April 15th deadline - ask schools?

[bones-n-sconez]

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I know that the April 15th deadline is just a courtesy and not necessarily required... but do we have to let our schools know that we aren’t following it and holding onto all our As until financial aid info gets in? Are there some schools that have policies that say you must relinquish all but 3 or else your A from us could get rescinded?

 

[deleted987519]

no

 

[KnightDoc]

A resounding no! Schools only see aggregate reports until then. A school may delay processing any FA without seeing a PTE

I thought they can't even see the PTE until 4/30 (other than in aggregate). Is that not correct? If that's true, are you really saying some schools won't provide FA information until you relinquish all your other As? If so, that doesn't sound like much of an inducement to select them, assuming you have choices!! 🙂

 

[bones-n-sconez]

@gonnif just to clarify, you’re confirming that I don’t have to drop my As then correct?

 

[KnightDoc]

I have told people the same thing for years. No school is required to provide any financial aid information prior to final acceptance (4/30).

Well, in that case, final acceptance really isn't until the CTE date, or, to be more precise, matriculation. I appreciate all of the adcoms' view that it's a sellers' market, and that the schools can do whatever they want, but that really only holds true unless and until a candidate has more than one A, and, that's around 50% of their acceptees, correct? Then the power dynamic shifts, assuming schools actually want to matriculate the applicants they accept. And, if it's really such a sellers' market, why offer FA at all? I'm sure there are enough reasonably qualified candidates to fill these classes, even if they have to borrow the full COA. In your experience, in today's world, do schools really risk losing candidates over not providing financial transparency prior to the PTE date?

I'll believe whatever you say, but, if it's true, it is entirely inconsistent with the practice of schools granting merit scholarships. How do you reconcile some schools using money to compete for top candidates while other schools (or are they the same schools) won't even provide need-based FA or a true COA until after a candidate's deadline to make a decision (even if it's only a preliminary one, since most of us can still remain on WLs after 4/30)?

 

[rdyotz]

Part of the reason they can't give everyone financial aid packages to everyone right away is that money is tied up for applicants that are going to withdraw (they don't know if they will matriculate yet). Once they do, they can distribute that money to others. Some schools have deep pockets, but most have limited funds. They will spend the money on those that they want first, then if those folks go elsewhere, they can offer more people some cash.

Edit: better word choices.

 

[KnightDoc]

Part of the reason they can't give everyone financial aid packages to everyone right away is that money is tied up for applicants that are going to withdraw (they don't know if they will matriculate yet). Once they do, they can distribute that money to others. Some schools have deep pockets, but most have limited funds. They will spend the money on those that they want first, then if those folks go elsewhere, they can offer more people some cash.

Edit: better word choices.

So, are you saying that schools with limited funds (presumably mid tier and lower schools) tie up money in their top candidates, and then, when the top candidates have better offers and withdraw, they redistribute to those left after the PTE deadline (people who didn't have better offers, or no other offers at all) and those on the WL. If so, that kind of seems like a backwards way of distributing limited funds, since they fail to yield the top candidates, who already have better offers elsewhere, and then lose the middle candidates who would have happily accepted the money had it been offered prior to the deadline, but who go elsewhere since there was no money for them, only to give the money to those who have no better offers on or after 4/30, who presumably are the accepted candidates who they actually want the least!

Is that really how it works? The more I learn about this process, the less sense it makes to me, but also the less anything surprises me!! 🙂

 

[rdyotz]

So, are you saying that schools with limited funds (presumably mid tier and lower schools) tie up money in their top candidates, and then, when the top candidates have better offers and withdraw, they redistribute to those left after the PTE deadline (people who didn't have better offers, or no other offers at all) and those on the WL. If so, that kind of seems like a backwards way of distributing limited funds, since they fail to yield the top candidates, who already have better offers elsewhere, and then lose the middle candidates who would have happily accepted the money had it been offered prior to the deadline, but who go elsewhere since there was no money for them, only to give the money to those who have no better offers on or after 4/30, who presumably are the accepted candidates who they actually want the least!

Is that really how it works? The more I learn about this process, the less sense it makes to me, but also the less anything surprises me!! 🙂

I'll preface by saying every school is different. While it may not entice every applicant, it likely works on some. Others might have gotten a similar offer from a similar school, but in a location they prefer. Impossible to know why people withdraw or how they decide who gets every last cent. Personally, I would rather limited financial aid (need based) be given and lower the cost of tuition for everyone. Then again, a large chunk of applicants have at least one parent as a physician that often contributes to their education. How do you appease everyone?

 

[KnightDoc]

I'll preface by saying every school is different. While it may not entice every applicant, it likely works on some. Others might have gotten a similar offer from a similar school, but in a location they prefer. Impossible to know why people withdraw or how they decide who gets every last cent. Personally, I would rather limited financial aid (need based) be given and lower the cost of tuition for everyone. Then again, a large chunk of applicants have at least one parent as a physician that often contributes to their education. How do you appease everyone?

I agree with you! It's just that the adcoms have what is at times a very harsh view of the process, and it seems particularly obnoxious that they don't always provide financial transparency in what for some is a mid six-figure investment due to their market power.

And then, to make matters worse if you are correct, they use their limited financial resources to chase candidates who are out of their league, neglecting people who would love to go to the prom with them, and then end up settling at the last minute for folks nobody else asked to the big dance!! 🙂 And, if that's not why FA offers come out after 4/30 to candidates who were holding As prior to that date, then it's sheer incompetence on their part to not use the money to try to sway a decision before 4/30, only to dole it out after candidates have relinquished their other choices once the schools have been rejected by their top choices.

 

[rdyotz]

I agree with you! It's just that the adcoms have what is at times a very harsh view of the process, and it seems particularly obnoxious that they don't always provide financial transparency in what for some is a mid six-figure investment due to their market power.

And then, to make matters worse if you are correct, they use their limited financial resources to chase candidates who are out of their league, neglecting people who would love to go to the prom with them, and then end up settling at the last minute for folks nobody else asked to the big dance!! 🙂 And, if that's not why FA offers come out after 4/30 to candidates who were holding As prior to that date, then it's sheer incompetence on their part to not use the money to try to sway a decision before 4/30, only to dole it out after candidates have relinquished their other choices once the schools have been rejected by their top choices.

True on many counts. It seems that admissions and financial aid are relatively separate and in unsure how one affects the other. Some of the people that come of school A waitlist and accepts their financial aid were already accepted at other schools, but would rather attend school A.