Thought these would start rolling in but so fair only Ohio University has sent one out.
Anyone else receive a fee waiver direct from a college? If so, which ones?
Many smaller colleges will offer fee waivers. I seem to recall that for most of those, the application needs to be in fairly soon in order to qualify. Generally, if you have been signed up for emails, colleges will include the fee waiver in an email. Some colleges send mailers with a fee waiver code. There are probably dozens or even hundreds of colleges that offer these. Call your college of interest and just ask if they are offering a fee waiver if the app is completed by a certain due date.
Some colleges are free to apply to from the outset. I can think of at least three LACs that have no app fee.
My S received one from Case Western. We took the time to visit over the summer, my guess is this was what triggered the fee waiver invitation to apply.
My daughter got one from Rice. She started the application and then decided she did not want to apply.
Rice here, too. The letter said it was because she took SAT Subject Tests. She is not applying.
It is really a marketing ploy. You save $50 bucks, they get the chance to have you pay them $100,000 or more. Don’t focus on fee waivers. Make your college list based on fit, what you can afford & net price calculator results, strength in your area of study, etc. Don’t waste your limited time & energy during application season on schools that aren’t on your list. It isn’t “free” if it doesn’t make your list otherwise. It is just a distraction.
Sometimes, though, it can inspire you to look at a school you hadn’t thought of before. Grinnell comes to mind. No app fee, top LAC, huge endowment.
If that is what draws your attention, you have done a lousy job of organizing your search.
@intparent I have not done a lousy job organizing my search. Sigh. But if schools already on the list are offering fee waivers it makes sense to look for that.
Rice (sent subject test to use up free test slots before college list was final), New Mexico Tech (barcode scanned at a college fair)
DD is probably not applying to either
Yes, of course it does IF you’ve already decided to apply. But most schools don’t just send fee waivers. The fee is the fee. If you are low income, you can email and ask them.
I presume your list is around 10 colleges. If you really wanted to know if YOUR colleges are offering waivers, probably best to list what those schools are. Otherwise it is a scattershot question that probably won’t get you the info you are looking for.
I don’t think it’s fair to say someone has done “a lousy job” in their search just because a fee waiver prompts a second look There are lots of reasons why a school might not capture someone’s attention initially. (Relatively remote location, for example.) If a fee waiver or other enticement prompts a second look from someone not including that region or category in their original search, it’s an effective strategy on the part of the school. Doesn’t make it a reason to apply though. Just a little extra sparkle.
My daughter received a 1 day fee waiver email for some school in PA. She didn’t have interest and didn’t apply. She has one school on her list that is free for everyone to apply to by the end of October. There is another school she got a fee waiver for attending an open house.
“if you really wanted to know if YOUR colleges are offering waivers, probably best to list what those schools are. Otherwise it is a scattershot question that probably won’t get you the info you are looking for.”
Thanks @intparent but I’ll take my chances.
Kinda wastes everyone else’s time, though.
It is a marketing ploy…if you have a waived fee, then you are more likely to apply. More applications = lower acceptance rate => better rankings
If you are Harvard, you don’t wave the fee, but send letters to students so they think “Hey! Harvard is interested in me!!” and apply. Harvard gets $3Million/year from application fees.
However, that is not to say you shouldn’t take advantage of it if you are interested.
@intparent whose time does it waste?
Not only is it marketing, it is great marketing if you are not exactly a tippy top student, not likely to get merit, not likely to get FA. Many kids/parents DO feel special. With S15 he did quite a few free that were actually contender schools but it really added more schools that was worthwhile.
Everyone posting on this thread trying to answer your too-vague question.
@intparent Feel free to scroll past.