I would like to know which institutions are more known for their habit of giving full rides or meeting 100% need of applicants and whether ED-ing actually increases your chances of getting more aid along with an increased rate of admission.
I have a 1450 on SAT and will be giving it again with the hopes of getting a 1500+. Would be nice if you all could suggest colleges I could ED to.
Thank you!
I am confused by your term “full ride.” Are you saying that “full ride” and “meeting 100% need” are the same? They are not. Or… are you asking about schools that meet full need and also have full ride scholarships?
What is your gpa? What can your parents afford? Have you run the net price calculators to see what a school might cost? What are you looking for in a school?
What happened to the schools you asked about in April? Did you turn them both down?
If you need financial aid, which is difficult for international students to get, I wouldn’t ED anywhere. The same advice applies to domestic applicants. Students who need to compare offers shouldn’t apply ED.
Financial aid will not be more generous just because someone applied ED. It is awarded based on your family’s financial picture, and that is not affected by what time of application you submit.
Some merit awards are only awarded to students who apply by certain fall deadlines, but most merit awards do not require ED.
Check the auto admit/auto merit threads for schools where your stats will get you in, with substantial merit aid.
If you’re asking about merit aid, why would colleges spend their merit money on ED admits who are obligated to attend? It’s better spent luring quality RD admits away from rival schools.
As an international it sounded like you had two good choices between Howard and UTDallas. What happened?
If money is an issue you should not ED anywhere.
Here’s a list of colleges that claim to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need:
https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/paying-for-college/articles/2016-09-19/colleges-that-claim-to-meet-full-financial-need
For the “full need” claim to be true and meaningful, I believe it must pertain to all enrolled students, whether domestic or international, and however they apply (ED/EA/RD). That’s not to say that financial need, nationality, or the application round doesn’t sometimes affect the admission decision. Very few schools are both need-blind and claim to meet full need for international students.
Merit scholarship applications typically have early deadlines anyway, and some of the biggest scholarships are awarded automatically for qualifying stats. So in those cases, the ED/RD distinction may not matter much.
http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/
Especially if you’re considering schools that neither claim to meet full need, nor grant large merit scholarships automatically for qualifying stats, then it may not be to your advantage to apply in the ED round (since, if accepted, you won’t be able to compare offers). In any case, being an international applicant is a disadvantage in seeking FA from most colleges.
Keep in mind as an international student there are only 5 schools in the U.S. that are both need blind and meet 100% demonstrated need. There is heavy competition to get admitted to these schools.
As an international student most schools that meet 100% demonstrated need will also look at your ability to pay as an admissions criteria.
If you need significant aid, as an international student, you gain no advantage by applying ED. In fact you could be messing up your chances. Ed is honor bound based on the premise that in exchange for an early decision, if accepted, you will attend, you will withdraw all other applications and not make any new applications. By applying ED should you get accepted, you will have no way of knowing if this is your best package because you lose your ability to compare offers.
- What happened to your options this year for acceptances?
- Don't apply ED.....anywhere. You have significant financial need and you need the ability to compare financial net costs.
- You need to understand...full free rides to college in the U.S. are not all that common, and are not all,that easy to get for citizens here. Even HARDER for international students. At most of the schools that would meet full need (except five), your ability to pay will be considered when your application for admission is reviewed.
- Does your home country offer free college at all? If so...start there.
Uh I had visa issues. The visa officers weren’t willing to give me the visa due to my dad’s income. So, I’ll be trying to get 100% of my need met this time.
I’ll be majoring on Physics and am interested in Reed at the moment. I have a 5/5 GPA and have volunteered in schools to teach down syndrome kids, underprivileged kids, am teaching at my own school, worked to contain suicide rates, and have been learning a new language for a while. I guess these are my ECAs.
I think my parents can pay 10k easily and maybe go till 15k but yeah the lower the better 
Thank you all for the suggestions!
Why wouldn’t you just defer at one of the schools you got good offers at, until your Visa issue can be resolved?
Instead of applying to new schools?
My guess is that this student could not show that he had enough money to fully find his first year…even WITH his financial aid money added in…and his visa was denied.
If that is the case, he needs a school that apparently will give him more aid than he got the first time around.
He got a 1450 on the SAT…and also needs to know that some schools will NOT look at SAT scores taken after HS graduation. He should check that…and not make assumptions.
He should also look at options in his home country. Getting 100% funding is NOT very common for even U.S. citizens…and is less common for international students.