<p>The waitlist may not be ranked, but I am going to hazard a guess here that, if you are male, you stand a better chance. Middlebury, like LACS in general, has a more difficult time attracting males and may need to “balance things out” through the waitlist.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Canadianemigre, just saw that my son created his own log on and is Caws7, so drSIM (me) and Caws7 (my son) are the same. He must’ve just joined. Thus only one spot off the waitlist for us and not 2. And no we did not call in, but he moved up to valedectorian this past marking period and I had asked our high school counselor to send up the newest transcript and notation. When I contacted his office on Wednesday he had not done so. Thus they faxed it up on Thursday and we got the call friday. Don’t know if they even saw it, but perhaps if they did it was good timing.</p>
<p>ha ha you never know on these message boards…that makes sense, as I thought it odd how similar your stories were…anyways, congrats again</p>
<p>I got off the wait-list today but they are not giving me any financial aid even though I had applied for it. I don’t get it…</p>
<p>They even told me that they had exhausted their financial aid resources for the upcoming academic year. I have even been told by the director of financial aid that Middlebury has been need-aware for international applicants for two years. Did anyone know this? I thought they were need-blind!</p>
<p>Admission from the waitlist is not need blind for any students (as is the case at most schools).</p>
<p>Yes, Middlebury is need aware for international students, I didn’t know that it had only been for two years. I’m not surprised they have exhausted their financial aid resources for this year. Where have you been? Times are tight for everyone and Middlebury in particular has been doing a lot of building in the last few years. They reduced the amount of assistance they gave to this incoming class so they could honor the commitments they have made to the students that are already there. Also, financial aid isn’t something that you get because you asked for it.</p>
<p>Good for you for getting in. Now you just have to find the money somewhere else.</p>
<p>arcadia – I was referring to the regular admission process.</p>
<p>but the need aware thing doesn’t have to do with getting full need met, does it? I assumed that if taken off the waitlist that they would still meet full need, just that it would be pretty near impossible to get off the waitlist if you needed FA…are you sure you would actually qualify for it? lots of people who apply for FA don’t qualify</p>
<p>I am from a developing country. One year at Middlebury represents 93% of my family’s income so I’m pretty sure I would have qualified for aid.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, Middlebury has been need blind for international students “to the degree that resources permit.” Which means that Midd estimates a financial aid budget for international students and begins admitting students without regard to financial need until that budget is exhausted. At that point, they take the ability to pay into consideration. By the time they get to the waitlist, it’s not surprising that the financial aid buget for international students is exhausted. And just because you apply for financial aid doens’t mean that you automatically get it. The college looks at what you submitted and makes that determination. I assume they called you to offer you a spot? Why not ask them these questions and explain your situation (perhaps you already did). </p>
<p>Where did you send your deposit?</p>
<p>I’m sorry to hear you’re disappointed, mourad, but if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t realize Midd’s financial aid policy was different for waitlist students until I read it in the New York Times the end of March. (And my D is a U.S. student.) I don’t have any excuses for not having read the fine print, I assume it’s in there somewhere, but it still came as a surprise. This is my 2nd child to go through the process, I read this forum faithfully, have read just about everything I could get my hands on about the process. </p>
<p>I hope you have other options that you can get excited about, and you should be proud that Middlebury offered you a spot from the waitlist.</p>
<p>I’m confused, I would have assumed that Canadianemigre was correct and need blind refers to offers for admission but once a student is admitted their full demonstrated need would be met, even if the students is taken from the wait list. Which is why I would also assume that Canadianemigre is correct and this year it would be difficult to get off the wait list if you demonstrate a great deal of need. I’m not sure what the whole story is here.</p>
<p>Anyway, their offer is what their offer is and the only thing that surprises me, if it is true, is that they took someone off the wait list that needs a lot of financial aid.</p>
<p>Yes exactly - that’s why the whole needblind/needaware distinction is even an issue - because it has an impact on your admissions decision!!! I just assumed that was the policy for the waitlist too. And why bother offering a spot with no aid if there’s no way the person can accept? Which is what happens if the person has a high FA need - it is usually literally impossible (not simply difficult) to come up with the difference.</p>
<p>But as for the need aware thing, this is on Midd’s website from the FAQs
Will my financial aid application have an impact on my admissions application?
A:
Middlebury’s admission process is “need-blind.” This means that we do not know of your family’s finances when we assess your application. In the case of international students or students admitted from the Waiting List, Middlebury follows a need-blind admissions policy to the extent that financial resources allow. All admission decisions are based upon an applicant’s ability to contribute as a student and a citizen to the Middlebury College community.</p>
<p>And I meant to say my sympathies mourad23…I was not implying that you don’t deserve FA, I just meant that somehow they must be crunching the numbers to show that you don’t need it….but I agree, maybe try explaining your situation more thoroughly??? But there’s a good chance that I don’t know what I’m talking about…this whole process is insanely confusing and quite discouraging for intls</p>
<p>When I read the recent Forbes article that says financial aid has increased 167% in the past 10 years to 33 million (!), I think anyone would be hard pressed to say Midd isn’t trying to build the most diverse campus they can. Seriously, this is in 10 years not 25. I think the contributions of having international students is huge, but I am not sure that I agree with any school that puts international students on par with US citizens when it comes to financial aid. Schools in general may say they meet full need, but in what way? It could be a preponderance of loans instead of grants. And frankly, pell grants and other govt subsidized grants and loans come directly from taxpayer dollars, US taxpayers. So while I understand the disappointment completely and my sympathies are genuine, I don’t understand why it would be expected to be any other way than it is. </p>
<p>And when you get right down to it, it is just as true that the median income in the US is about 5k less than the 09-10 comprehensive fee of Middlebury. </p>
<p>In an ideal world, I am sure it would be Middlebury’s desire to be need blind to all. i am sure they wish they didn’t have to charge tuition at all and could pick a class solely on what they want. That they had HOPED to be need blind for internationals but backpedaled, especially this year, should not be truly surprising. Seriously, once you get away from the ivy’s and a few others, how many schools admit internationals need blind OR promise to meet their full need? </p>
<p>And so I ask those international students, why is coming to the US so attractive an option? Is it because the institutions offer a better education or because of financial aid possibilities? Not trying to be controversial, but I think the airfare from the midwest to vermont is a killer, I can only imagine how it would be for someone from Asia or similar.</p>
<p>^ Its the quality of education/the exposure/the independence, the opportunity to take advantage of the millions of opportunities any US Uni offers…there’s a HUGE difference between a locally educated and a US educated student. What the US undergrad experience can do to your personality is amazing.
Plus, the aid can be awesome if you get lucky. My aid package, combined with the cost of travel, ensures that i’ll have to pay less than at my local alternative.
Cheerss!!</p>
<p>How lucky you are! :(</p>
<p>^ I didnt get into Midd. On the wl.
Its colgate. MA. :)</p>
<p>well, Modadunn, first of all, intls do not get any federal loans from taxpayers dollars…we can only get institutional aid directly from the school…and most of the top schools do meet full need just are need aware</p>
<p>I can only speak for my own situation…in all honesty, the Canadian post-education system is in TERRIBLE shape, much like our public health care system…there are no private elite schools, the vast majority of schools are huge and all are public with no where near the resources of even the public American schools…you have to declare a major going in and very rarely is it possible to even double major or do a minor…you do not take a liberal arts curriculum at all…your entire mark is in most cases based entirely on m/c exams (this is especially true in sciences)…the student body is completely apathetic and there because it’s the thing everybody does to get a job</p>
<p>you get into school in Canada just by sending in your marks, which means that everyone who gets over 70% in high school ends up in the same classes (and there are no AP classes or anything to challenge you in high school)…in university, there is no separation of a community of people who really care about being there or care about learning…
some scary anecdotes to demonstrate how limited the options are for smart and passionate Canadians:
(a) when one of my best friends got into University of Toronto for political science a few years ago, she did not know the difference between the Republicans and the Democrats
(b) in coming back from visiting Bowdoin, and explaining how cool the school is, my friends had not heard of either Hawthorne or Longfellow
(c) I went to one of the “best” public schools in Ontario, and yet in a grade 12 western history class, an above average student actually did a whole seminar presentation on Leo Tolstoy’s war reporting without knowing that he was a novelist…thankfully the teacher realized it, but only a couple of students in the class even knew why the teacher was so mad</p>
<p>not only is the American system much better quality, but I also think that in the vast majority of countries it is like Canada - that simply the liberal arts style is not available in my country…if you come out of high school and commit to something like biochemistry, you have zero flexibility to change and have to start all over…and free is exactly right, it does something to your personality…I feel that my creativity has withered over the course of my education so far, whereas a liberal arts education could push me and challenge me and develop me in a way that I would be in an indescribably better position to contribute significantly to society</p>
<p>while I understand how US citizens should have priority, I also do not understand the concept that somehow how you are born should close you off from all opportunities…that is simply not good for society, the best students should be exposed to that kind of challenging education regardless of citizenship</p>
<p>I have no problem with how Midd is now, they are doing their best and are very generous to intls…in my case, I have a lot of complications in my record and so am having a very difficult case finding a solution…but I know the majority of the very best intls do get places in American school so I think the system overall is very good and that the US is very generous</p>
<p>but it is also frustrating knowing that if I was American, I could get into several places…especially since I would have 10x the options of schools to which I could even apply…I need the challenge of a liberal arts education just like everyone else on these boards, and it would be a serious waste of my potential to settle for what is available in my country…</p>
<p>just to clarify the last statement, the frustration is more of a disappointment that Canada doesn’t offer a valid option for me, not a criticism of the US’s generosity</p>
<p>and sorry for how long the post is, just wanted to thoroughly explain that my desire to go to the US is not to save money with financial aid (with full need met, my EFC would be about the same as staying in Canada)…it is also not for prestige or anything like that, it is because I feel so unchallenged and bored with the education here and desperately need to have my brain stretched</p>