I am an international from Korea, who goes to private school in Texas
My SAT socres are 2120 CR 650 M770 700W, planning to take again in OCT aiming 2200
SAT2 : 720Chem 800Math2
AP : 4 Chem 5 Cal BC(self studied if it helps)
GPA 3.9 unw 4.1W
Soccer, few regional champ, all district
few in school awards
160+ hours volunteer
No rank
Based on my score, I believe that I stand a very low chance for admission in Engineering
So I am concerned if I should apply for financial aid
People kept telling me that for early decision, it is never good to apply for financial aid.
Please let me know anything you guys know about!
Thank you
My take on ED, is that you will apply because the school is your #1 choice, you are willing to attend no matter what and it is financially feasible. If you are applying to increase your chance for an acceptance and you require FA, then you should not be applying ED.
Dean - I understood that UVa doesn’t offer its own financial aid to non-US students?
Many colleges require that an international student prove they have the financial resources to attend at the time they apply.
For those OTHER colleges that do have binding early decision, if a student needs substantial financial aid, it is usually best to not apply early decision. Most early decision programs have an escape clause if a college is unaffordable to you. However, most other colleges do not meet full need (especially for internationals) and colleges have different ways of calculating need. Therefore, it is very helpful to apply to multiple colleges and keep your options open for comparing financial aid offers.
I suggest your best option may be to look at universities that offer large amounts of merit aid. Some have automatic eligibility standards that you can find online.