My daughter has Harvard, Yale, Princeton interested in her for a sport. We are international and early entry (November) is the norm. Given this, we need to select which school to apply for (as opposed to multiple applications during the normal admission cycle). The key for us is financial aid. My understanding is that these schools match financial aid. What I’m interested in learning is when this occurs. I understand there is a ‘pre-read’ which will happen around July this year. Do you just need the results of the ‘pre-read’ to use for ‘matching’? Or, do you need to have an actual offer of acceptance?
I should add the main reason I’m asking is that the figures I get using the financial aid calculators are very different, ranging from 15K to 35K. The school my daughter currently wants to attend is the most expensive based on the calculators.
There is no appeal/no matching a peer school’s awards until your child is actually admitted to these schools.
Then you would have to show the actual financial aid package.
You need to see if the schools will give you an early read on financial aid. Ask the coaches about this. You won’t be the first person to want this.
Contact the financial aid office…and see what they say about giving an early read.
You will be able to submit your Profile form on October 1…so the schools will HAVE your financial info.
Have you determined how much YOU can afford to pay each year for 4 years?
Madison85: It’s complicated, as is often the case. But, without selling the family home we can afford around 20K per year. We have no capacity to borrow due to investment in my business, which is going well, but I won’t see return for 3-4 years. Also, in the country we are from you cannot borrow for education
All three have said we can start the financial pre-read process in July, and they would assist as much as possible. The question is can you use the pre-read results to price match? Based on another reply it seems you can only do that after you have a formal admission. The issue is you can only obtain 1 formal admission through early application. I suppose I’ll discretely try to call the financial aid offices
"There is no appeal/no matching a peer school’s awards until your child is actually admitted to these schools.
Then you would have to show the actual financial aid package. "
This is absolutely not true for the recruited athletes.
OP, You tell the coach that you need a financial pre-read and it will be arranged, usually in July. You do not contact Financial Aid Office yourself, you either submit paperwork to the coach or Finaid will contact you.
When you have your pre-reads in hand if you get multiple offers of support you can decide and negotiate finaid matching if required. In the end you will commit to one university and complete one application.
Can you help?
Thanks Tanbiko, you’ve confirmed what I thought. Geez, this is a complicated process, but hopefully worth it!
You can get pre-reads as of July 1. Are those binding? No, but they are most often honored if all the information in them is submitted correctly. Are the other schools bound to ‘match’ those pre-reads? No, but they aren’t required to match the offer Princeton made in RD either, or consider Stanford to be a peer or even admit you ED. They are pre-reads to give you a good idea of what offer will be made in December IF you are admitted.
So in late July, you’ll have 3-4 offers and you can then ask the coaches to help you. Will Harvard reconsider it’s pre-read estimate based on Princeton’s pre-read? It is up to them (and the coach pushing). These aren’t athletic aid offers, and the schools don’t want them to become athletic aid offers so tread lightly. Oh, Brown’s offer is higher because it considered travel expenses? We can consider travel expenses too! Oh, Yale considers the prep school tuition of younger sister? We can too (except we might then have to consider it for non-athletes too so we aren’t going to just give you more, we have to consider it). The schools have to have a reason to award more money to an athlete, and it can’t be just because Princeton offered more. If Harvard always meets Princeton’s offer, then it should for the athlete too. If Harvard requires the Princeton award to be only after admission and won’t consider the pre-read, that’s their policy. Athletes have to be treated like other students for financial aid, but often get a chance to explain some special financial circumstances.
I’d proceed as if the schools will consider the other Ivy pre-reads and may give a new pre-read if you give them more information. If Nov 1 comes around and the school hasn’t given you a new financial aid estimate, you can decide to take the offer or apply ED to the other school that offered a higher grant. I do not think they will meet a pre-read from a school you never applied if they haven’t adjusted it in September or Oct.
But ask the coaches. They’ll know.
Thanks. But the problem with asking coaches is that by default, you’re telling them you’re engaging with other universities. I realise they would assume that, but we’re trying to ‘silo’ the process for each university, including not sharing travel costs for official visits, which are substantial from where we live. I don’t know if this is the way to go, but it seems to make sense
They will know which other schools you are looking at. You are only allowed 5 official visits. The coaching world is very small. They sit together at tournaments, at showcases, at conference meets and talk about the same athletes.
Ask this in the athletic forum. There are a lot of Ivy folks there who can give their experience of getting competing offers. http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/
Since you are international, the net price calculators generally can’t be relied on to give you accurate results. They can also be unreliable if parents own their own business or are divorced.
If you plan unofficial visits to these schools this spring or summer you should really schedule all of them as one trip. Do not keep it a secret that other Ivy schools recruit your daughter. It is to her advantage that there is a high interest. It will make her eligible for a Likely Letter and aid matching will be almost automatic. Make sure you save all soft copy and hard copy communications.