<p>It does absolutely not hurt to apply to a number of schools. Once you’ve done one application, additional ones are not as much work. I remember that Grinnell used to waive the application fee if you applied on line. Don’t know if that’s still true.</p>
<p>Yes, it’s free if you apply online.
Offftocollege2014, applying for aid isn’t really that difficult. Depending on the school, you’ll have to fill out either the CSS profile or the International Student Financial Aid Application. The CSS takes a while to fill, but it’s not too complex. Applying for aid puts you into a more competitive pool, though. Most of the top LACs don’t offer merit aid, and even fewer offer it to internationals. </p>
<p>Have you considered the Seven (actually 5) Sisters? Most girls don’t consider women’s colleges, which included me, but after a bunch of research, I fell in love with Smith, where I’ll most likely go next fall. They’re very generous with financial aid for internationals, although it is rather competitive. And some also offer merit aid, although it’s nowhere near full tuition. I think Grinnell’s merit aid is a lot better, but it’s also a bit harder to get in.</p>
<p>Have a look at Brandeis University and all the other CC top LACs as well.
Since international students have a harder time getting in, I suggest you apply to at least 8 schools or so.</p>
<p>Wow! Thank you for all the helpful information. My CC suggested I apply to 8 - 10 colleges. I am trying to inform myself as best as possible about the Financial Aid Application, however I am afraid that once I fill that information, it becomes public thus hurting my chances for a merit scholarship, or am I wrong? Please forgive my ignorance on the matter.</p>
<p>Being able to earn a Full Ride at a good School would be a dream come true, but I am perfectly aware it is a highly unlikely scenario… though not unheard of. I know a few people from my School that have been awarded Half Scholarships in places like Rice, Villanova, University of Dallas, Northeastern, BU, SMU, University of South Florida, Baylor etc… I even know a girl who got a Full Tuition Scholarship at Babson. I am fortunate to go to one of the best schools in my country and our curricula is the same as in American High Schools except we also receive Spanish subjects as Literature, Language Arts & Social Studies in addition to the required classes in English plus there is an option to take APs in 11 & 12 grades. At the moment, I am taking 3 APs (the maximum allowed).</p>
<p>My situation is quite complicated, my parents can afford to pay for my education here, but the costs of studying abroad are out of reach at the moment. For now, I have a budget of around $15,000 a year (plus travel expenses). I know it does not sound like much but at our current exchange rate it is a lot of money. That said, I know that the best schools have a much higher price tag, that’s why I need to look for some type of aid and that’s why I have worked hard all my life to be on the top 10% of my class (out of about 130 students). I know I’d have a better chance if I was interested in other careers, but I can’t think about giving up Writing, so even if there is a slim possibility I have to chase my dream, which is why I ended up in this forum! :)</p>
<p>I will check out Brandeis thank you. To be honest, I am however a little skeptic about all women’s colleges. Some of my best friends are guys and I have heard that all girls schools tend to be very “cliquish” (Hope I said it right…Hahaha!). I will, however, do more research and consider Smith, Mt. Holyoke & Bryn Mawr to see if I could see myself there. As I said, I’m trying to be open and look into every single option!</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help!</p>
<p>Bryn Mawr is so closely connected to next-door Haverford, a co-ed college, that you can take almost any number of courses on either campus and, I think I was told, even live on either campus. They have shuttle buses all day and synch their classes so that it is easy to go back and forth. I think you can take classes at Swarthmore too, but that would take more planning, timewise. It’s a little farther away. These are “almost urban” campuses.</p>
<p>are you from a country that is underrepresented at Grinnell or other schools? I would imagine that might have a bearing on your acceptance and merit aid chances. (just guessing). </p>
<p>I understand that it is difficult to imagine what life is like on a more rural campus, but the location generates a strong sense of community and involvement. The colleges bring musicians, bands, speakers, artists, movies, etc. onto campus and Grinnell itself has a small town in walking distance, so there are some restaurants and a movie theater, as well as opportunities to engage in local volunteer and town life.</p>
<p>Attending a school right in a city often means that the student body is more outwardly focused on city life, which creates a different type of campus environment (not better or worse; just different). </p>
<p>Attending Grinnell would give you both a true liberal arts, campus-centric experience, plus an opportunity to experience a slice of American life, by virtue of its location in the midwest and its Host Family program. It also has a high percentage of international students and ethnic and racial diversity (in comparison to most American LACs), and draws on students from all regions of the US, so it is an opportunity to mix with people of different backgrounds.</p>
<p>I am not saying this is better than a city school: just a different option.</p>
<p>I would recommend keeping Grinnell on your list, but also putting on schools in / near cities, and then see what your options are come April of your senior year.</p>
<p>Two other small LACs near cities that offer good merit aid are Goucher (near Baltimore) and Lewis & Clark (near Portland, OR). My son applied to both and was offered merit aid by both. After Gouchers first offer, they later offered him the opportunity to apply for a 1/2 to 3/4 tuition scholarship. By then, he’d been accepted by Grinnell, so he politely declined.</p>
<p>Hi SDonCC! Yes, my country is mostly underrepresented, particularly in Liberal Arts Colleges (not as much in Business Schools) which is a factor that might indeed play an important roll in my possible acceptance. However, I am not relying merely on being accepted and receiving a Merit Scholarship because I am an underrepresented minority, I have worked hard all my life to do well in school, to keep a good average & I have challenged myself as much as I can. I hope to prove that I am at the same level of competence of anyone else despite coming from a Third World Country. I want to have a better future and my parents have always told me to go after my dreams, so that’s why I am doing all this research, because by this time next year, hopefully I will be waiting for letters of acceptance.</p>
<p>I am extremely thankful for all the inside information about Grinnell, it truly seems like a wonderful place, and I guess with everything it has to offer, students don’t feel isolated and seem to enjoy living there. It will definitely stay on my list on schools to apply. The more I read about it, the more I like it.</p>
<p>I also appreciate all of the other suggestions. After my PSATs results I have been getting a lot of emails from Goucher College, so I do have it in mind. Lewis & Clark I’d never heard of, but will look into it. </p>
<p>Thank you all for your suggestions & for your help!</p>
<p>We visited both Goucher and Lewis & Clark, but in the summer, so we didn’t meet very many tour guides. Goucher has a pretty campus in the suburban town of Towson. Shopping, etc. were nearby, not as close as Grinnell, but we thought it would be walkable. It sounded pretty easy to get into Baltimore, a city we really liked. Lewis & Clark has probably the prettiest campus we saw and that’s saying a lot. A wealthy person donated his estate to the college and the admissions office is in his mansion. I know this isn’t what’s most important in a college, but it was really beautiful. The Portland area is quite grey and rainy in the winter. My sister and brother-in-law live in Portland and love it. It has a very good public transportation system.</p>
<p>What you’ve heard about women’s colleges being rather cliquish is probably right. They’re fabulous schools, but only for a particular kind of student (IMO). Who knows, maybe they’re the right environment for you. </p>
<p>Also, merit scholarships are unrelated to financial need, or at least they were at the schools I applied to. I think you’ll have an easier time getting in if you don’t ask for financial aid, but it’ll also be very difficult to get in with merit. Honestly, if I were you, I would apply for aid because many top LACs and universities are full need (as they calculate it) for internationals. Acceptance will certainly be harder, but at least it’ll be more likely that you’re able to actually attend. </p>
<p>You might have a good shot at a merit scholarship from Grinnell, since there’s one for Latin America, but I don’t really know about them. I didn’t do much research about aid at Grinnell, even though I applied.</p>
<p>Anyway, these are the resources I used to find schools:
[Top</a> 25 Financial Aid Colleges in US for International Students (Need-aware) - Desperate Guide: Undergraduate College Financial Aid, Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware]Top”>http://www.desperateguide.com/us/top-25-financial-aid-colleges-in-us-for-international-students-need-aware)</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/151609-international-student-aid.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/151609-international-student-aid.html</a></p>
<p>Be sure to read about all the policies, some only cover half-tuition or don’t include room and board. I wasted an SAT score report in a school because I didn’t read their policies right, it turned out they didn’t cover 10k XD</p>
<p>Finally, applying ED at your top choice might help you. Many people suggest not to apply ED if you have high financial need, but you can back out of it if they don’t offer enough aid. Most schools, Grinnell included, have a higher acceptance rate for the ED pool, so you could use that to your advantage. Admissions for internationals with financial need are a real crapshoot, so anything that boosts chances is great.</p>
<p>@bethievt: I really appreciate all of your help. I am doing my research on every college you all have suggested, thanks!</p>
<p>@Guitar500: I am confused about what “full need” actually means? So far, I haven’t found anyone in my country that can explain Financial Issues. The few College Counselors I’ve found are Americans that usually know a lot about how to help a student with their applications but are clueless when it comes to financial help, so I am learning through the web but terms tend to be confusing.</p>
<p>I did not know that you can actually back out if you can’t cover the costs when applying ED. Thank you for the info. However, I have read that if you apply ED and are looking for a scholarship or aid, you might be completely ignored. Do you think that’s true? </p>
<p>Being International, with limited resources really sucks. I can’t however, afford not to give it a try, so I am truly thankful for posting those links and for all of your suggestions.</p>
<p>“Full need” is confusing. It seems to mean different things at different colleges. your parents will need to send in detailed financial information and the financial aid office at each school will decide what your need is, in their view, not in yours.</p>
<p>Yes, merit aid has nothing to do with need. My son didn’t apply for FA, but was awarded substantial merit scholarships at 4 of the schools he applied to. The other 6 don’t give merit aid to anyone. He did not have to apply for it, it came with his acceptance packages.</p>
<p>I’m not sure it’s true that it’s considered ok to apply ED so lightly, with the thought that you can just as lightly back out. They can’t force you to attend, of course, but it might affect the way the college views your high school in the future. Only the college’s FA office can tell you their policy. You could try looking online in the FA site for each college.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you also check out the financial aid forum here on College Confidential. You’ll find some very knowledgable, experienced posters there.</p>
<p>Full need means that the school will cover all you need as they calculate it. For example, say someone’s family makes 30k a year, but tuition+room/board is 60k. The school, using the financial information and their own formula to calculate need, estimate that the family can contribute 8k annually. If the school is full need, then it will award the family 52k in grants, loans, and possibly student job, and the family contribution will be 8k. You really need to look at the specific details at each school, though. Many are only full need for American students.</p>
<p>Sometimes full need won’t be enough because a college’s formula can be different from online estimates. They usually post calculators around August every year that can help estimate a family’s financial need. If you use that calculator, and the EFC (expected family contribution) estimate is close to what you feel you can realistically afford, then I would apply ED. </p>
<p>They won’t ignore you, but some schools specifically state that you should not apply ED if you need financial aid. But Grinnell, for example, is not one of them. Grinnell encourages international students to apply ED if they’re sure of their choice unless they’re aiming for a merit scholarship, which can only be obtained if you apply RD. Some schools might defer you to the RD pool, since competition between internationals is very keen and they can’t afford to accept all qualified applicants. I think acceptance rate for internationals with financial need is around 10%-20% at most of the full need schools. </p>
<p>I don’t think schools really hold it against a school if the student backs out of ED, unless it’s clear that the student just got cold feet at the last moment and is using finances as an excuse. Many international applicants have very high financial need, so schools, especially the full need ones, are understanding of students who truly don’t have enough money to attend. Most schools also allow students to go through an appeal process when the numbers are off by a large amount because it might indicate something went wrong. Most of the time, however, it turns out that what the parents want to pay is different from what the college calculates they can pay, though.</p>
<p>I would not apply ED to a school that does not pledge to meet full need for all accepted applicants, though. Backing out for financial reasons really is acceptable, even the CommonApp website says it, but most schools have a hard time financing even domestic students. Unless they pledge to meet full need for internationals, stay away from ED.</p>
<p>You could also apply for merit scholarships only, but I don’t know how hard it would be. Usually, when internationals don’t apply for aid, their acceptance rate will be somewhat close to the acceptance rate for domestic students, but only a few students will get scholarships. It would be pretty bad getting into a school only to find out that you didn’t get any merit aid, so you can’t attend. At least if you apply for aid, it’s more likely the school will offer you what you need, even if it does lower your chances of acceptance.</p>
<p>Wow, thank you both for taking the time to write down all of this helpful information! I am learning so much about ED, Full Need and many more terms I was not familiar with. I am learning a lot in the Financial Issues forum also!</p>
<p>@bethievt: I am really scared about this ED issue. To be honest the only school I would apply on ED is Amherst, but I know it is a “reach” school for me, and if I don’t receive any aid, I could not afford it… but its one of the only schools “Need Blind” to Internationals, so I guess it would not hurt to give it a try. However, I am weighting in all the options, researching about their admissions rates, the schools I am interested in, and doing everything I can to “look good” under the eyes of the schools by continuing to get good grades and hoping to test well on my SATs (I aim to score above 2000, wish me luck!). </p>
<p>@Guitar500: I am making a list of schools I’d like to apply to, and will review it carefully with my CC. I would not mind at all working part time to help pay for my tuition! Or even getting a loan but those two things are often hard for Internationals. I have read that being on a Student Visa, does not allow you to work, you are only given permission to study. I have a Tourist Visa at the moment, so getting a Student Visa once I am hopefully accepted at a college shouldn’t be a problem, however I would never do anything that could get me into trouble with immigration, so I am currently doing some research on the matter to see if it actually is something that can be done without getting into trouble.</p>
<p>For now, I hope that things like being able to contribute at least some money to a school, being a minority, first in my family to go to college, having excellent grades, taking the most challenging classes available, hopefully scoring well in my SATs, being involved in sports, tons of community service plus involvement with an international organization as an ambassador committed to raise awareness and working in projects to help provide education, food & health to children in my country that are in need, might catch the attention of Admission Officers and I am given the opportunity to study what I want, and become a better person, that can contribute to society in the future.</p>
<p>Thank you all!</p>
<p>Did you see all this on the Grinnell website?
[Frequently</a> Asked Questions (and answers) - Admission | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/apply/international/faq-intl]Frequently”>http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/apply/international/faq-intl)</p>
<p>[International</a> Student Financial Aid - Admission | Grinnell College](<a href=“http://www.grinnell.edu/admission/apply/international/finaid]International”>Prospective Students | Grinnell College)</p>
<p>Well, I see i was wrong about there being no full scholarships for international students. I knew there were for domestic students admitted under the posse program. Both programs really demonstrate how highly Grinnell values diversity in its student body.</p>
<p>@SDonCC: Thank you for the links! I had read it before, but I am bookmarking it now to keep it in mind!</p>
<p>Ah, student work for internationals is usually a maximum of 20 hrs/wk and it can only be on campus. That’s what a student visa allows, so you won’t get in trouble for it. What you earn depends on the school, but it’s not usually that much, maybe 2k-3k per year. But if you’re lucky you might get to work in your area of study (although it probably wouldn’t be on your first year), which is useful for grad school apps!</p>
<p>I’m probably going to get a student job at Smith (if my financial aid award is enough to attend, anyway), and honestly, I’m looking forward to it. The generosity of US schools really blows me away, and at the very least, I want to work to pay some of it back because my family contribution will be very small. And I’ll donate after I graduate, of course!</p>
<p>Anyway, you really seem to be taking as much opportunities as you can! Your academics and ECs look excellent so far, so keep it up and you’ll only have the essays to worry about. The essay usually plays a huuuuge part on admission to LACs, but after reading everything you’ve posted here, I have a feeling you’ll nail it :)</p>
<p>Thank you for your support Guitar500! </p>
<p>I will do whatever it takes to try to achieve my dream. I would not mind at all working on campus, even if I am limited to a few hours a week and the pay is low, if it means if will help to cover for my tuition I am all for it! Plus, it’s great to know that there is a way in which I could do it and not get into trouble!</p>
<p>I am actually looking forward to the essays when I start working on admissions. I just hope that I catch someone’s eye and be given the opportunity to pursue my dream!</p>
<p>" I am also very involved in Show Jumping, and even though I am aware it is an activity I may have to postpone until I finish college I can tell you I could spend hours riding horses at the stable, so it would be nice to know if there is a possibility I could occasionally have a chance to ride."</p>
<p>Offf2college2014,
FYI, if you want to keep riding in college, check Earlham College here: [Equestrian</a> | Earlham College](<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/equestrian/]Equestrian”>Equestrian program : Earlham College)</p>
<p>Earlham college is one of the Colleges That Change Lives ([Colleges</a> That Change Lives - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleges_That_Change_Lives]Colleges”>Colleges That Change Lives - Wikipedia)). You may have greater chances to get merit scholarships from those colleges that offer quality education but are less known to the general people.</p>
<p>Thank you Meliora!</p>
<p>I have never heard of Earlham College, but a friend also suggested I check out the “Colleges that Change Lives” so I will definitely look into it! I appreciate your help :)</p>