I’ve been lurking on this forum for a while. I’ve long decided to apply to Dartmouth ED. I’m an international student (Asia). One of my friends at Dartmouth from my high school sent me this article she just read on Faceboook:
Does anyone know I should do? Being an international who will need a decent amount of aid I’m pretty scared here. Dartmouth’s my number one but I don’t want to have to commit if I can’t afford it. Does anyone have any advice?
I don’t think you understand what this article says. It is stating that your family finances will be a factor considered when deciding whether to admit you. Needing a lot of aid will make it more difficult to be accepted. But Dartmouth still “meets need” (by their definition) for all the students they decide to accept. So your odds are lower of getting in, but the aid package would be the same as before if they do accept you.
The one reason you can turn down an ED acceptance is if the aid package is not sufficient for you to attend. Keep working on other applications, and don’t withdraw them even if you get in ED until you see your aid package and know it is ok.
There are only 5 colleges now in the US that are need blind for internationals… honestly, I am surprised that Dartmouth stayed on the list as long as they did.
And not all of them will meet full need. Cornell, for example, does not consider need during the application process. But, Cornell is clear that they only have “limited” funds for financial aid for internationals, so many will have to decline their acceptance bcos they cannot afford to attend.
Actually, there are more than 5 colleges that are need-blind for internationals. However, there are only 5 who are need-blind and meet full demonstrated need for both U.S. and international students which, for the record, are Amherst, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, and Yale.
The new policy is most likely starting with this application cycle. Keep in mind if you are accepted, Dartmouth will meet 100% of your demonstrated need (as they define it).
I would assume that since they quietly switched to a need-aware policy, they are looking to bring in more revenue from full-paying foreign students. For schools such as Columbia, foreign students bring in a lot of money. It appears Dartmouth is changing to this model or at least not paying as much to educate international students.