Groton is need blind according to my notes (my son applied there). He ended up on Groton and Exeter WL with a more than half FA request.
He applied to others like Taft and Deerfield and was rejected outright.
It is a very very tough sell to get in as an International requiring substantial FA…you need the big threes (academic, a strong extracurricular (sport etc…) and community service).
As for Canada, endowments are smaller than the U.S. and priority is for domestic. Most internationals are FP or close to it. The thing is most Canadian preps are rolling but if you are international…apply early before the pool of funds is dried up.
Sadly…money does talk. I know Canadian schools are getting tons of applications from very very wealthy internationals. None of the Canadian schools I am aware of are need blind.
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I don’t think Groton is 100% need-blind, rather they meet 100% of demonstrated need of students they send acceptances to. This article is a year old but perhaps still relevant to provide insight about Groton’s aid policy:
Groton School Welcomes New Students | Groton School.
Note how they say they were effectively need-blind for this year. To me, that would imply that like many other schools, they will always do their best to create the strongest class they can as a priority, but if this means exceeding their financial aid budget, then that might come into play as to who they ultimately make admissions offers to. Last year things shook out that everyone they wanted to accept fell within the budget, hence they didn’t have to take into account FA so, in a sense, admissions decisions had no correlation to economic status.
Furthermore, they don’t have a “need-blind” statement like Andover does–and if they did, they would absolutely tout as they would be only the second school of its caliber to have such a commitment. This gives them the flexibility in years like this with budgets likely constricted to make some decisions based on financial need without being hit with a large monetary loss.
I think it is certainly plausible your son was put on the waitlist this year as a result of your larger financial need for both Groton and Exeter. It was a very unusual year for factors we are all aware of.
In FA zoom calls with Groton, they stressed as it related to FA they were need blind and it would not be a factor. They stressed their search for “diversity”. They made it a point that they had significant financial resources relative to their class size.
My son applied for grade 11 and plays varsity sports…so threading the needle was a monumental challenge.
BTW. Some schools on their FA presentations were extremely “cagey” about their wording around internationals and FA.
Check the EC/Stat thread. I believe I have seen at least one international with Full FA. I think she is from South America though.
I’d say it doesn’t hurt to try. Applicants applying for FA can usually get application fees waived so nothing to lose. You may learn a lot about the process, and maybe about yourself!
Hmm. I suppose that’s what it means to be “effectively” be need-blind–their endowment for FA exceeds any sort of anticipated total need from the applicants they want to accept since, as you say, it is a relatively small yet wealthy school. Hence, it will be very unlikely for them to ever use up all their aid and hit a deficit.
The difference with the official “need-blind commitment” from Andover is that they essentially have an unlimited budget for FA–that is, if their acceptances end up creating a deficit from their expected FA budget, they would take the financial loss and admit those students with aid. If a similar–yet unlikely–situation came up with Groton, the fact that they don’t have the same explicit “need-blind commitment” would allow them to turn away a student based on finances like a Deerfield or Choate.
I could be totally off base with my interpretation of these policies, though, as I never pursued Groton (didn’t have a very competitive team in my sport I wanted to focus on, nor did the coach have any influence in admissions for “recruits”).
Hey, just saw your post. I just got accepted to Hotchkiss as an international student. While it’s not full aid, it comes out to around 30k dollars. All these schools provide some FA to international applicants but do keep in mind that international FA is the most competitive pool. Just apply, keep your expectations low, and hope you’ll be surprised!
Alright, thanks for letting me know about Canadian schools!
Yes I’ve seen the post:) Thanks
Wow. Congrats for Hochkiss!
And I just realized you were asking for more “safety” schools. I recommend you try out Mercersburg Academy and The Williston Northampton School, they both offered me good FA packages and are great schools!
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