Lafayette VS. Grinnell? (international student who needs financial aid)

International Students
1

Hi, I’m an international student and wants to apply for either Lafayette college or Grinnell college as a psychology major
GPA: 4.72 out of 5
SAT: 1420 for New SAT - R+W 640 Math 780 (will retake Oct. test and estimated score is 1470)
SAT 2: Math level 2 780, Japanese 680, Biology E 680
AP: Psychology 5, Micro Econ. 5, Macro Econ. 4, Cal BC 5 (AB subscore 5), Stat. 4, Bio 3
I need financial aid at least $50,000 :frowning:

  1. Which school is better to major in psychology, especially beyond learning about theories? (I want to know about research programs, internships, etc.)
  2. Which school is better in student life?
  3. Which school is more generous to offer financial aid to international students?
  4. How are my chances of getting into both schools?

Thank you!

2

You should apply to both schools, as well as some less-selective colleges, to increase your chances.

You have the stats to get into both schools, but the issue will be the extensive financial aid you require. Neither school is particularly known for being generous, and neither is need blind.

3
  1. For first-hand experiences of the academic programs, I would try directing the questions to an audience of current students. Try the college-specific forums here on College Confidential, or maybe a Facebook group for prospective students. You can also email the admissions offices and ask to be put in touch with a current psychology major or faculty member.
  2. Ditto for student life questions.
  3. Grinnell offers aid to a larger number of international students (222 vs 129), but Lafayette offers the larger financial aid packages ($49,759 vs $36,600 on average). Both colleges publish some statistics about their international financial aid offers in their Common Data Sets: [Lafayette CDS 2016-2017](https://oir.lafayette.edu/files/2017/05/CDS2016-2017.pdf) [Grinnell CDS 2016-2017](http://web.grinnell.edu/institutionalresearch/webdocs/GC_CDS_1617.pdf)
  4. As an international financial aid applicant, your chances of getting into either are exceedingly small. It's not unusual for liberal arts colleges to have an admission rate around 1% for international financial aid applicants. The more colleges you can afford to apply to, the better your chances of getting at least one offer.
    5.