So I applied to the following colleges this year for the Fall session :
Grinnell - Accepted, not enough aid
Franklin and Marshall - Waitlist
Bucknell, Carleton, Colby, Colgate, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, Bowdoin - Rejected
Here are my stats -
International student from Nepal
GPA - 3.89 UW
We don’t have APs here
SAT - 2110 CR 620 M 800 W 690
ECs -
Computer Science
Involved in computer science awareness programs, founded Coder Club at my high
school, have a GitHub repo full of projects
Music - Guitarist, self-taught, member of Jazz Band at my high school, will soon be recording my first album
Community Service- Editor at a Rotaract Club, Volunteered in a lot of community service programs
Debate - Was honored as an outstanding debater at a national-level Debate competition, member of Debate Club at high school
Essay - Pretty good
Recommendations - Awesome
Will be requiring A LOT of financial aid, probably around 50-55k$ per year, can only pay around $15k per year
I wanted to know what else I should try and put up on my application so that I can increase my chances at the universities mentioned above. Be brutal. Also PLEASE suggest any universities you think I should apply to.
Grinnell is pretty good about giving finacial aid. If their package doesn’t do it , then your family likely comes up with expected contributions beyond what they will be expected pay by most any formula at a US college. It’s not what you think you can afford, or even what you can afford, but what the formulas say you can when your info is inputted. If that is the case, you need to be looking at schools that have big merit awards that bring the price down to what you can afford, and where international students are allowed to be considered for those awards, and where you have a decent chance. You have to be one of the very top candidates accepted to get such awards. Look on the board for lists of low cost colleges and big merit awards.
Talk to Grinnell and find out if they have gapped you or if that is what it comes down to what you qualify for in aid. As I said, they are pretty generous, so if they say that is what the numbers say your family should pay, it’s very likely any of the schools will say the same, and it’s futile looking for $50K in aid.
Thanks for the reply!
Actually, there were some inaccuracies in my CSS/ISFAA which I only found out about after I had received the aid package already. I tried explaining to Grinnell, and sent them a revised ISFAA with supporting documents too, but my appeal didn’t make it. Next time I’ll apply to all these colleges again with the new ISFAA, so hopefully I have a better chance at receiving aid.
@smartalic34 omg thats BS you people need to top believing everything these schools tell you. Of course the are not need blind they just say that to attract more applicants. Sure, they may accept some people needing a lot of FA but they hate accepting people who need significant aid. ALSO, for internationals it is NOT need blind…
As for not actually being need-blind, tell that to the schools that have financial aid ballooning as % of their budget… If the schools aren’t need-blind, they’re admitting and giving money to a lot more needy students than non-need blind schools, which is entirely the point.
the brutal truth? you need to go to a university in your own country or somewhere else that you can afford.
Very, very few US colleges supply lots of FA to international students and those that do are very selective.
