I applied ED1 to pomona and indicated that I wasn’t pursuing need based financial aid, mostly because I am an international applicant and their financial aid policy is need-aware only for international students. I decided to do this because I wanted to minimize the negatives or “disadvantages” on my application as much as possible, because let’s face it… if there are two identical international applicants with one requesting financial aid and the other not, it’s obvious they’re going to accept the one not requesting. my parents also agreed.
so anyways, my question is, my family’s financial situation (my dad’s job) is changing next year, so is it of any possibility to request need based financial aid after the first year of attending pomona college? (if I even get in that is hahaha)
From the Financial Aid page: “Once an international student submits the admissions application to Pomona, his or her financial aid application status may not be changed. International students who are admitted to Pomona without financial aid may not appeal for financial aid at a later date and will not be considered for financial aid as a returning student.”
If financial aid will really be necessary with the change in your family’s situation, you should contact admissions ASAP to ask if you can change your application status before decisions are released (it won’t do you any good to get in if you can’t afford to stay there). I don’t know exactly how “need aware” is factored for internationals at Pomona, but I have heard an OA at a similar college say that it doesn’t always come down to a need v. non-need applicant (in other words, if an application is really strong, need doesn’t always matter). Good luck!
@brookemitchell I agree with the above post. You will not be eligible for financial aid. Pomona’s policy clear and you are advised to apply for financial aid at the time of admission if you anticipate any changes in your family’s situation. This seems to be your situation. The only time they might make an exception is if there is a sudden, totally unexpected development that happens to you while enrolled.