<p>There is a limited amount of fin aid available for internationals:
"College's funds for foreign national students are limited to about $1.5 million, we are able to offer financial aid to 20 prospective students each year." </p>
<p>Swarthmore is not need-blind for internationals, so needing fin aid does affect your chances.</p>
<p>GenericGenius:</p>
<p>A slightly higher percentage of international students at Swat receive need-based financial aid than the percentage of US students receiving aid. </p>
<p>Just over half of the international students receive aid.</p>
<p>Yea my friend got screwed on finaid from Swat too. Honestly I think that it depends on when you send in your information. They're generous enough until they run out of the allocated money, you know? I got an amazing package from Swarthmore, but my EFC wasn't nearly that high.</p>
<p>well my parents saw the finaid info when we went down there and im not pretty confident that ill be appling ED</p>
<p>i thought you could get out of binding ED if financial aid was bad</p>
<p>I got a fair amount of money - my dad got a huge buyout for leaving his job at a federal agency (by the way, federal agencies blow off money like there's no tomorrow, but I digress....), which caused his income to go up a lot... so to make a long story short, Swarthmore offered me a "reasonable" aid package while JHU offered me a "very good" aid package (because they didn't notice this income change until it was too late).</p>
<p>anyway, I know people who received terrible offers from Swat compared to other schools. significantly, most of the EDers are perfectly satisfied.</p>
<p>(I picked Swat by the way)</p>
<p>Our D got into 6 colleges. We got some finacial assistance
from each. State university gave almost a full scholarship.
Bowdoin and Swarthmore were next cheapest. Bowdoin
beat Swarthmore by about $1000 mailny because they
sponsored National Merit. Other colleges (Amherst,
Cornell, Dartmouth) were al least $3000 higher than Swat.
YMMV.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is probably the most generous of the top LACs. It is also more generous than most of the top-ranked National Unis.</p>
<p>well I do know someone who got a significantly better deal from Pomona (and went there) - they're not exactly slouches over there :)</p>
<p>He will be sorely missed <em>sheds a tear</em></p>
<p>Zuma: "Swarthmore is probably the most generous of the top LACs. It is also more generous than most of the top-ranked National Unis".</p>
<p>If Swarthmore is so generous, why it only allows 50% plus first $500 of outside scholarship to reduce student loans and work study while Williams and most other top schools allow 100% till self help portion is eliminated?</p>
<p>1 Williams College (MA)<br>
2 Amherst College (MA)
3 Wellesley College (MA)
4 Skidmore College (NY)
5 Pomona College (CA)
6 Swarthmore College (PA)
7 Middlebury College (VT)
8 Bowdoin College (ME)
9 Macalester College (MN)
10 Grinnell College (IA)</p>
<p>Thats the USNews 'Best LAC Values 2007'</p>
<p>But of course you can't always go off of rankings because like I said, Swarthmore was very generous to me while Williams practically screwed me. Also Pomona boy, I believe, got a better package from Swarthmore than he did from Williams too, which says something because that Swat package SUCKED.</p>
<p>I think that it might be a difference in priorities in money when it comes to different schools though. I think Swarthmore, having one of the largest endowments, puts a lot of money into getting students from lower classes, which is why I got so lucky. Also I'm thinking that Swarthmore might have a larger percentage of people receiving some sort of need-based aid that Williams, which is a big factor in how the money is distributed. </p>
<p>I mean, obviously this is just a guess, but I'm just saying that with Swarthmore my EFC considerably lower than what FAFSA said and with Williams it was considerably higher. </p>
<p>Yeah, there are a lot of factors going into the type of money you're gonna get.</p>
<p>Inflexible is the word. Swarthmore would not reconsider package even though our need-based aid was considerably higher at one Ivy League and another even higher-ranked LAC. too bad, really.</p>
<p>Even "need-based" allows the college quite a bit of flexibility in its offer, both total value and mix of grant vs loan. Nearly all colleges vary this mix based on competititve concerns and how much they want to enroll a particular student. The need to enroll depends on who else is in the admitted pool and how likely the school thinks it is to yield the people it accepted. It can depend on who else in the pool fills a particular slot (one more English major, or violinist, or point guard) so superficially similar students can be much more or less needed depending on the overall admissions picture. That means that individual experiences can vary widely.</p>
<p>hey! i'm an intl considering applying to swarthmore..just wondering whether the amt of finaid u need will affect ur chance of admission or is it juz a matter of whether u r gonna apply for finaid? thanx ! :)</p>
<p>if i practically need a full ride before i can attend swarthmore, does it mean that applying ED doesnt hurt? thankx a lot;p</p>
<p>I am not sure, but I don't think intl student needing fin aid can apply ED. Swarthmore is not need-blind for internationals, and needing fin aid does affect your chances. They also are not committed to meet 100% of your need.</p>
<p>There was at least one international ED applicant last year who needed, and got, close to a full-ride at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Christinesun: I don't think anyone can answer your question besides you and your family. If you apply to Swarthmore ED and are accepted, you should receive your financial offer within days -- assuming you have submitted all the forms and paperwork. If, having looked at that offer, you can't afford to attend, they'll let you out of the ED commitment.</p>
<p>However, you need to think through the timing of that in terms of applying to other schools and the ability to compare financial aid offers. If Swarthmore's aid package isn't enough, will you have other options?</p>
<p>I think the general consensus is that if you really depend on getting fin aid, it is in your best interest to apply RD and be able to compare the offers you gat from different schools.</p>
<p>thanks nngmm and interesteddad! that's most helpful ! :)</p>