No I don’t think so.
@sproutedchiapet Yes, I’ve noticed some minor change today on the financial portal. However I’m not a transfer student. Does everyone else notice the same change?
Mine completely changed, it no longer shows my received documents and instead now has a message in which the wording gives me a lot of reason for excitement (along with a button to upload other scholarships)… and I’m unsure if it’s a glitch or related to the fact that I am very low income.
I’m being vague b/c I don’t want to impact how other people feel about their status because my circumstances fall within an extreme to which I think would alter what I see compared to other people.
I think we all have that.
Okay, that’s good to know, whew that was something. I was really kind of shocked by how it was written, then thought it was too good to be true. But this is my first finaid portal change for any school I’ve applied to (i’ve gotten it down to checking them once a day :lol: )
What was the message exactly?
I did not submit standardized test scores to Brown, Stanford, UPENN, Williams, or Princeton. I called and spoke with each school prior and asked their advice on how to proceed. I wrote a formal letter to each school reiterating why I was drawn to the school and also that I understood the importance of the SAT/ACT tests. In my case, there was only one date available to test, but I had a trip to Paris planned for the International Convention of Psychological Sciences. I explained why I thought attending the ICPS was a better option for me, personally, and also what I gained from the experience.Then I requested that my application be considered in its incomplete status. In the case of UPENN, I also acknowledged that I could have applied to LPS without scores and address why I thought the traditional route was a better fit for me.
So far, I have been accepted to the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and rejected by Williams and Yale.
Oops, not Brown. I did apply, but they didn’t require an SAT.
Honestly, I’m unsure what’s acceptable with sharing financial aid exchanges on forums and would rather not divulge much more without understanding the limits. I’m comfortable posting information that schools usually report publicly or generally shared, like being a Pell Grant recipient, low income, stats, status changes, notifications, etc. But when it gets down to the specifics, I’m in brand new territory and want to tread cautiously.
Congratulations @JellyPeeps !!! University of Michigan is amazing (and so is their psych program!).
I’m really discouraged now. I don’t have a message like that.
Thanks @sproutedchiapet It is a great school and only Stanford or Princeton could pull me away form it. 
Wait so is everyone’s checklist for FA still there? mine is gone
I do not have one either.
I didn’t get a message, just an additional link for updating outside aid, which reads exactly as “Report your outside scholarship to Princeton Financial Aid Office”. I’m pretty sure it’s added there just this morning.
Everyone must have it then I’m assuming
I apologize because I think I was not wording things in the clearest way earlier and went back in and it navigated a bit differently… With their portal I can click on their Apply for Financial Aid button to see my “checklist” of received documents. When I went into that earlier, it redirected me to a different page instead. (The redirect is what caused me to think that my checklist was gone).
When I went back in, it did not redirect me and gives me two links, one to apply and one to the page it links you to when you click the report scholarship info. That’s the page that took me off-guard.
I’m questioning whether or not it’s been there the whole time and I just didn’t click before or something. I’m not sure, did those who applied for aid all have the second link there or was it just released recently?
This goes back a few posts, but in regards to standardized testing I still think that the high powered schools look for ACT/SAT scores – even when marked optional. Obviously you can have a really great application and get accepted without test scores, but if you are able to submit a decent score, then it is something else that can set you apart. In general, especially community college transfers, the course difficulty across schools can differ, so your ACT/SAT is a general benchmark (even if it is geared towards high school students…). Hope this helps!
I took my ACT after going through the Khan Academy SAT prep course (was originally planning on taking the SAT) and taking practice tests/reading through “The Official ACT Prep Guide”.
@JellyPeeps wow, congrats on Michigan! I wish I can apply to my state school (also a really good public university). Unfortunately, the school, along with many others, I’ve learned, simply won’t accept or consider applicants who have completed more than two years/four semesters of undergraduate credits 
This is mostly why I’m drawn to these elite schools, not really for prestige or their absolute superior quality (at this age, I know it really doesn’t matter that whole lot where one went to school, quality-wise… I’m a college dropout and I still get to train and teach Ivy grads all the time at work), but many of these schools (except Harvard, MIT, Dartmouth…) really appreciate and even encourage applicants with nontraditional background, while also having no credit « floor » or «ceiling », so to speak.
Anyway, you mentioned explaining why you didn’t apply to LPS and thought CAS would be a better fit, may I know why, if you don’t mind me asking? I’ve been reached out by LPS rep, and I know Columbia College would usually try to «reroute » their non traditional applicants to their GS program, but their aid offerings are barely comparable to their traditional counterparts