<p>I'm having quite a dilemma whether or not to apply for ED, and if so, to which school.</p>
<p>Quickly about me:
- Prospective Business major (Undergraduate)
- Average IVY test scores, maybe slightly lower (probably 2100+ reasoning, 730 math II, 710 math I)
- Good/Excellent ECs, basically all in business/marketing/entrepreneurship
- Couple of national/regional awards in business/entrepreneurship
- Good grades (19.65/20.0) and almost most demanding coarse load available to me
- International applicant
- I have financial need.
- Applying to: Wharton, Cornell, Stanford, NYU, Duke, Berkeley, UMich, UNC at Chapel Hill, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern.</p>
<p>First dilemma:
Basically all the schools I will be applying to have a need-aware admissions policy towards international students. So the dilemma is: should I apply for Financial Aid? Not applying would be a risk since I can't be fully certain that I will be able to pay, but applying would affect my admission! In Sweden (where I live and come from)
Possible solutions:
- Apply for aid. Hope to be accepted and competitive enough to receive fin. aid.
- Not apply for aid but instead apply for outside scholarships and loans. I can receive about $35k in student loans per year, I need about maybe $50-60k.
- Not apply to US at all (you guys are evil when it comes to internationals... :P). Apply to perhaps UK instead, although I don't want to go there...</p>
<p>Second dilemma:
Should I apply for early decision? If so, to which school?
Possibilities:
- Apply ED to my first choice Wharton and apply for aid. Hope to get accepted even though applying for aid might destroy my chances of getting accepted to my dream school...
- Apply ED to Wharton but not for aid. If I get accepted I don't have the possibility to compare acceptance with other schools (let's say I would get aid at some other school)
- Apply ED to a school with need-blind policy for intls, ex. Yale. Problem is that I really want to study business undergrad. No school with need-blind for intls has business undergrad. Or any business related major other than economics for that fact.
- Not apply ED. Apply RD (and aid) to all schools and then compare the amount of aid I receive from different schools.</p>
<p>What would you guys do?
Do you have any ideas that could be helpful?</p>
<p>I don’t know if Penn has ED or EA, but I would call the financial aid office and explain your situation. At the schools you mentioned above they will tell you it is OK to apply early and aid will be available, OR they will tell you not to apply early because they cannot guarantee aid. It doesn’t hurt to call and ask. Do NOT apply early to any school without calling the financial aid office first.</p>
<p>APPLY for financial aid at every school. It sounds like you need significant aid so don’t put yourself in a bind just to gain admission. The result would be receiving admission, but then not being able to attend because you would have insufficient aid.</p>
<p>Broaden your scope a little as far as selctivity like the above poster mentions. Look at schools like USD, USC, Richmond, Washington and Lee, Indiana, Villanova, etc. All of those schools have great business programs and are typically more likely to give you aid (I say typically because every school is different when it comes to international students and financial aid policy). Apply to a couple schools outside the US too.</p>
<p>I would also mention I think your odds as an international student are probably decent because you are not from China, India, UK, Canada, etc.</p>
<p>Why would you apply to ANY school without applying for FinAid since you can’t attend without it? So what if they’re need-aware for internationals. Do you just want acceptances and then reject them? Then you’re just wasting application fees.</p>
<p>You are an international applicant with significant financial need. </p>
<p>You need to wait and apply to all of the institutions on your list at Regular Decision time. You need to apply for financial aid at all of them. In April, you will be able to compare your options in the US (including financial aid offers if there are any), with your options in other countries. These are tough economic times. Make certain that you apply to at least one university that your family can afford. I expect that that university is in your home country.</p>