Stats-wise I am not too concerned about getting into Case Western, but I am aware that Case is need-aware. I just got an email from a financial aid counselor about some discrepancies about the css profile and the FAFSA which were easy fixes. But, why is Case looking at financial aid so early? I didn’t get any email about financial aid from the other colleges I’m applying to. My mother is the only source of income for my family and even though it looks like she makes a lot on paper it is not a lot considering there are 5 kids in my family and she is supporting one in undergrad and one in grad school. I’m concerned that they are scrutinizing my application to see whether my family will be financially able to afford going to Case Western.
I don’t think anyone can really know what is going on behind the scenes…like any school, if you are applying ED have other applications ready to go for other schools.
We got the same email. I’m not reading anything into it. S applied EA–did you?. I think they are working on FA now because EA notifications go out in mid-December and they are confirming that all the data between CSS, FAFSA, and IRS matches up.
@eastcoast101
I applied EA to Case as well
case claims it meets 100% of demonstrated need, I suspect that the amount of need (certainly not alone) may plan a role in the admission process.
@annamom It probably does because the stats of the people who applied to Case in my school were well over their average and most of the people got waitlisted. The kids who come to my school are in similar financial situations as my family so that is concerning.
It could also be that when the school gets the applications they also to go financial aid to start processing and they can screen for issues and get them fixed before it is time to award aid.
According to an article I found, need-aware is only affecting about 10% of applicants who are already on the bubble for acceptance or waitlist, so that it can ensure that all accepted students can have their full need met.
@eastcoast101 Was the article you read specifically about Case?
If they are need-aware then they probably have to figure out the financial aid stuff first, at least for students who have a decent chance of being accepted. As such, it is probably routine for them to be checking the details. Most likely they wouldn’t be thinking about your financial aid if they had already decided to reject your application – there would be no point.
Also, in our experience schools in the US all sent financial aid information at the same time that they sent acceptances. Thus they had to do the financial aid stuff before they told us anything.
As such I suspect that this is probably routine and tells you nothing about whether you will get in. I wouldn’t worry about it.
@annamom yes it was specifically about Case.
@eastcoast101 Can you share the article please?
@annamom http://observer.case.edu/need-aware-approved/
Second to last paragraph.
But it seems that if you are accepted and have need, they would cover the full need and not have you have a “gap”. Apply anyway…if they still have a fee waiver it is free to apply. See what happens
@bopper Does Case Western defer some EA candidates? It seems unlikely that they would wait list EA candidate, but probably accept, reject or defer them to compare to the RD pool of applicants, is that your understanding?
@Jimao200 Wait listing of high stats students happens at many highly ranked smaller private schools such as Tufts, and Case Western. The reason for the wait list is not usually financial, but could be if there is a pool of students with very high need. Its an educated guess on the Case Admissions Office that the very high stats student will choose a different university. Case and Tufts want to accept students who will attend to boost their numbers for how many accepted students say YES and enroll. EA means a student is interested, but look up bopper’s post on showing interest if you cannot visit campus and are very interested in Case Western.
@Jimao200. Up through 2013,when I was checking, about 35% of Case Western’s applicants got offered admission. That number has trended downward some lately. In the past, many students used Case Western as a safety school, but since Case Western does not ask “Why Case” as a question, I don’t know how Case figures that out, other than, lack of interest, on the student’s part, so not reading emails from the school, not attending info sessions, not visiting, not asking your Admissions Counselor one good question, etc. The very high stats students who are admitted often get merit based awards, at Case Western, so I think its more about interest and if the stats are high enough for say Carnegie Mellon, or MIT, the student may get a wait list. Since Case accepts many students off the wait list, in the past, often calling and saying you want to go, will switch the wait list to an acceptance, in the past.
@Coloradomama
I think they do defer some EA…and then you can have the results of any RD student.
Case now “Considers” interest (before it was Important!) but here is ways to show interest:
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/case-western-reserve-university/2014835-how-to-show-interest-in-cwru-2017-2018-edition.html
Hello, I was just on campus recently with my D who had an admissions interview. What a great school! My D also got an email a week or 2 ago about her financial aid, and they just needed a piece of info. I would not worry about it. Actually, we looked at it positively because perhaps she’s been accepted and they are working on her figures (we have need). ???
This morning, I got the email too saying that I had a discrepancy on my FAFSA. I was wondering if this is similar to any of your situations?
Just answer the Case Financial Aid office the best you can. Its probably a good sign as @ Winky1 suggests.
They may be trying to calculate your financial aid offer. Its nice that CWRU awards the packages in mid December for EA. Its possible that CWRU uses financial information to figure out who to admit, they are allowed to do that, to balance their own budget for financial aid.
In the past, Wash U St. Louis rejected some students based on very high needs, and lack of money some years , so its common out there, but I do not know that CWRU rejects students for high financial need. I hope not.