I’ll look into it. Thanks for the rec
Best of luck with it.
Your iGCSEs are impressive. Overall you have an excellent profile. Congratulations on your hard work and creativity, especially in the circumstances you describe (changing countries, legal guardians).
As you said, you need to move fast on the last 5 “meet need” colleges, especially since your list is problematic due to your safeties not being affordable as of now, many universities on your list not offering any aid, and the others being lottery schools.
Definitely include Wellesley (topnotch for economics) and at least Smith (5-college consortium) or Barnard (partnership with Columbia). Then Dickinson (Economics, management, international/global outlook) and Berea (topnotch private college for middle and lower income students - all admitted students have a full tuition scholarship and work for their room/board expenses, at jobs they can put on their resume. They then pass it forward once they’ve made it to a solid job).
For the 5th choice, URichmond if you’re not against a preppy environment, Skidmore if you’re not against an artsy environment, Oberlin if you’re more liberal (this is reductive alas, but you don’t have much time so read through the Fiske guide and pick the one you like best). Your best odds are likely Skidmore, which is located in Saratoga Springs, a lively, lovely town.
Another one, if you still have space, is St Lawrence.
Further away, St Olaf meets need, too.
Did you apply to SUNY Buffalo or Buffalo State? These are not the same at all. Definitely apply to SUNY Buffalo if you haven’t.
Apply to SUNY Geneseo too.
SUNY Albany would be another one worth checking out, due to location.
If the Honors college or program at any SUNY is by application, do so (as those tend to unlock more scholarships.)
UCs were wasted applications since they don’t offer Financial Aid to OOS applicants. McGill is unlikely to be affordable although you will get in and can then apply for aid and bursaries (grants) just in case.
The UK unis are in tremendous financial trouble due to not being funded by the Tories and the current government not making them a priority, so they’re trying to make up the financial shortfall by admitting full pay internationals. They’re NOT giving scholarships and certainly not to the extent you’d need. They may give you £500 out of a £40,000 bill. Consider all of those as non happening.
All other universities on your list are “reach for everyone”, that is, impossible to predict. You may get into 5 of them or zero of them. It’s not impossible but you can’t bank your future on a winning lottery ticket, especially with such as strong profile. 
Hopefully you find 5 colleges you like among those listed here.
HEOP also gives you an edge AT US private colleges so follow that. They do have limited slots for HEOP applicants but if admitted you’d get a better financial aid package.
If some colleges don’t use CommonApp but a different application, like SUNYs, use those in order to “save” your CommonApp slots for colleges that ONLY use that application system.
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Thanks for this detailed response it was very helpful
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Oxy and F&M results came out within the last week and I have been waitlisted from both of them. I convinced myself that the F&M waitlist had been due to yield protection and, maybe, being need aware (possibly wishful thinking). But I was a little hopeful that since my SAT score ranked above the schools’ averages, I would probably get accepted to one of them. I probably didn’t show a lot of demonstrated interest for F&M but I wrote a decent ‘Why Oxy’ essay.
Is being low-income applying for need-aware schools + being OOS genuinely that big of a dealbreaker? Given that I was unable to get accepted into mildly selective colleges, am I cooked for higher-tier universities and other LACs?
Did you apply to any universities we suggested on January 5 (Berea, etc)? Did you apply HEOP/EOP anywhere? Which affordable acceptances do you have?
Being OOS is actually an advantage at private universities but being lower income can make a difference.
There is so much you don’t control - Your iGCSEs are impressive (I would imagine universities such as Dickinson would be used to these and be able to see how strong they are) as is your general profile but were your teachers able to highlight your unique personal strengths? Did you meet an institutional need? Was someone with similar need on a coach’s list or part of a program like Posse, UWC, Questbridge? Don’t torture yourself wondering why. All you can do is keep your fingers crossed. Being “Questbridge RD” should also help.
Stan, sorry to hear.
It is unfortunate but the answer is likely, yes, colleges feared your SAI.
It’s 5 or 6 years old but here’s an excerpt from the Wall Street Journal at the bottom.
But let’s look at both schools you mentioned. Until recently, F&M was need only. A few years back they started giving small merit - like $10K. The other day, someone said $28K. My hypothesis is, they weren’t getting enough bodies so had to start buying kids in but maybe that means less aid.
That said, 291 of 477 kids got need aid in 2024/25 averaging $53.8K - but that would still not be enough for you.
At Oxy, less than half get aid - and it’s about the same amount as F&M. So they very might not have been able to afford you.
Perhaps if they have enough $$ left over, they might invite you off the WL - but others rank and will take $$ into account.
Fill out the LOCI form if they have one for both or reach out and let them know you’ll attend if admitted. Update as you can.
Otherwise, can you take a gap year? Then apply to more meets need and include schools like Alabama A&M and Prairie View, where you have a better chance of a full ride. Or get a job at Starbucks and go to school online for free.
Unfortunately, a college is a business - needing revenues and having expenses and people forget that.
But this is in no way a reflection on you - but yes, they’re unable to afford you I’m guessing. But the truth is you’ll never know why you didn’t get in so no point in staying focused on it.
Best of luck to you. And here’s the WSJ excerpt I mentioned - that may explain some things. PS - if you want engineering, I’m still not sure on your school selection - like these two - but that’s past I suppose.
:
“But the vast majority of colleges take an applicant’s finances into account at some point, either by accepting them and then shorting them on aid—offering them less than expected according to a federal formula—or simply by denying them admission.
Lafayette College in Pennsylvania was one of the few schools willing to show me how they make financial aid trade-offs in shaping a class. “We have to craft a class with talent and diversity,” Matt Hyde, Lafayette’s dean of admissions, told me, “but I also need to deliver a solvent one. In the middle of February, a student’s ability to pay begins to enter the admissions equation. From that moment until decisions are delivered near the end of March, Lafayette takes a much closer look at students with high financial need, a line that is recalibrated every year. In 2019, the line was drawn at $35,000, around half of the total cost of attending Lafayette for a year. To give you a sense of the task facing Lafayette’s admissions officers, consider this: Of Lafayette’s 8,500 U.S. applicants in 2018-19, about 2,200 needed more than $35,000 a year in financial aid. That was roughly the level of need for a family with two children and an annual income of up to $175,000.
As he eliminates students from the admit pool, Mr. Hyde is careful to choose applicants with varying levels of financial need. His models tell him that students who get huge financial-aid packages end up enrolling more often than those with smaller awards or no aid at all. It’s a balancing act in meeting enrollment and budget targets.
Among those who didn’t make it into Lafayette that year was an applicant from Pennsylvania who ranked fifth in his high school class of more than 600, with a 3.96 GPA and 1450 on the SAT. His financial need to attend Lafayette: $66,810 for his freshman year. Another student kept out of the admit pool was a girl from the West Coast with nine AP classes on her transcript and a 1430 on the SAT. Her financial need: $57,000. In the end, Lafayette rejected 200 students whom the admissions staff had tentatively accepted but then decided the school couldn’t afford.”
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This can go either way.
However, one possible reason to be waitlisted from a need-aware school is that they would like to have you as a student, but they do not right now have the budget to fully fund you. They might in some cases for example overbook for admissions, but might not overbook for financial aid. Thus they might offer aid to a few highly desirable but high-need students, waitlist a few more, and then see whether budget opens up (for example, a high-need student who had been offered aid might decide to go somewhere else).
Not necessarily.
One issue is that some of your reach schools are need-blind and have deep pockets. Harvard and Princeton as two obvious examples can afford to fund whatever students they choose to admit.
Also, highly ranked universities are looking for students who are a good fit for them. Different schools might consider different students to be a good fit. Quite often they get it right. Even if finances were not an issue a student might very well be turned down by a lower ranked university and accepted by a higher ranked university.
Your reach schools are still reach schools, However, you really cannot predict this until you get actual results back.
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My question is regarding your background. You’ve said that you were born and raised outside of the US.
So, if you are an international student, then it makes sense why a number of schools aren’t accepting you because they just might not have the money to fund international students.
From post 3
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OP, I feel for you because every school is watching the budgets very tightly.
So I think that it’s just the budget that may be impacting your admittance.
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I’ve applied to Berea, Union, F&M, Occidental, Skidmore, Smith, and Wellesley in addition to my original list. Fortunately, I was accepted to Union with substantial merit+need-based aid, with some loans. Really, I’m just hoping for some options as results come in, but as of now, I’m very grateful to have a safety school. My concern is that being waitlisted might be indicative of an issue in my application that could impact reach/higher target school results.
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Union is a terrific college! If it’s an affordable option, it’s just great. I hope that is the case. Congratulations on an excellent acceptance. Honestly, you can grow and flourish there!
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Union is affordable ? It’s a FANTASTIC school. You can only go to one. You have one. You have affordability issues so you can’t ask for more !! Anything more is icing on the cake.
You made it seem like you may not have a home. You have a GREAT home!!
Every school evaluates differently. A year or two ago someone got into Berkeley but rejected at San Diego State. Another in at MIT but not BU.
Don’t even try to think about it. There’s no way to know.
You already have an awesome opportunity. Consider yourself lucky. Anything else is gravy.
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The most important thing is that you’ve got an affordable college - and a great one.
Everything else is cherry on the cake.
No one can know why these 2 colleges waitlisted you - for lower income students, it can be a way to signal their application is strong but the college just doesn’t have the financial means to admit them. It doesn’t mean anything for need blind meet need colleges - which are lottery schools.
So, fingers crossed, but don’t derive any lesson from these two. In a month you’ll know for sure and it’ll all be behind you.
Don’t forget to check your admitted student portal frequently since the colleges will put information there, some of which has deadlines (such as living learning communities, special programs, student for a day, fly-in…)
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I’m definitely ecstatic about my acceptance. That said, I’ve also heard that Union’s been having budget issues and faculty layoffs. It concerns me a bit, especially since I’ve heard of smaller private schools reducing financial aid packages in later years.
Many colleges are tightening budgets.
You can’t afford college. They meet need so your package should never go down unless income goes up. But ask them.
Again, you’re looking to find something wrong.
You would have these same concerns at any school.
Union is awesome.
College is a business. It requires revenues. You can’t afford college. They are saying - we will help you. Union is a financially secure institution, but with the same budget challenges as - likely most every school.
Be thankful…..and you’ll see what happens with your other apps. But this is a great get. You have a home. Don’t assume, for example, a Wellesley would be any better. If you have concerns about Union, and their FAQs say you can get aid up to 12 terms, contact them.
But one day at a time.
Union College Mitigates $12M Budget Shortfall and Enrollment Decline – Concordiensis
@stan_loona
Union has not been known to reduce FA packages for its lower income students afaik. Have you heard differently? Have you reached out to their FGLI office and asked to be put in touch to current students?
To be fair, the strength of a Wellesley FA package is different from that at Union because their endowment and budget are so much bigger. Wellesley can afford to cover much more, especially the little extras that make a big difference to FGLI students (summer low paying internship means paid rent and stipend, sth Union can’t afford, or better-paid student jobs for federal work-study students…) and the alumna network can help too in post college outcomes, again especially for FGLI students. OP knows they’re not the same and don’t have the same frailties (or lack thereof, there’s no real financial worry at either one).
But that’s neither here nor there since OP hasn’t heard from Wellesley yet.
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Both state to meet demonstrated need. We’ve read on here before that Union was more aggressive than other “bigger” schools.
So I’m not sure you can state that.
The school may be more financially stable but both are extremely solvent. Union’s endowment, I believe, is over $500 million.
We don’t know how a Wellesley package would look as there isn’t yet one. But I’m not sure you can make that statement about a specific individual student.
Obviously, Union gave one the student can afford. Will they get into Wellesley and can they afford Wellesley if they get in ? That we don’t know. That their pockets are deeper doesn’t ensure their aid offer is better.
Union is a top LAC, been in existence over 200 years and isn’t going anywhere.
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I don’t understand what the big disagreement is here.