how generous is wellesley on financial aid?

college_query
Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:59:19 +0000

Here is how it would work:

If you apply Early Decision to Wellesley, the deadline to apply is November 1.

You will hear the decision/financial aid in mid-December.

If you are accepted, and the financial aid is acceptable, you must withdraw any other college applications. If you have been already admitted to any other schools (rolling admission, for example), you must notify them that you do not plan to attend. You are done with college admissions. You will be attending Wellesley!

If you are not accepted, you are done with Wellesley. You can’t re-apply, except possibly in the future as a transfer student. Submit other college applications if you haven’t already applied. Some applicants may wait to hit the “submit” button on other applications if the timing of the decision from Wellesley is such that you are ahead of the submission deadline for other schools you are considering if Wellesley doesn’t come through.

If you are accepted but you feel the financial aid is unreasonable (doesn’t meet your financial need), then you can decline their admission. This is only done in exceptional circumstances. If, for example, you ran the net price indicator ahead of time, and it showed you would need to pay $X, and then when you received your aid award it showed you would need to pay 10* $X and there’s no way you could ever pay that, then under those circumstances it’s possible to decline and move on to other applications.

But, if you ran the net price indicator ahead of time, and it showed you would need to pay $X, and you are admitted Early Decision, and your aid award shows you are expected to pay $X, and you want to pay a lot less than $X, then don’t apply Early Decision.

Wellesley’s Financial Aid award will be the same if you apply Early Decision or Regular Decision. It’s based on your financial need as they calculate it. They’re not going to give you more because they “want” you or just because you applied Early Decision.

So, yes, you can decline an offer of Early Admission based on inadequate Financial Aid, but it would be a big deal and would be done only if for some reason the Financial Aid award was significantly less than you were realistically expecting and makes it impossible for you to attend.