Hi! I am an international applicant that is planning to try out for BS. I will need financial aid, and the only schools that seem to offer FA to international students are PEA, PA, Milton, Choate, Groton, L’ville, Deerfield, Hochkiss, etc which are all really competitive schools. I would also like to know some ‘safety’ schools that offers near-full or full FA to international students.
+Does anyone know if Hun School of Princeton offer FA to international students?
Most BS expect their international students to be FP. I know that George has some who are full need but I don’t know whether George gives them the FA or whether the students are funded by some other a program or group which may also participate in their selection. They tend not to be from the “usual” countries sending students to U.S BS. You should certainly inquire. Where are you from?
You would have to ask Hun directly.
I’m not sure where you got that Choate and Deerfield are willing to offer full FA to international students, in the sense that they’ll admit you regardless of your financial need. As the previous poster said, most places expect international students to be full-pay, and places I am familiar with like Choate and Deerfield have this on their admissions/FA pages regarding all applicants, not just international students:
Choate:
“…there are instances when the overall financial need of the applicant pool exceeds our financial aid budget.”
Deerfield:
"Will applying for financial aid affect my admission to Deerfield?
Possibly. Deerfield has a generous financial aid budget. However, it is limited, and therefore we cannot accept all admissible financial aid applicants."
Both of these translate to the fact that their admissions processes are not “100% need-blind”, and they reserve the right to reject you if they cannot meet your financial need. However, if you are given admissions, then you’ll be presented with a package that covers all of your demonstrated financial need–they’ll never make an offer of admissions without also being able to support all of your financial need. Hence, this is why admitted students are given extremely generous financial aid awards.
During my time at DA, most, if not all, of the international students I knew came from affluent families and likely were paying the full cost of tuition. They were also all spectacular students, so it’s not like they were only there because of their deep pockets. So, unless you are a truly special student at the top <1% of the applicant pool (these people often know who they are), an international who needs most of their tuition covered is unlikely to get admitted to Deerfield.
The only top boarding schools I know of that are 100% need-blind are Andover and Exeter. Meeting 100% of a family’s need and being 100% need-blind are two different things, so when you are searching for schools be aware of this distinction. I also have a hard time believing that Hotchkiss, Groton, and L’ville are need-blind in admissions. You will be hard-pressed to find places of this caliber that give generous FA packages to international students in the same manner as domestic students.
Unfortunately I’m not from an underrepresented country which… Can certainly hurt my chances of being accepted with a FA
Thanks. Only PA and PEA are need-blind in their admissions but I was thinking I might try out for the other schools:)
Of course, it doesn’t hurt to try! So, apologies if I am bursting your bubble of optimism, but the boarding school admissions process is far from meritocratic. I’m sure you are a fine applicant, but just be aware that the reason for rejections at some of these places might be because of your status as an international student with a lot of FA need. Hence, you’ll need to adjust your expectations as to what schools fall into the categories of “stretch”, “target”, and “safeties.”
As far as finding target/safety schools, look for places with a high % of international students. That typically will indicate that they are more willing to take on a variety of economic backgrounds in the international student pool. I’ll always recommend places like NMH, Suffield, and Peddie since I know they have fantastic programs that rival the top names despite being more accessible.
DA does not award financial aid to international applicants. @MKB2004 can speak to this.
One other thing: what grade are you applying to/what grade are you currently in? It might make sense to also apply to a junior boarding school as if you spend a year or two there it might help your chances of admission.
Thank you so much! Even though BS applications aren’t going to work like I hope, I think it’s a great opportunity!
Current 7th grader. I may be able to go to a junior boarding school as a 9th grader.
Thanks for notifying me on that! Also congrats for Hill:)
I think that might’ve been just an aspect of the current admissions cycle. I knew of one student who was international who was on some type of FA–how much, I do not know. Finances for a lot of places were a bit strapped this year, and I think I read somewhere that Exeter actually suspended its need-blind policy for 2020-2021.
I think that might be a good option to increase your competitiveness as an applicant. It might not be too late this year to reach out to some and see if they have room–the admissions processes there are not as cutthroat as regular boarding schools. Fay and Eaglebrook are good options I know about.
Thanks! I also have a friend that got accepted as an 8th grader at Fay so I might ask her about Fay as well:)
PEA is not need-blind
Thank you and good luck! There are some international schools that might give FA. Perhaps some in Canada?
Thanks for letting me know!
Ooh. Canada is a nice option though I’ve never really looked closely into Canadian schools. Thank you!
This is correct, as I misspoke as well. Not sure why I’ve always been under the impression both Andover and Exeter were need-blind, I guess it’s just PA. Could it be that Exeter is at least less “need-aware” than a place like DA or Choate?
There seems to be some confusion about that. On DA’s website, they invite internationals to fill out the PFS. It’s just that DA’s international FA pool is very, very, and did I say very competitive. And that’s for the normal years!
As you all may know, this year (and last year) were farrr from normal - the pandemic has caused them to (temporarily?) pause FA grants to new international students. That’s at least what my AD there told me.
Also DA’s FA policy is very interesting. Most BSs I’ve noticed will put overseas US Citizens in the international pool for admission and domestic pool for FA. Deerfield, however, puts them at the international pool for both FA and Admission.