college to see if more money can be had.</p>
<p>Thank you. My problem is that being international, I do not expect FA unless I get accepted at one of the few need blind colleges for internationals. But I know very well this is highly unpredictable and unlikely.
So, since I will find out about my scholarship only in june, would turning down an admission offer that late be perceived as disloyal? And if I applied ED, would such a situation be a legitimate reason to turn down the offer for admission? Should I inform the college admission office of this peculiarity when/if I apply ED?</p>
<p>The issue would be if you turned down a spot in June due to finances, what is your back up plan? All American colleges will need you to confirm or deny their acceptances by early May and you can’t accept two. Perhaps inquire to others from your country who have faced the same dilemma? Good luck</p>
<p>If the finance is not enough, then I will have to attend a college in my country. What I was thinking of is commit to a college in may (or ED) and turn down the offer if the funding is insufficient in june. I am not too comfortable with this however as it could be perceived as abusing the system. On the other hand, if I inform the admission office of this issue, wouldn’t it hurt my chances of acceptance?</p>
<p>You shouldn’t apply ED. If you apply and are accepted ED, you must either accept or reject the ED offer in December/January. If you accept, you must withdraw all other pending applications and/or acceptances. You will have all of your financial eggs in one basket. If you then find out at the end of the school year that your scholarship isn’t enough to cover the amount that your ED school expects you to pay, you’ll have no other options. You could turn down the ED school at that point, but you’ll have no other acceptances to use except for your home country university.</p>
<p>Use the EA or SCEA option if available, but not ED. You need to keep your options open until the end. Turning down an EA/SCEA school at the end of the year is not being disloyal, and is allowed.</p>
<p>One more thing: admissions offices may give you some flexibility on the response date for RD if you explain to them post-acceptance that you need to wait on an external scholarship before committing. Wait until you have admissions in hand to worry about this.</p>