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Wow... let me be the first here.
I am an international and applying for financial aid. I hopeI will get in, meanwhile, I offer my advice to other internationals.... hehe.

By Agamemnon314 (Agamemnon314) on Monday, February 16, 2004 - 02:22 pm: Edit

Give me some advice then. I'm International too. How do I get in?

By Pinkdude (Pinkdude) on Monday, April 05, 2004 - 07:39 pm: Edit

Did any other international students get their financial aid packages?

By Uzaib (Uzaib) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 04:08 am: Edit

For those who got in via ED, have you received your financial aid packages?

By Keo (Keo) on Friday, April 09, 2004 - 01:16 pm: Edit

I'm international as well. I got my financial aid package which sucked horribly. I asked my parents for the financial aid form they sent in to see if they added an extra 0 to their income by accident, but it turns out they really do want you to leave college in debt for half your life.

By Challengeress (Challengeress) on Friday, April 09, 2004 - 08:08 pm: Edit

I'm international as well. My finaid package was quite alright. I got about $17000 in scholarship w/ a reasonable loan + campus work.

By Uzaib (Uzaib) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 01:26 am: Edit

Hey Challengeress, when did you receive you aid package?

By Challengeress (Challengeress) on Saturday, April 10, 2004 - 01:53 am: Edit

Today (April 9) afternoon. But I live in California, so maybe it reached me faster.

By Mc71258 (Mc71258) on Monday, April 12, 2004 - 08:27 pm: Edit

I'm international as well and my finaid package was simply great-I got full one. I applied to 8 colleges and got in to most (including Ivies) and Williams' finaid is by far the best!

By Reve3 (Reve3) on Monday, April 12, 2004 - 10:55 pm: Edit

I've only received a tentative FinAid package, but I'm not sure whether or not they gave me any loans for aid. Williams said that they make up difference between budget and contribution with loans first right? So should I just take the "scholarship" to mean it will include a sizeable loan?

By Cancuys (Cancuys) on Tuesday, April 13, 2004 - 07:35 am: Edit

Hey Mc71258, when did you receive your financial package? I received my tentative package 2 months ago, and am still waiting for the actual thing to arrive.
(One more thing, I'm a US citizen living abroad, and got in via ED)
Reve3, I think I'm in the same situation- I received my tentative fin aid package, and it said something about a scholarship, now I'm not sure whether that includes a loan or not.

By Listra (Listra) on Saturday, April 17, 2004 - 03:53 pm: Edit

Hi,

I got into Williams regular decision and applied for financial aid. When I got in I was estatic (Williams was my top choice.) But, just a few days later I found out that I got absolutely zero financial aid. The thing is, I can't go if I don't get at least $8-10000. My parents have good salaries, but they've been paying for private schools (college and boarding school and grad school) for the past 10 yrs. Anyway, my parents are appealing...what do you think are the chances to get any money at this point? If I don't receive any aid, I'm going to defer a year and work to help pay for tuition. What else do you think I could do?

Thanks!

By Cancuys (Cancuys) on Sunday, April 18, 2004 - 01:31 am: Edit

Hey Listra,
Surprised to hear that you're not gettings any aid. I thought Williams was need blind for intl students (i.e. myself) and students from the US too. I'm still waiting for my fin aid package; i got in ED, so they told me that they would send my package by mid april..hopefully anytime soon..but my tentative package was alright..i had asked to pay 6000 and the tentative package said i would have to pay 3000 only. But hopefully, it turns out alright. I think maybe you can contact them again, I mean, they wouldnt want to disappoint any prospective student of theirs, right? Any current Williams students/alumni input on this would be appreciated..
Thanks

By Haon (Haon) on Sunday, April 18, 2004 - 06:54 pm: Edit

Williams IS need-blind for International students. If you don't get any aid, that means Williams doesn't think you need any (and they tend to be very generous about who needs aid).

If you didn't get as much aid as you need, appealing it will often work. If another similar college (HYPS, Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin...etc) gave you a more generous aid package, photocopy this letter and fax it to Williams...I wouldn't be surprised if Williams matched their package.

If worst comes to worst and you still don't get everything you need, I'd recommend into loans--now's a great time to take out loans. $3,000 extra a year sounds like a ton of money but it's really not very hard to pay back via loans and it WILL be worth it if it means that you can go to your first choice college.

Williams, believe it or not, is one of the best college deals in the country--they spend about $70,000 on each student per year, so even the sticker tuition is heavily subsidized by the endowment. There are few colleges that charge $30,000 less than it costs to educate the students (if you compare the total price to the average tuition payed, Williams ends up paying for about $50,000 of every students' education).

By Agamemnon314 (Agamemnon314) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 04:24 pm: Edit

Anyone got better finanical aid at ivies or MIT/Stanford/Caltech than Williams? I did not think this was possible until I heard a rumor about it...