Applying ED to Swat as an international student needing financial aid

Hi guys,

I’m a Turkish student who wants to study in the U.S for college, but I do not have enough money to afford it(my parents can only contribute 12,000 dollars). I have studied at an American boarding school for my junior year as an exchange student and have loved the education.

My college counselor in my American school says I should apply ED to a college. Right now the colleges I really like are Swarthmore, Haverford and Reed, and all meet 100% of demonstrated need. I would love to apply ED to Swat, but I don’t know if that’s a good decision due to its low acceptence rate. I am not sure about applying ED to Reed or Haverford because I really like Swarthmore(at least what I heard of it), I feel like I am a good fit for it.

Should I give up my top choice because of my financial situation, and apply to a college with a higher acceptance rate even though I might not see it as a great fit?

Also, does anyone know if there’s a higher chance of getting accepted to a college if you apply ED (or EA maybe?) as an international financial aid student?

You should apply ED only to your #1 top choice; you could regret getting in ED to others, always wondering… Then apply RD elsewhere if necessary.

For international students, applying ED to a school may be a clever tool for securing admission and bypassing the competition. All those schools are sufficiently similar, and since you won’t be able to visit, just apply ED to one anyway. Haverford doesn’t spend a lot on its international students, so it would be even harder than Swarthmore to get in (it’s not enough that a school gives financial aid to internationals; it’s also important to understand how much) and Swarthmore is severely competitive. If you truly feel Swat is your #1, apply ED and see what happens. And then apply ED 2 to Reed if it doesn’t work out. Good luck! I know several international students at Reed who made it through ED, and I’m positive that applying early helped their case.

At this point in time you go through all these colleges and imagine what going there would be like. It’s hard to get a true sense without visiting. But you can try. However, if what attracts you is the education in the US, you can be happy at any of these to be honest.

Swarthmore meets 100% demonstrated need, to my knowledge, so you shouldn’t have any problem paying for it if you get in. ED does increase your chances, so if it’s your #1 choice, definitely go for it.

@gigichuck: For Internationals? Many schools meet full need for Americans but not Internationals.

@PurpleTitan Yes.

“If you are applying as a first-year international student, need-based financial aid is available. If you think you will need Swarthmore College support any time during your four years here, you must submit a financial aid application when you are applying for admission. An aid application after admission will not be considered. Admission to Swarthmore is need-blind for U.S. citizens, permanent residents (regardless of physical address), and undocumented or DACA-eligible students (graduating from a high school in the U.S.). Admission to Swarthmore is need-aware for other international citizens. Regardless of citizenship, if you are accepted to Swarthmore, the College will meet 100 percent of your demonstrated need with a financial aid award up to—and including—full tuition, room and board, books, supplies, and transportation. The average financial aid award for international students entering the Class of 2020 was $60,608.”

Copied from their website ^^^

All three schools meet full need of all students.

Despite this policy, it is quite useless to apply to Haverford, as its international student financial aid budget is super low. For 2016-17, Haverford enrolled 15 international students with financial aid throughout its campus (not just first-year students). The odds are already low but at Haverford they are even lower (Haverford spent $781,278 on its internationals; by comparison, Swarthmore enrolled 65 students, spending about 3,694,165 on them).

Ah. So Swat (and others) are need-aware for Internationals.

Meaning they will just reject many Internationals with financial need.

Yes, but then there are only 5 need blind schools.

Since Swat is need aware but already meets 100% need, since you can pay $12000, you in some sense have higher chances than someone looking for a full ride. So you’re not in a very terrible position.

well…I am also a prospective international applicant with high FA to Swarthmore…I would like to weigh in here that Haverford broke a dry spell of no known admissions with FA from pakistan last year by taking a senior friend of mine on big FA (class of 2021)from my school…even our most experienced counsellor was surprised by this, so maybe haverford is trying to spend a bit more on its international students