Question about FA: acceptance and need met?

ChoatieMom
Fri, 12 Dec 2014 17:44:10 +0000

To address the question of how FA affects admission, you need to look at the percentage of students who receive FA at the schools to which you are applying. From what I see, the ratio appears to be roughly 70/30 FP/FA at most schools. That means that if FA is required, that application is in the smaller, 30% pool vying for fewer seats at that school. The more FA required, the tougher it is. Most schools have a finite pot of dollars to allocate, and they will use it to cover as many students as possible. So, among equally-qualified FA candidates, it is better for the school to get five students who only need $10,000 apiece over one student who needs $50K. OTOH, if an FA candidate is bringing something very special to the table, the school may pay up to full price for that student. Choate, for example, uses its full-ride Icahn scholarships to accommodate such students.