Will applying for financial aid while applying for Top Boarding schools in the US from outside the US lower my chances

Prep School Admissions
1

Will applying for financial aid while applying for Top Boarding schools in the US from outside the US lower my chances.

2

Yes, applying for FA lowers your chances unless the school is need-blind, which most are not. Applying as an international applicant also lowers your chances at most schools. So, double whammy.

1 Like
3

This is me again from a different account

I have 2 more questions

  1. I already ticked financial aid on the candidate profile so is there no way to opt out, or if I dont complete FA forms sent to me do I automatically opt out?
  2. I checked and certain websites say that Groton, exeter and andover are need blind. Is this true.
4

If the website says it, then it’s true

Forum rules state that multiple accounts are not allowed, so I closed this account

2 Likes
5

@skieurope

Curious if a US and/or dual citizen living overseas is reviewed as a US applicant or an international applicant? I know that requesting FA means our process is more difficult. Trying to gauge by what factor. Any insight? And thanks.

6

US applicant for admissions. But in marketing material, they may include as part of international diversity. But you will generally need to pay the international application fee

7

Agree you’ll be treated as US for FA. I know that one of the issues in granting a ton of FA for international - as in not US citizens - students can be supporting their visas as well as concerns around college matriculation (where they’ll need FA again with the same issue.)

Clearly, foreign students with high levels of need attend both BS and uni in the US, but the sponsoring school apparently has more to answer for. I don’t know the details but have heard variants of this from a few sources.

8

An what about my second question about ticking financial aid on the common app.

9

Also if they didnt want to give me financial aid wouldnt they just reject me for financial aid and accept me into their school. Why would they reject me completely. Like why does it lower my chances. I believe what you guys have said, ive heard similiar stuff in other places but I just dont get why.

10

Because many schools pledge to meet the full financial need of every student they admit.

3 Likes
11

If you don’t want to be considered for FA, you can tell them that you are no longer seeking FA.

Not necessarily. Some schools will outright reject you if you need a lot of aid that they can’t provide. Some schools may accept you with less aid than you think you need. It really depends.

Yield management. If they know you can’t afford to attend, they won’t waste an acceptance.

Plus as @cinnamon1212 said, some meet full need for everyone accepted. But they still have a budget. If they can’t meet the need of everyone they want, they’ll need to reshuffle to only accept applicants they want and whose need they can meet.

3 Likes
12

If you checked of the financial aid box, but submit no financial information, then the financial aid portion of your application may be considered incomplete.

I suggest that you contact the individual schools.

13

When you look at your application information in the portal, it shows yes/no under FA applicant. You can reach out to your admissions contact and request that they change it. My son’s application at one school was inadvertently marked wrong and it was not a big deal to correct it. But I wouldn’t ignore it.

2 Likes
14

It also depends where you are from and the schools view on representing students globally. Are you from an over or under represented country?

15

A few reasons why they would not just accept you if they couldn’t meet your financial need:

1: AO’s are evaluated on yield by the board - they want students that will attend - if you can’t afford the school, you can not attend.
2. Some schools do admit even if they can not meet the financial aid request - but unsure how many really do this and if it is more common with domestic students?
3. Concerns about international students needing a lot of aid and their ability to stay in the US after HS graduation for college. No school wants to have a student that does not have similar college options as their boarding school peers and college admission for international students with need is tough too.

1 Like
16

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. If you’d like to reply, please flag the thread for moderator attention.