<p>txhandan:did you check on each college’s Question section to see whether there is a question “Do you intend to use one of these school-specific fee waivers?” ? If so, I think you should contact the college to ask whether you can use “Realize Your College Potential” fee waiver form.
EX. I called BU admissions and they said they would have no problem with me using the College Board Fee Waiver, but did not know HOW I would go about it.</p>
<p>I got a response from one school just now saying that I can use the “Realize Your College Potential” fee waiver by answering the school specific question: “Do you intend to use one of these school-specific fee waivers?” while still answering no to question “Common App Fee Waiver”.</p>
<p>PS: I was surprised to know someone was working even on Sunday :-)</p>
<p>I got a response from one school just now saying that I can use the “Realize Your College Potential” fee waiver by answering the school specific question: “Do you intend to use one of these school-specific fee waivers?” while still answering no to question “Common App Fee Waiver”.</p>
<p>That is definitely helpful to know, I am going to check the SCHOOL specific questions carefully. I’ll post what I find!</p>
<p>Thank you all for your research! I will mention to D to check off the school specific fee waiver question on all future apps.
Happy note - all ready accepted to Tulane! And yes, they waived her app fee :).</p>
<p>^Tulane is free for everyone to apply</p>
<p>But anyways, I’m going to call each school tomorrow and meet with my GC to see what to do now that I submitted 4 apps using the fee waiver, even though I’m not low income and marked that I am.
Hopefully the schools will understand the confusion, and find a way to use the waivers. And since it’s RD there’s plenty of time to change my app</p>
<p>Counselor said to use it
When you click on the common app that you qualify for a fee waiver, you have to qualify for one of the options they mention. The last one just says that a counselor can provide a statement saying that you get the waiver.
When the GC approves the fee waivers, they select from the same list of options, so they choose the last one from their screen, which is about “other” circumstances, and there was something about principles and yeah. But I saw the screen and it’s legit.</p>
<p>So if your GC says you can use them and approves of them you CAN use the fee waivers. </p>
<p>I also emailed Dartmouth to make sure, and they said they’ll take the fee waiver as Long as you send it to them.</p>
<p>Problem solved</p>
<p>I went and spoke to my son’s GC today. Sadly, she said he could not use them if he had to answer YES to the common APP question about Fee Waivers because we did not meet the stated criteria. I explained to her about the last choice regarding a school official writing a supporting statement, but she said unfortunately she could not because we did not meet the criteria. She said -if there was a school that had a separate school specific question on their APP then we could use it then. So far the schools we looked at do not. I hope other people have better luck than we did!</p>
<p>Please continue to post if you find additional info out. I’ll be checking back!!</p>
<p>I have been following the thread, and though I’ve not yet applied to any schools with the fee waivers, I’ve emailed a few colleges. I made sure to mention the following:</p>
<p>1) I would not normally qualify financially for fee waivers
2) These came from a packet regarding “Realizing Your College Potential”
3) They appear to be merit-based
4) It would help me apply to more schools than I’ve budgeted app fees for</p>
<p>Here are a few excerpts:</p>
<p>The University of California office replied with, “Thank you for contacting the UC Application Center. We do accept College Board fee waivers. You would select pay check by mail and print a payment slip, include one waiver with the payment slip, and make sure you sign the waiver before sending it. It’g good for up to four campuses. Please send them to the address below.
UC Application Center
P.O. Box 1432
Bakersfield, CA 93302”</p>
<p>Duke said, “Thank you for your interest in Duke! We accept the Realizing Your College Potential Fee Waiver. Just fill it out and mail to our address below.
2138 Campus Drive
Box 90586
Durham, NC 27708”</p>
<p>Cornell said, “Thank you for your email and your interest in Cornell University! You can certainly use the College Board application fee waivers for Cornell, regardless of financial eligibility…Essentially, you must note on the application that you are asking for a fee waiver. This is the only option to submit the application without the fee.”</p>
<p>Northeastern said, “Thanks for your email. Yes, you can use any College Board Fee waivers when applying to Northeastern. All you need to do is fill out the section on the Common App that you are using a fee waiver, and we will be able to process that.”</p>
<p>In any case, I will directly phone the school if problems arise, but for now, these schools seem to accept R.Y.C.P.-waivers. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>If I check the “yes” box in the common app that asks if I’m eligible because I’m low income, would that let me bypass the payment section when I’m trying to apply on the common app?</p>
<p>would it let me do so for 8 colleges automatically? and then ask me to pay for the 9th+ colleges I’m applying to?</p>
<p>My GC said it’s very clearly for income need. She said to not risk fraud for a short term gain. I asked her to check and she called and was told to not use them unless the applicant meets the financial need.</p>
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<p>What would happen is that the GC/ administrator at your high school would have to log into the common app and confirm that you are indeed financially eligible for a fee waiver. Unless they check the box stating you are and how you are eligible, then the fee waiver will not go through.</p>
<p>^ That’s not necessarily true. I received these waivers and wanted to use them even though I’m technically not low income. After I talked with my guidance counselor about this, and they approved, I checked the box but my counselor never filled out the common app form (it says not started on my common app). I still sent my waiver to the school and the school waived my fee. So while you should talk to your counselor about this I don’t think the school cares so much as long as they get the waiver. To be safe you should also contact the school because once you send it, you can’t get it back.</p>
<p>When I logged into the website that was included on the packet it specifically said, “If you do not meet the Common App eligibility criteria, you may not use these application waivers for Common App institutions”. This is really worrying me, because even though I may not qualify for a waiver under the common app, my family in no way can afford to allow me to apply to 8 colleges. I have no clue why they sent me these waivers if I can’t use them. My hopes were escalated when i received this, and now I feel so bummed out!</p>
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<p>If you do not send in the physical fee waiver and simply just checked the fee waiver box on the common app, unless it is a school specific fee waiver, when the school/gc/administrative logs into the common app and clicks the fee waiver tab on the common app, it specifically states:</p>
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<p>Sorry maybe I wasn’t clear. I sent the waiver and checked the box. My counselor however did not do their part of approving that I needed the waiver, yet the college still waived my fee once they received the waiver. So I guess I just bypassed that GC step. </p>
<p>Just wanted to share my experience since this is new and everyone is figuring it out together.</p>
<p>My counselor approved it because the waivers allowed me to apply to schools I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford, even though I didn’t meet the financial requirements. I checked yes on the common app and mailed in the waiver, all of the schools I sent it to have waived it.</p>
<p>That’s the reason my GC said O.K. to me, too. They just forgot to actually say ok on the Common App lol. I should probably remind them soon.</p>
<p>@westofguam thanks for the help! i really appreciate it</p>
<p>I too have received realize your college potential 8 waiver forms. The form itself doesn’t ask for GC approval etc. All you have to do is write the name of college you are applying to. </p>
<p>Which box should I check? The one in common CA questions or one in each school’s questionnaire? </p>
<p>If you answer YES to CA question, it won’t ask you for fees even if you had 10 schools. correct? </p>
<p>If you didn’t answer YES to, do you qualify question then CA would want you to pay it before you can submit. So how does it work? Can someone please explain?</p>
<p>College Board Fee Waiver</p>
<p>The Common Application fee waiver criteria are identical to the criteria used by NACAC and College Board.</p>
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<p><a href=“https://appsupport.commonapp.org/link/portal/33011/33013/Article/1622/College-Board-Fee-Waiver[/url]”>https://appsupport.commonapp.org/link/portal/33011/33013/Article/1622/College-Board-Fee-Waiver</a></p>
<p>Anyone else receive another “Realize Your College Potential” newsletter like my daughter did today?
Updates -
“A note on your fee waivers -
…intended to assist students who cannot afford the application fee FOR 8 COLLEGES
Please only use if … creates a financial barrier for YOU or your family
Colleges define eligibility for a fee waiver as being eligible for OR HAVING RECEIVED A TEST-FEE WAIVER, participation in federal free…or public assistance.
If you do not meet the Common App eligibility criteria, you may not use these fee waivers.”</p>
<p>The bolding is mine, to show the murky nature of this notice. So if I won’t pay for 8 applications (even though I can afford to) and my D does not have her own money she can use the waivers?
Because she RECEIVED these waivers she is eligible to use them?
If she would not have applied to 8 COLLEGES otherwise she can use them?
Not really helpful…</p>