International needing financial aid: EE or RD?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
1

<p>I'm a Canadian needing financial aid. However, I really really want to go to Wellesley but its financial aid isn't need-blind for internationals. I know that more people are accepted through EE than RD but if I apply for financial aid I can only apply through the RD deadline. Should I just not apply for Wellesley's financial aid and try to get scholarships or risk it through the RD deadline with financial aid?</p>

<p>(I can't apply for ED because I'm taking my ACTs in Dec, after the ED deadline or else I would.)</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>if you really really wanna go to Wellesley...it's better to give up FA and apply through ED. but make sure you can handle the tuition fee...</p>

3

<p>She's talking about EE, not ED.</p>

<p>delicacy - one doesn't get "accepted" through EE. It's essentially RD, it's just that you send it a little early, and then they get back to you in February saying that you're "likely" or "unlikely" or whatever the one is in between.</p>

4

<p>Apply RD. Applying EE doesn't actually help you get in, it lets you know that you may have gotten in earlier. I don't know if there is any subconscious difference in the way admissions views EE vs. RD applicants, but I believe there is no difference. ED could be a different story as adcoms are willing to give more students the benefit of the doubt.</p>

<p>It's just that more students who get in happen to fill out their application earlier. The RD pool is made up of people who A. were too lazy to make the earlier EE date/applied to Wellesley at the last minute or B. couldn't otherwise apply EE (High school juniors and international students needing FA). I couldn't tell you if people from group B are more likely to get in than Group A.</p>

<p>So, essentially, you are asking whether you or not you should apply for financial aid. Your real question is "to what degree does the non-need blind policy for internationals look at family finances"?</p>

<p>There are five outcomes:
you apply for FA, you get it and you get in. YAY!!
you apply for FA, you don't get any, but you get in. Yay ... sort of
you apply for FA, and you don't get in. BOO You always wonder if you would have gotten in otherwise
you apply without FA and you get in. Yay ... sort of
you apply without FA and you get rejected. BOO</p>

<p>I don't know anything about your family's finances, what sort of financial aid you are hoping to get, and what sort of outside scholarships you think you could receive. I had about $2000 US a year on top of the Wellesley grants I got. I don't know how much money you could hustle up from corporations/hometown/interest groups for being an awesome student/athlete/minority/disabled person/artist, but it's not going to be anywhere near $47,000 US. If you are expecting to have financial aid cover just the last few thousands of tuition and not a significant portion of it, then yes, you may be able to do without.</p>

<p>I wish I could tell you to what degree financial aid applications affects the international admissions process, whether the act of requesting financial aid or the actual amount needed or hypothetically granted is considered, but I don't know that either. I've been lead to believe that the need is very rarely the deciding factor.</p>

<p>I don't know how Wellesley treats international students who apply for FA after they are admitted.</p>

<p>I also don't know anything about your academic status, and if I did, I couldn't tell you whether not applying for financial aid would improve your chances, or not matter because you are already in/out</p>

<p>I also don't know how much the endowment has been affected by recent economic downturns. It's a really bad time to hope that you could somehow come up with the $47000 yourself, though the current exchange rate is favorable to Canada.</p>

<p>Transfer admissions is a supercrapshoot to begin with. Good luck!</p>

<p>Try to consider all those points. I recommend applying for the financial aid.</p>

<p>If it makes you feel any better, the class of 2008 senior gift was financial aid for international students.</p>

5

<p>Wow WendyMouse, that was amazing. Thanks so much. I really appreciate you taking the time out to do such a long post.</p>

<p>I think I will end up applying for financial aid. It really wouldn't be worth it to have an amazing education but to end up paying off debts until I'm 40. I don't want to start out my own life in the real world bound to banks and such.</p>

<p>Hopefully, the "edge" I would have had with financial aid I'll be able to fill with other things.</p>

6

<p>delicacy,</p>

<p>IIRC, Canadian citizens have the same financial aid privileges as US citizens, i.e. need blind admissions with 100% of need met if you qualify for aid, regardless of your admission plan of ED, EE, or RD. I would call the admission office and double check to make sure, in case it's changed since I was a student.</p>

7

<p>Thanks jacinth_ambrose, I've emailed them and they said that Canadians do follow the same financial aid policies as US citizens. Thanks for your help!</p>

8

<p>So I change my answer: Apply EE. :-)</p>

9

<p>Ahh, so I have a new situation/problem.</p>

<p>I was planning on taking my ACTs for the first time in December, since I missed the October deadline, but I just found out I might be able to take it on October 25th as a standby. If I do this, I will be able to apply ED with some rush for recs, essays, transcripts etc. I don't know how hard of a problem it will be to get these things since I was planning on asking a TA at my university (so no other really big commitments) and a high school teacher (our school doesn't really have people who ask for recs as it is in Canada and most people don't need them). I'm about halfway done with my essays.</p>

<p>However, I haven't requested an interview yet and the ED deadline has already passed. I was thinking of emailing them or something but apparently interviews are required for transfers. I also don't know if that applies since I'm in the freshman pool.</p>

<p>Do I need to send in a first term college transcript for ED? I'm thinking no because decisions are out on Dec. 15th so I think I would only need my high school one.</p>

<p>But if I apply ED, I'm afraid that when I get accepted, I won't be able to receive sufficient financial aid. My family's total income is around 120K but we don't really have any left over. We live in a good neighbourhood, but in an apartment, and my dad currently lives in New York by himself right now for his new job so we have two sets of expenses and pay taxes to both Canada and the US. My parents said they would be able to contribute 20K ~ 25K at the MOST and I could maybe handle 5K in student work. If we were to apply for financial aid, would we be able to receive the 17K to 22K needed?</p>

<p>If I don't receive enough financial aid, can I opt out of ED? </p>

<p>(I'm a Canadian transfer and Wellesley is basically my first/only transfer choice)</p>

<p>Thanks in advance and sorry for all the questions!</p>

10

<p>Hi I am Canadian too, applying for ED.
But I asked the Wellesley admission about prospective Canadian students,
and they said that Canadians do not really count as "international."</p>

<p>I applied for ED and also financial aid.
Also, if you are not satisfied with the financial aid they give you, you can opt out of ED.</p>

<p>I would recommend you applying for ED if you really want Wellesley
and aks the admission directly.
That's the most accurate and fast way to get answers.</p>

11

<p>Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I took the ACTs today for the first time and sent it in blind to Wellesley and hopefully I did well. I'm definitely applying ED now but it's going to make this week super busy for me since I have about 4 midterms coming up.</p>