I believe that I need to mention that I am an international student who is attending high school in Kansas, in the U.S. I am a senior student in my high school and will graduate at this May. Also, I would like to major in Computer Science and Data Science with a minor in Business or Psychology.
International Applicant (Korea)
Ethnicity: the Republic of Korea
GPA: 3.82 (4.0 maximum, from 9 grade)
Fortunately, I currently accepted as a computer science major at Indiana Bloomington University. However, I applied to Bates College which has a strong emphasis on a Business side as an Early Decision II.
Here is the point
I want to go for Computer Science Field but also interested in the business side.
For the computer science majors, I believe Indiana Bloomington will overwhelm the Bates since Bates College does not offer computer science major (yet they provide similar degree called “Digital and Computational Studies”). However, I heard that Bates has a strong advantage on a small group of scholars and the connection with the faculty and student with a benefit in Business Field.
Tuition fee
The tuition fee for Bates college is way expansive than Indiana Bloomington Univ. The tuition fee for the 2018-19 academic year of Indiana Bloomington Univ is $35,456 while the Bates require $71,186 for the total annual fee in the 2018-19 year. Considering the fee, it is
Early Decision II
At the end of the last year, since my application was denied from the UIUC, I believed that I need to give a shot to increase my acceptance possibility. Therefore, I applied Bates as an Early Decision II. However, I am not sure that I can change my application to regular decision. I found that I can withdraw my Early Decision but afraid the application itself would be expired for this year.
Okay… I briefly explained my circumstance. Can you give me advise on my college selection? Do you guys think that I should withdraw the Early Decision II?
Thank you for reading this huge bulk of the content.
Oh, I forgot to mention the decision will be released on February 15. It is quite soon from today, so I need to send an e-mail if I decided to change my application to the regular decision as soon as possible. Also, at that time when I applying for Bates College, I assumed that I would be denied by all Early Action schools that I applied, including Indiana Bloomington Unversity. Thank you
Did IU give you a scholarship so that your total cost is $35k? If so, you should do that.
Have you worked out what financial aid you might qualify for at Bates? You are an international student, and Bates does provide FA for some international students, so you might get Aid,but that depends on your CSS. If you get into Bates and can afford it, it’s a binding agreement. You, your parents, and your high school counselor all agreed and signed th ED agreement. It looks very bad for you and your high school if you then try to get out of the agreement.
My daughter attends Bates, and my son has been accepted to IU. I disagree that Bates has a strong emphasis on business and it does not have a “preprofessional” feel, though all of its majors are strong. Yes, you will have small classes and high quality education with wonderful professors.
You are trying to compare two very different colleges and you don’t seem to know a lot about either. I suggest you simply email the admissions office at Bates and ask for your application to be switched to Regular Decision. You will not be penalized in any way, and your application will not be invalidated. This is very common and people do it everywhere. You will be placed in the RD pile and notified in March.
@PeterLee1234 , you will have to notify any other colleges you were accepted to that you will not be attending. You will have to withdraw all other applications that are still waiting for decisions. If accepted at Bates ED, assuming the financial side works, you will pay your deposit and you will attend.
Bates does not have a business school or major. It is a liberal arts college. Students may go into business, but for your interests, IU actually sounds like a better fit.
Change your application to RD. If you get in, you can compare the two but it sounds like you don’t know enough about Bates for it to be a first choice.
Hello, Thank you for the quick response on my post. I appreciate it very much!
I understand that the Early Decision is a Binding which is resulted in a thorough review with me and my acquaintance including parents and counselor. In a discussion with my counselor, I emphasized the low possibility of acceptance from Early Action since I already failed to get acceptance from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and the advantage of the small group which was similar with my high school program. After all, I got permission from my counselor to apply Bates as an Early Decision II at December 26.
Additionally, I heard that Liberal Arts colleges are very strong in Natural Science and Social Science filed. Also, I did understand the advantage of the small and intense group of scholar society can achieve (this is why I got attracted by Bates). However, as you noticed, I am still doing a lot of researches on the two colleges. What I understand from the research that I did is that the Indiana Bloomington is very big states college with a various field of academics. For bates, I searched several classes related to my majors such as DCS 102: The design of Digital and Computational Systems; DCS 103: People, Places, Prose, and Programming; and DC/EC 368: Big Data and Economics. Maybe, since I am still doing research on Bates and Indiana University, I am not sure where to go yet.
Finally, thank you for the information on the Financial Aid but I am not sure that I would qualify most of the standard of the financial aid in Bates. My family the lowest annual income was about $52,112.00 which is okay to Indiana Bloomington Univ. The Calendar of Payment in Bates College’s website indicates that I need to pay the first fee at 1 August for the Fall semester fee of $34,509 with an acceptance fee of $300. It is applicable for me to pay the first semester but not for the second semester.
Oh, I also found the Financial Aid Deadline in Bates College for each decision. Unfortunately, Early Decision applicants must submit their document on January 01, 2019. Although I missed the date for financial aid. I will try to find some available scholarships which are very rare for international students.
The main reason that I chose the Bates as a first choice is an advantage that they have: the small group of student and rigorous fame in their academics. I am currently attending a high school which is the program offered to a small group of students after a process of the application system. I satisfy my experience in my high school program, but I am okay with more bigger universities like IU. Also, my interest in Natural Science, especially in Physics, attracted my sight on liberal arts colleges with the advantage I mentioned.
The major that I choose, computer science, is my main study field but I just do not want to limit my study in one field. Such as Computational Physics or Neuroscience is my another interest with my passion for computers. Well… It might seem very greedy to learn a lot of things without achieving a profession in one field.
For computer science, it is pretty obvious that IU has more win factors. Thank you for your advice.
I will contact with admission office of Bates to discuss with this. Besides, is it okay to say that I accepted to another university when I write an e-mail to the admission of Bates? I know this is a very silly question but I do not want to lie and lose trust with the admission office.
I agree that the appropriate decision is to contact Bates Admissions Office Monday to request that the ED2 application be converted to Regular Decision. As @lindagaf and @gardenstategal note, Bates is a wonderful school for students interested in liberal arts, but is not the best fit for a student interested in Comp Sci and/or Business. IU, on the other hand, is terrific in both. Also, it sounds as though Bates is not affordable, as the family could only afford the first semester of school but not the second, and the financial aid application was not submitted.
IU is a well known state university – we live in Indiana and know many former and current students, including Comp Sci majors in both the College of Arts and Sciences, which results in a B.A. degree, and in the College of Infomatics, Computing and Engineering, which results in a B.S. degree. Students can also take a Business Foundations Certificate – a 30 credit (roughly 10 classes) in business basics.
The total cost-of-attendance (COA) for one academic year at Indiana University will be about $48,000 (tuition, fees, books, room & board) versus about $71,000 for Bates College. Also, if you live in Kansas, travelling to & from Bates College will be more expensive that to Indiana University.
For you intended major area of study, IU-Bloomington is the better choice.
You need to withdraw your Bates College ED supplement as Bates will be unaffordable to you since you missed the financial aid filing deadline.
IU is a top business school, and growing its computer sciences fields (there is a large new Informatics building and area of campus. It is a large state school in a small town. You could search for an average class size and faculty to student ratio. There are some big lecture classes, but most of your classes would be smaller. I believe that a relationship with faculty can be developed at any school, big or small, depending on the student. If you are at a larger school, you have to have more initiative on this, but it can still be done.
If ED is unaffordable you do not have to attend. It’s that simple. It would have been optimal to think that through originally, but that ship has sailed.
I do not think it will be a better option than IU, but you certainly do not have to withdraw your application.
See if you admitted for one, then reach out to them with your other acceptance and how you made a mistake with your financial aid timing. You may get them to allow you to submit.
Don’t negotiate with yourself and lose!
Let them answer at the correct time.
See what your options are in the end and talk with your parents/guidance counselors to decide.