DS applying to Choate, Andover, Exeter and the like for Fall 2020 as an International Student.
We are willing to go full pay if no aid is available; we’ll fill find a way to make it work, but financial aid will be very helpful (especially for the sibling!)… So, while not necessary, we’d like to be considered for aid…should we apply?
Are there two mutually exclusive piles of applicants - one for aid applicants and other for full pay? Is it possible to straddle the two piles as indicated above?
Anectdotal evidence suggests international applicants rarely get aid… if the odds are super slim anyway, is there any point in applying and in the process (potentially) impacting chances of acceptance?
Applying for financial aid nearly always affects your chances of admission. If you can actually pay tuition, you should not apply for aid. Your chances will be better AND you’ll help make sure there is aid available for those who actually need it.
If you CAN be full pay (and the SSS will reveal that answer if you apply), you will be expected to be full pay. As you indicate you can write that check, there is no reason to put your child’s application in the pile with fewer seats. Most of these schools hover between a 60/40 to 70/30 FP/FA ratio. Statistically, it is much harder to gain admission from the FA pile. If a school is willing to pay for a student, that student is bringing something very shiny to the table, so your student would be competing not only for limited dollars but also against some of the most desirable applicants.
I’d you can’t continue to pay, you should apply for aid. Also Andover is need blind so no reason not to. Exeter is need aware but offers around the same amount of money to around the same percentage of students. Choate is a whole other discussion.
Choate is not need blind but commits to funding 100% of demonstrated need for each admitted FA student.
If you don’t apply for FA the first year, and your student is admitted as full-pay, you will be expected to be FP all four years unless you can later document an extreme change in circumstances such as incapacitation/death of the primary earner, sustained job loss, etc.
If paying for 4 years is going to be a struggle, then I’d consider applying for financial aid. You probably won’t get any as an international, but at least you tried. With all of the other hidden costs, it can get quite expensive.