Hi,
I’m an international student from Turkey who wants to apply to colleges in the U.S. I need financial aid to attend a college, and my college counselor said I should apply ED because colleges don’t tend to give more financial aid to RD students because they are not committed and they might not choose that college. She said that if I apply ED, I will have better chance of getting in, too. However, after reading many posts on college confidential, I learned that the acceptance rate for ED admissions is higher because athletes, legacies, etc. apply ED more.
So, I’m confused if I should apply ED or not; I don’t know if it helps at all for my case since I’m not an athlete/ legacy.
Looking forward to hear your views on this.
If you apply ED and you get in, you will be telling the college that you are going no matter what and that you won’t be applying ANYWHERE else. It’s a binding decision. Your only way to get out is if you don’t get enough money to attend.
If you need financial aid, you shouldn’t apply ED. You are international, so getting financial aid may not happen. Apply ED if you know for sure that you can afford the school.
You sound like you have significant financial need. That being the case…you need to look at multiple net costs to determine which is the best and lowest net cost for you.
If you apply ED, you will have ONE offer…you will have NO way to know if it’s the best or worst…no way to compare.
In your situation, apply RD.
But what if I apply ED to a school that meets %100 of demonstrated need?
There are a handful of colleges that are meet full need for internationals. Generally, very competitive for an admit. But the college determines your need. That may or may not mean you get what you think you need.
No, if you use ED, you usually can’t compare offers. But that doesn’t mean the offer will be lousy.
Try to learn the basics of FA and then how it works for internationals. Or not.
Keep in mind as an international student there are only 5 schools in the US that are need blind and meet 100% demonstrated need. They all have less than 10% admissions rate with some having 5% admission rates. The competition will be fierce for international students.
At almost every other 100% demonstrated need school your ability to pay will be a factor in admissions.
Approximately 60% of the ED pool is hooked: recruited athletes, legacies, developmental cases, faculty kids, QuestBridge matches and Posse Scholars. As an unhooked international student whose needs money both rounds will be hard. Applying ED is really of no benefit to you. As @“aunt bea” stated, ED is for students who have done their due diligence and know what the finances will work out and are willing to pay.
Yes, students do get out of ED if it is not affordable. You don’t get to compare financial aid packages. You don’t know if it will be your best package. Also you have no way of knowing if you turn down your ED acceptance that you will be picked up anywhere else. You could be turning down your only chance.
The biggest takeaway isl and the error that many students make is just because a school meets 100% demonstrated need, it does not mean that you will go to college for free. It is still going to be very expensive for an international student to come to school in the US.
“But what if I apply ED to a school that meets %100 of demonstrated need?”
The school’s sense of “demonstrated need” does not necessarily correspond to your sense of “need”. Also, any offer is likely to include substantial loans. Also, unless you are in the top 10 students in your country your chances at any one university are slim. Therefore there are good reasons to apply to multiple schools, probably including some that are not in the US. I would apply EA where it is available, or just as soon as applications are accepted otherwise.
One issue to think about is how much aid do you need? If you need financial aid to cover 100% of your costs, then you will need to be a very strong student. If you need to get financial aid that covers 2/3 of the cost, then you might want to note that many schools in the US are two or three times more expensive than in some other countries so that financial aid covering 2/3 of the cost of a US school does not necessarily make it any less expensive than schools in another country with no aid.
There are students here who have excellent SAT or ACT scores…and excellent GPAs who do NOT get full free rides to college.
How much aid do you need?
Do you have outstanding standardized test scores?
Do you have a perfect top GPA?
The schools that meet 100% of need for all,accepted students are competitive for admissions. They reject better than 80-90% of all applicants. Getting accepted would be the first hurdle.
With significant financial need…especially as an international student…you would be better off being able to compare options. Those schools that meet 100% of need for ALL students do so in the regular decision round as well.
Are there colleges in Turkey where you could get a free ride?
My GPA in Turkey is 95/100 and I rank first in my class, but I had an exchange year in the US in a prep school and I got an A- average there. I took the ACT and got a 33 in my first sitting, and I will take it again.
I stopped prepping for the Turkish entrance exam when I started my exchange year, so the chances for me to get into a top uni in Turkey is low. Also, I don’t like the education system in Turkey where you decide your major or your area of interest in as early as 10th grade.
I don’t need a full ride, but I can only pay around $10,000.
My situation is difficult since every English university in Europe too is expensive-around $15,000- with one exception of Sciences Po which is basically free.(will apply there)
I understand that it’s good to compare choices, but my college advisor in my American boarding school said colleges are hesitant to offer so much money to international students in the RD round because those students might just reject the offer. I read this somewhere too, so I really am undecided.
They take that into account that not all students will accept the offer. Your counselor is wrong about what they will offer – it wouldn’t change. You gain nothing financially by an ED application. However, your odds of acceptance with an affordable aid package are very low regardless of when you apply.
Right^. " hesitant…because those students might just reject the offer." It costs the college nothing to “offer” aid. If you reject them, they move on to the next kid on the list.
You need to explore which colleges do offer aid to intls. And understand what it takes to get an admit, in the first place. It’s more than stats snd standing.
Some here are rightly uncomfortable that intls would get aid. But these are practices these few colleges instituted long ago.
The risk with regular decision is waiting so long to hear, especially if you have no backup plan. But that doesn’t make ED any surer, if you don’t show them your match.
Your college advisor clearly does not understand your financial need.
If you can pay $10,000 a year, that won’t even cover room and board.
You need to be able to compare multiple offers and net costs…not just one offer.
Even schools that meet full need can have offers that vary by tens of thousands of dollars.