Good day everyone.
I am an international student from Nigeria and I just got rejected from my first school, The College of Wooster. It was my safety school and I applied early action. However in the rejection letter they outlined that the decision to reject me was based on financial reasons. This is beginning to scare me because I feel like many more schools will reject me for this, being an international student. Is there any advice you can give me on schools to apply to for generous aid or coping with rejections?
My current list is:
-Amherst College
-Colby College
-Colgate University
-University of Richmond
-Albion College (Accepted)
-The College of Wooster (Rejected)
-Reed College
-Trinity College
-Clark University
-Denison University
-Oberlin College
-Case Western reserve University
-Grinnell College (POSSIBLY)
Any help will be greatly appreciated. this rejection was a shock to me initially honestly but now I can see why they would reject me. My parents are only able to afford about $10k dollars per year so that’s a whole lot to be asking for from a school.
To give a better overview, these are some of my stats:
-4.0 GPA (No class rank though)
-34 ACT
-740 Biology SAT and 680 Math 1 (I didn’t submit my math score)
-6-year extracurriculars
-Cofounded an activism group
Due to most universities suffering financial hardship because of the pandemic I would expect monies for international students to decrease for the next few years.
Do you have a school back at home that you can attend?
Amherst is the only college on your list that is need blind for international students, all the other colleges will take into account your family’s ability to pay when making the admissions decision.
Is Albion college affordable? Don’t forget to budget for travel, mandatory health insurance and incidentals (which you will have to do for all US schools).
Do you have an affordable safety in your home country?
No students on campus = reduced $ with no revenue from housing and meal plans.
International students, who need financial aid, don’t really have safety schools in the US.
The schools don’t have money now. They need to pay their bills like everyone else.
You would need a full ride because your $10k would just cover your personal expenses of
Travel, US health insurance coverage, and day-to-day living necessities. The US is an expensive place to study.
I agree that there really isn’t a safety in the US for an international student who needs nearly a full ride in financial aid.
I just looked up the College of Wooster’s endowment. It is only a tiny fraction for example of Amherst College’s endowment or Grinnell’s endowment.
I do not think that you can interpret anything from your rejection. I do not think that this tells you anything about what your other results will be. You will just have to try to be patient until you hear back from your other schools.
You clearly are a strong student and have a good list of schools that you are applying to. I wish you luck in this process and I hope that you get full financial aid from one of the very good colleges and universities on your list.
I don’t think you’ll get into Amherst, but I do think you might get into Grinnnell, which is not need blind for int’l students, but states that they are committed to financial aid for int’l students. I’d definitely add Grinnell. If it’s not too late, I’d pare down the list according to which are likely to offer significant financial aid to an international student.
Things in my country aren’t very good at the moment but I definitely have backup options elsewhere! 
Albion college is something we can work around because I got a huge scholarship and some aid however I have safety options in other countries. Thank you for your response!
Thank you so much for this. Made me feel a lot better for sure. i really appreciate it. Happy New Year!
Could you expansiate on this please?
International Financial Aid Packaging Policy
Grinnell is committed to meeting 100% of institutionally determined need for all admitted international students who complete a financial aid application by the deadline associated with their application term. Grinnell College offers a full range of financial aid opportunities to international students and we are committed to providing affordable education to students from around the world. Learn about how we calculate need, and check out the cost and net price for a Grinnell education.
Their acceptance rate is about 25%
Yes, I have been following what’s happening in Nigeria, and it’s very frightening and sad. You should come here if you can. I have to let you know that Nigerian professionals here are well-respected, have a reputation of being well-trained and hard-working.
Thank you so much for this. I’m definitely applying now.
Grinnell is a great school. Show interest. Ask for an interview if you get the chance. Sign up for their email list, and reach out to the admissions officer if you can come up with a genuine question.
You could ask, for example, if you might be able to connect with some international kids at Grinnell so you can ask questions.
Thank you so much. Will do!
any updates?
No good news so far. But I know that God has something amazing in store for me.
I just wanted to lend my support. My son is also an international student, so our income is very low compared to the US and we need financial aid. However, he is also an American citizen, so I thought he would be considered more favorably. He has a very similar profile to yours (9.81/10 GPA, 6 yrs club/state basketball), but he has received 3 rejections already. I am convinced that it is for financial reasons, and I wish that colleges would just come out and be clear on this point. We were especially shocked by his rejection by one university, where he was a legacy applicant x4 and my family has been donating for 85+ years.
This just might not be his year.
I’m sure it’s for financial reasons as well. Two of my schools explicitly stated this actually. One particular school, the University of Richmond, proceeded to say that if I happen to come into some money they can offer me a position from their wait list. As if 80,000 dollars drops out of nowhere haha. I just thought that was very funny.
But, seeing as your son is also a citizen, I’m sure that there will be somewhere you will be able to afford with some help from FAFSA. He is a strong candidate so don’t be worried!
I can imagine your surprise at the rejection. It sounds insane. This was the case with my EA school, Wooster. I had an amazing interview with them, showed lots of interest and had stats way above their benchmark but it would have cost them too much to sponsor me. I understand that and was actually glad they at least addressed it in the letter they sent to me.
Thank you for your support!!! Let me know of the good news WHEN it comes haha