@tsbna44 This is an absolutely fantastic response.
1 Like
Yes - a friend of mine whose DS applied to top-tier LACs also included SUNY Geneseo among their safeties.
1 Like
Iām not sure; itās possible that there arenāt. Geneseo is probably a better financial fit (lower COA than ESF, plus the possibility of merit for intl applicants), and the admitted student stats are pretty similar between the two. There should be decent research opportunities at Geneseo, too. Research Opportunities | SUNY Geneseo
3 Likes
@gablesdad there are exactly 7 U.S. colleges that are both need blind for admissions AND meet full need for all accepted international students.
They are:
- Amherst College.
- Bowdoin College.
- Dartmouth College.
- Harvard University.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Princeton University.
- Yale University.
As you can see, these colleges are also highly competitive for admissions with international admission rates in the single digits.
1 Like
up to $9k in merit so this is a smart choice. Itās not a 32k guarantee but itās certainly a possibility. Just note at many you are looking - including Grinnell which you didnāt get but was the top choice - your trade off is warmth.
3 Likes
@Andygp
Your kid is good enough to get into the honors programs at larger schools , which will make the environment feel much smaller and selective. Applying to more LACs IMO is a waste of resources at this point.
I would look at large publics where your kid stands to get some $$ or are outright affordable. I am very fond of Texas A&M and Texas Tech system schools. The flagships have excellent research opportunities. Florida schools are affordable as well and give good aid. Look at USF, which is ranked 92 in the nation and has a top notch med school.
For biochemistry, you want to be in an environment where there are PhD programs and faculty that have lots of grants from NIH. Thatās where you will get most research opportunities. Those are not small LACs, not even the MOST selective ones.
The problem I see is that your son is already late for some schools. I would apply to A&M and Florida schools in earnest if I were your son. After scholarships/auto merit/ OOS waiver, schools will be in budget, he will get lots of research opportunities and likely end up in the honors programs.
Racism, violence, religious bias etc., you live in India. Your kid should have pretty thick skin. I would not worry too much about it.
1 Like
OP- I think you have a fundamental misunderstanding of how financial aid works. There is nobody below the level of top 1%'ers in the US who can afford to pay for college just out of cash flow. So your expectation that a US college will not assume that you will- indeed- dip into your savings- is incorrect.
Colleges expect parents to pay with current earnings (your 30K per year), past earnings ( part of your savings) and future earnings (using the federal limits on loans). Your son isnāt eligible for the federal loans- so youāve got your cash flow and your savings.
It is not realistic to expect a college to think " oh, they are so thrifty. They put money aside every yearā we need to let them keep those funds, so letās subsidize their son so they can let their assets continue to grow".
I think itās going to take a lot of luck to get your outtake to 30K at some of the colleges you are interested in. Look seriously at some of the other names that posters are throwing out now-I think you need a re-think.
Good luck- your son sounds terrific and Iām sure you guys will figure it out.
14 Likes
If we are able to do only one out of the three, would you have any specific recommendations? Morris doesnāt have Biochemistry major but SUNY Geneseo does. We have not checked UNC Ashville.
For LACs we are trying to focus on undergraduate research as one of the main criteria. Also using PhD yield of the LACs as one of the factors for short listing. Hopefully that is enough to provide opportunities.
1 Like
We have already applied to Hendrix so fingers crossed on that 
2 Likes
Yes I agree it is a denial for financial reasons with a possibility of reconsideration . We have contacted the admissions officer and have got an encouraging response. Will see how it works out over next few days.
We did some calculators. Estimates varied from 25k-50k
We will recheck what we have written in CSS once and make sure there is no affordability amount written there.
1 Like
@Andygp unless the net price calculators specifically ask if you are an international student, they often are not accurate for international students. These are set up for citizens and permanent residentsā¦not internationals (unless the calculator specifically asks if you are an international student).
Soā¦please pleaseā¦donāt view those as anything but an estimate.
2 Likes
Thanks @merc81. I am glad I have caused so much discussion. Very useful for us and hopefully others in similar situation. These are just two schools out of many that we have applied or applying to. Hopefully something will work out.
My primary intention was to get advice on what I could do differently for the remaining 5 on common app. Through these discussions FAU honors and Morris or Geneseo are the ones which will take 2/5 slots.
This group has truly helped.
2 Likes
Just to clarify: In Hawaii I felt that I was academically substantially superior to most of the fellow MS students and could not enhance my understanding through brainstorming or competition. Professors were quite solid and subjects were rigorous. Plus amazing party life so no complaints!
This is an undergraduate situation so I understand that every school, especially state flagships will have some of the brightest from that state for cost reasons there. So finding people better as well as worse than you academically should be possible in almost all places.
1 Like
Thanks Hopefully Wooster accepts and gives good merit+need to us. Letās see.
For Morris it looks like the max they will give to international is convert oos to state for tuition. But Morris is quite low cost so even without that it would be quite attractive from financial perspective.
2 Likes
Thanks much for this. Yes identifying these hidden gems can be very difficult for international students. This group is Godsend for that!
I will take a look at Elrham and see if we should include in.
1 Like
Geneseo is looking very interesting. Could you suggest which of the two: Morris vs Geneseo would you choose for Biochemistry?
We have applied to a few: Mizzou honors, Virginia tech honors, FAU honors and thinking about Geneseo or Morris.