I mean, they are supposed to send out notification in the end of March. I got one in the first week of March. Nonetheless, I was rejected
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Thank you for your interest in Bard College. As you are aware, Bard College, like all private institutions in the current economic climate, has a limited financial aid budget for international students. Our review of your financial resources indicates that your financial need is much greater than we are able to meet with scholarship, loan, and campus employment.
We appreciate the effort and time it takes to put together an application, and we are pleased to be among the colleges you considered. We wish you the very best of luck on your academic journey.
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Does it mean they rejected me solely because I couldn’t pay?
It means that was one factor among others. Most schools are need aware for Internationals, and if a student needs a significant amount of money, the school has no use in accepting them.
Look at it this way: if they had accepted you, you would not have been able to attend anyway, because you could not have afforded it.
Schools aren’t charities. There are many, many US citizens who cannot afford to attend the schools that they would prefer to attend, and that they have the grades/scores required for admission.
Hopefully you applied to schools that do have financial aid for internationals, or to schools in your own country.
Well, yes. Bard is very expensive. If you’re an int’l student and they can’t meet your needs with a scholarship and you have indicated that you don’t have enough money to pay for it, how could you attend? You might say “my parents would find the money,” but does that mean that you told Bard you didn’t have the money, but you do?
And you’d still have to pass the iron financial gate of the visa process at the US Embassy. If you did somehow get accepted at Bard without the money to pay for it, how will you ever prove to the consular officer that your family has enough money to support you for four years of Bard?!? The standard is very, very high. You’d be surprised at how much support you have to show even for a community college. So why would you think you could go to the US Embassy and suddenly be able to produce over a quarter million dollars of disposable cash for your education? Were you downplaying the amount you really have at your disposal for Bard in hopes of a scholarship? Or do you just not have enough money? Either way wouldn’t bode well for you during the visa process.
Bard isn’t going to offer admission to a student who can’t come.
From Bard’s website page for international applicants:
The financial aid budget is limited. The College will only admit a student if there are resources—either personal funds or College grants and loans—adequate to pay for his or her expenses. International students are expected to furnish a significant portion of the cost to attend Bard. The average scholarship for an international applicant was $38,866 for the 2012-13 academic year. Please note: it is Bard’s policy not to offer admission to any international student who is unable to demonstrate sufficient funding.
Unlike many US schools Bard does offer grants and loans to international students - but there is still a certain amount that the student is required to pay.
Note this is also on the website - so, if you’ve found additional sources of funding, you can let them know:
At times the need of the student is far greater than the College’s resources can meet. In such a case, the Admission Office will correspond with the student, stating that no offer of aid is being made due to that fact. The student in this case is given an opportunity to submit a new Declaration of Finances, indicating available resources to be higher.
