financial aid - EA

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Chicago ✅
1

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I was wondering: I know that UChicago states that it is 100% need blind, but I have heard rumors that it won't provide 100% if you apply EA. Now, my parents make a little over 60,000, and I come from a 9-member household. Is there a possibility that with a part time job or work-study and extreme frugality, I will be able to cover all my expenses for college should I get accepted, and not have any loans?</p>

<p>J</p>

<p>edit: I know its an ambiguous question, but I'm just curious to see if anyone knows about their aid policy...</p>

2

<p>Being 100% need-blind and meeting 100% demonstrated aid are very different things. A university is either 100% need-blind or 0% need-blind. UChicago does not meet 100% demonstrated aid (except for international students). International students who are accepted by UChicago will be provided with 100% demonstrated aid. However, admissions process at UChicago is not need-blind.</p>

<p>It is certainly possible to work part-time and meet all of your expenses through financial aid and salary. In fact, the vast majority of UChicago students I know work part-time during an entire academic year.</p>

3

<p>Umm, no offense Divine Comedy, but you’re not entirely correct.
[Office</a> of College Aid](<a href=“http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/]Office”>http://collegeaid.uchicago.edu/)
There’s the UofC aid website.
Most universities in the US are 100% need blind, just like Chicago (it says it in the right margin). And most universities will meet 100% of need for domestic students, but it varies. And there is no reason why they would meet 100% of need from international students but not domestic students because usually international applicants are wealthier.
From what I heard at my info session, UofC DOES meet 100% of demonstrated need for domestic students, however it is expected that you take out approximately a $5,000 loan each year (the maximum). And getting out of school only $20,000 in debt is a lot less than most people.</p>

4

<p>Divine Comedy, you may be talking about international students (it’s hard to tell from your post), but Chicago is need-blind for US/Permanent Resident applicants. This may or may not soothe the OP, depending on citizenship.</p>

<p>
[QUOTE=<a href=“https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/costs/"]Need-blind”>Financial Support | College Admissions]
Need-blind</a> admission and meeting financial need

[/quote]

^See the large orange text on that page.</p>

<p>As far as I know, they also meet 100% of “demonstrated” need for admitted students who request aid. This does not mean, however, that your idea of need will be the same as theirs. A lot of colleges, including Chicago, have higher expectations of ability to pay than many people would like.</p>

<p>That doesn’t mean it will be impossible, though. If your family’s income is at or around $60k, you’ll be eligible for an Odyssey scholarship, meaning you’ll have little to no loans. That will help a lot, and the large number of children (dependents, I assume) in your household will also probably equate to more aid for you. With work-study, summer jobs, Odyssey, you have a great chance at emerging from undergrad Chicago with no loans, I think.</p>

<p>And I don’t think I’ve ever heard of any financial aid disparity between EA and RD applicants. The main fuel for that fear would seem to be the worry that if you apply early, you look eager to go, meaning the aid office can offer you less money, banking on the thought that you’re willing to pay the difference.</p>

<p>This isn’t likely to happen with Chicago. Except for their 110 esoteric scholarships, they offer no merit aid–it’s all need-based. And they’re not going to deny you what their calculations show that you need to attend their school.</p>

5

<p>Sorry I was not very clear in my post. The latter part of my first paragraph is about international students. UChicago is not need-blind for International Students. It is need-blind for American citizens and permanent residents. UChicago meets full demonstrated needs for international students (assuming you’re accepted as an international student), but it does not usually meet full demonstrated needs for domestic students.</p>

6

<p>^I believe that the university says it meets full demonstrated need. I am a domestic student, and they pretty much reduced my cost to my FAFSA EFC. So I’d say it DOES meet full demonstrated need for domestic students. I would think that it wouldn’t for internationals, but if the university does that, then that’s awesome.</p>

7

<p>My apology. UChicago does meet full demonstrated need for domestic students and international students.</p>

<p>For international students,

</p>

8

<p>Yeah. Most US universities are quite stingy with international students, so the fact that UChicago meets full need is surprising.</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>This is a really mistaken statement. Actually, only a tiny percentage of US universities are 100% need-blind in admissions for domestic students, and hardly any are need-blind in admissions for international students. (It may be limited to Harvard; I’m not sure.) Beyond maybe 30-40 universities and 15-20 LACs, need-aware in admissions is the rule, and many of those that claim to be need-blind are effectively pulling a con (see below).</p>

<p>It’s also not true that a college is either 100% need-blind or 100% need-aware. Obviously, most colleges that are need-blind for domestic students are need-aware for internationals. And this year, after endowment losses, Carleton designated something like 5% of its slots for need-aware admissions, so that 95% of the class was selected need-blind, but students with need that could only be met with college grants were essentially ineligible for the last 5% of slots.</p>

<p>Then there is meeting 100% of demonstrated need. Again, it is a thin layer at the top that guarantees to do this for all domestic students, and even then there are lots of differences in how they calculate demonstrated need, and lots of complaints. There are a number of universities that have putatively need-blind admissions, but then make substantive judgments at the financial aid level about how much they want a student to determine whether to offer full aid or not. That game is played a lot with international students, too.</p>

<p>Honestly, for international students, I think Chicago’s policy is fine – if they admit you, they will give you the aid you need. In deciding whether to admit you, they will look at their budget for international aid (all of that has to come from university funds, there’s no government help), and decide whether they want you enough to pay the price, but if the answer is “yes” you will be given the aid. That’s a great deal. It may be harder to get admitted, but if you are a strong student it’s a great deal.</p>