Deferred Enrollment/Reapplying

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Pennsylvania
1

<p>Hi everyone,</p>

<p>I am an international student newly admitted to Penn's College of Arts and Sciences Class of 2016. When I was submitting my RD apps, my family didn't think that we'd need FA. However, things have gone really downhill pretty recently and it seems like my family won't be able to pay $60,000 for this upcoming academic year. I am on the waiting list at another Ivy League institution that is need-blind for internationals, so if I were to be fortunate enough to get off the waiting list, I'd certainly opt to attend that school. However, if that's not the case, I think I will have to take a gap year before attending Penn and try to earn some money to help my parents pay for my college education... and I have some questions you may be able to answer:</p>

<p>1) If I submit my gap year plan by the deadline (June 6) and get into the school where I'd be able to receive FA after June 6, would I be able to decline Penn's offer and attend the other school?</p>

<p>2) As much as I love Penn, I may want to reapply to other schools as a FA candidate next winter if my family's financial circumstances don't get better at all (lest I spend eight years trying to attend school/earn my college tuition). If that seems to be the case, would I be able to reapply to other schools while taking a gap year and decline Penn's offer if I were to be accepted to other schools that are willing to give me FA?</p>

<p>Thank you so much in advance. I really appreciate your time!</p>

2

<p>bump… 10char</p>

3

<p>Yes to both questions. No one can force you to go especially when you don’t have the money to pay for it. I am not sure whether your status at Penn could affect your chance at other competitive schools the following years but I have heard that they sometimes do share this kind of information. One other avenue I would pursue would be to contact Penn financial aid office and inform them of your situation. It might be a long shot but I have heard many cases where students family finance has turned sour and the school has come through with generous help. At the very least, it does not hurt to ask. Sorry for your misfortune and good luck.</p>

4

<p>I would second ttparent’s excellent recommendation that you contact Penn’s financial aid office about this. Penn has an explicit policy of accounting for changed financial circumstances in evaluating financial aid requests.</p>

5

<p>@ttparent and 45 percenter:</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your response. I actually contacted Penn’s Financial Aid office earlier this month and they redirected me to the Admissions Office (since financial aid status affects the admissions decisions for international students). When I contacted Admissions and told them about my situation, they said they had already committed every single dollar to other international students needing FA and won’t be able to give me any aid money/loan/whatnot during my four years at Penn. :frowning: I hope this doesn’t affect my candidacy at other schools (especially the school that I’m waiting on) this year or next year since this isn’t really about which school I get to attend… it’s about whether I get to attend school or not, if we were to assume the worst.</p>

6

<p>I don’t know which country you are from, but don’t most other countries have free college? Why don’t you just go to a university in your home country?</p>