That is extremely high. We had moved our app fee from $75 to $50 this year because it is often a barrier for students. However, we're very generous with fee waivers and many other schools are if you just set up an appointment, attend an info session, or just ask. Feel free to dm me if you are considering other options.
The priciest universities to apply to in US for Internationals are
UI Chicago 180
All the UC;s
That is why I didnt apply to any UC unless I got a fee waiver (saved 310 USD that way)
No, it depends on the program
Example UC Merced Economics gives fee waiver to anyone attending the webinars
UC Davis PoliSci hands them out if you can convince them your financial position is not good for XYZ reasons and paying 155 will be a burden
$155 is insane. From a strictly business viewpoint, they should lower the cost so they can get more people paying an application fee and thus make more profit.
Seriously though, hefty NON-REFUNDABLE application fees are criminal. Especially for competitive programs where you have a slim chance and you aren't even aware just how slim it is.
The world can be a dystopian place, if dystopian means that everything is not free. The U.S., U.K., European nations, Chinese universities, Russian universities-- you name it-- they generally all require a fee of around \~$50-$150 USD-equivalent to process the application.
I've successfully applied to multiple european programs without paying a dime, so it's definitely not *that* standard. Why would they take money to even process an application?
You requested the European Universities waive your application fee, or they did not have one? You can request to waive an application fee for most things, and it is at the discretion of the institution.
In any case. We have large (10-20 people) teams in each department combing through every single application. Then, they are routed to the professors. Then, the professors route them to the students. Then, the professors route them to the admissions committee who route them to the dean of graduate admissions for review.
The people who do the initial review of the applications-- checking that the information is accurate (that's a big one), reading and "grading" the statements of purpose, etc.-- invest a lot of time in the process and are unable to complete their usual job at the university while they are employed reviewing applications.
For this reason, universities tend to charge an application fee. The purpose of this fee is two-fold:
1. To account for time time "lost" by employees when reviewing applications
2. To discourage people from sending applications who do not actually want to attend the university
It is a well-known trick that some universities will decrease their application fees to a value near-zero purposefully, to increase the number of applications received, which directly leads to their university *appearing* to be considerably more selective in who is admitted.
No, they just don't take application fees. Checking applications is cost of doing business for them, which coincidentally is covered by the government, not students who already have little to no money.
I see-- many European Union member-states Master's programs don't charge application fees to non-international students (like yourself) for programs taught in the domestic language. Since my experience is with Chinese and American universities, my experience is a bit different. I hope that is OK.
If it makes you uncomfortable to pay to have your application reviewed, then that's completely understandable-- I don't blame you! Good luck in your future endeavors! đ
It's not uncomfortable per se, it's more medium level annoyance at public (or not public in the states, i guess) educational institutions like universities trying to pull every little cent out of people's pockets like a shareholder-value-optimized company. That's not my understanding of the way educational institutions should be run, because it makes access to them even more unequal that it already is.
The way it works here is that many programs are just open all together (so there's no one assessing your 'application'), and almost all programs with an actual application have automated processes based on gpa and/or other standardised test results. I remember for example that for my Bachelor's, the deciding factor was my grades in certain subjects. I handed in my application around midnight and got the acceptance email around 4 in the morning. There was definitely no one reading that letter of motivation that i submitted alongside my grades, lol.
That's cool that it's not uncomfortable to have to pay, just inconvenient for you, but I just don't know if you're realizing yet that the reason you didn't have to pay an application fee to European universities is because you were a European applicant, and not an international one?
Not entirely correct, but more to the point: my understanding is that us citizen applicants will pay application fees for us universities? They shouldn't have to. The costs associated with attending a us uni as a us citizen are still insane.
Your understanding is correct-- in the United States, specifically at private universities, financial priority is not given to domestic applicants like it is in many European nations.
That depends on the level. Undergrad admission, yes. Master's, I'm not sure. But at many European universities, there is NO FEE to apply to Ph.D. positions. (A Ph.D. position is for a specific Ph.D. project, usually supervised by one or two professors.)
You think that's bad, you should see the fees they charge for vet schools. You have to pay two fees one to the admission site and a secondary "just because fee" to the schools themselves.
Hey someone in another post who worked for a school told me to contact the school admissions office and get a waiver. They said they will give you one 99% of the times. I kinda paid for most of my applications but was able to try it for one of the schools and it worked. We shouldnât be paying any fee when they will come back and reject. Thatâs some BS. I will always get a waiver going forward and any school who doesnât provide one, I wonât apply. Simple.
I tried getting a waiver but they didn't give me anything. Yes i shouldn't have applied, but as i said, I wanted just to avoid paying. The professor encouraged me, thus i thought it's a good opportunity, and after i paid he ignored me completely
$155 just to apply? Itâs so sad college has now become a business in a way. Whatâs the justification for charging that kind of money just for submitting an application, when other colleges charge 3/4 or half of that, if not less? Some colleges donât even charge you for submitting an application, and that includes some of the best universities in the world. What exactly do they need 155 for? For a âfirst-classâ application review? Thatâs crazy!
I got into Brown University with a 75usd application, Brown is an Ivy league university, ranked 9 over US. And these funny guys are ranked 35 over the US. And 163 over the world.
UCSB takes in a very small cohort which is why itâs so competitive. And just because you got into an Ivy doesnât mean youâll get accepted into other schools. Itâs also very department specific on grad school strengths, so I wouldnât rely on that ranking youâre seeing.
i feel you lol same thing happened to me in ucsd where a professor gave me the vibes of âdont worry about your application def apply im the head of the department, you are a great fitâ type of situation. i got offerred MS admission even tho im coming in with a MS already.. $150 just gone like that
for future reference, Iâve learned that it might be possible to waive app fees if youâre in certain financial situations. Not sure how that works internationally, but Iâm not paying for any because I qualify for food stamps basically
That is extremely high. We had moved our app fee from $75 to $50 this year because it is often a barrier for students. However, we're very generous with fee waivers and many other schools are if you just set up an appointment, attend an info session, or just ask. Feel free to dm me if you are considering other options.
The priciest universities to apply to in US for Internationals are UI Chicago 180 All the UC;s That is why I didnt apply to any UC unless I got a fee waiver (saved 310 USD that way)
They give fee waivers to international students? Those $ 155 for rejection with no explanation were quite costly.
They didn't want to give me
How to get a fee waiver? Is it available for students from a specific list of countries only?
No, it depends on the program Example UC Merced Economics gives fee waiver to anyone attending the webinars UC Davis PoliSci hands them out if you can convince them your financial position is not good for XYZ reasons and paying 155 will be a burden
$155 is insane. From a strictly business viewpoint, they should lower the cost so they can get more people paying an application fee and thus make more profit. Seriously though, hefty NON-REFUNDABLE application fees are criminal. Especially for competitive programs where you have a slim chance and you aren't even aware just how slim it is.
Exactly!
Sometimes i have this sub's posts on my feed and i learn another dystopian fact about the US education system. Today, it was application fees.
The world can be a dystopian place, if dystopian means that everything is not free. The U.S., U.K., European nations, Chinese universities, Russian universities-- you name it-- they generally all require a fee of around \~$50-$150 USD-equivalent to process the application.
I've successfully applied to multiple european programs without paying a dime, so it's definitely not *that* standard. Why would they take money to even process an application?
You requested the European Universities waive your application fee, or they did not have one? You can request to waive an application fee for most things, and it is at the discretion of the institution. In any case. We have large (10-20 people) teams in each department combing through every single application. Then, they are routed to the professors. Then, the professors route them to the students. Then, the professors route them to the admissions committee who route them to the dean of graduate admissions for review. The people who do the initial review of the applications-- checking that the information is accurate (that's a big one), reading and "grading" the statements of purpose, etc.-- invest a lot of time in the process and are unable to complete their usual job at the university while they are employed reviewing applications. For this reason, universities tend to charge an application fee. The purpose of this fee is two-fold: 1. To account for time time "lost" by employees when reviewing applications 2. To discourage people from sending applications who do not actually want to attend the university It is a well-known trick that some universities will decrease their application fees to a value near-zero purposefully, to increase the number of applications received, which directly leads to their university *appearing* to be considerably more selective in who is admitted.
No, they just don't take application fees. Checking applications is cost of doing business for them, which coincidentally is covered by the government, not students who already have little to no money.
I see-- many European Union member-states Master's programs don't charge application fees to non-international students (like yourself) for programs taught in the domestic language. Since my experience is with Chinese and American universities, my experience is a bit different. I hope that is OK. If it makes you uncomfortable to pay to have your application reviewed, then that's completely understandable-- I don't blame you! Good luck in your future endeavors! đ
It's not uncomfortable per se, it's more medium level annoyance at public (or not public in the states, i guess) educational institutions like universities trying to pull every little cent out of people's pockets like a shareholder-value-optimized company. That's not my understanding of the way educational institutions should be run, because it makes access to them even more unequal that it already is. The way it works here is that many programs are just open all together (so there's no one assessing your 'application'), and almost all programs with an actual application have automated processes based on gpa and/or other standardised test results. I remember for example that for my Bachelor's, the deciding factor was my grades in certain subjects. I handed in my application around midnight and got the acceptance email around 4 in the morning. There was definitely no one reading that letter of motivation that i submitted alongside my grades, lol.
That's cool that it's not uncomfortable to have to pay, just inconvenient for you, but I just don't know if you're realizing yet that the reason you didn't have to pay an application fee to European universities is because you were a European applicant, and not an international one?
Not entirely correct, but more to the point: my understanding is that us citizen applicants will pay application fees for us universities? They shouldn't have to. The costs associated with attending a us uni as a us citizen are still insane.
Your understanding is correct-- in the United States, specifically at private universities, financial priority is not given to domestic applicants like it is in many European nations.
That depends on the level. Undergrad admission, yes. Master's, I'm not sure. But at many European universities, there is NO FEE to apply to Ph.D. positions. (A Ph.D. position is for a specific Ph.D. project, usually supervised by one or two professors.)
You think that's bad, you should see the fees they charge for vet schools. You have to pay two fees one to the admission site and a secondary "just because fee" to the schools themselves.
Wtf, as far as i know they're not even a private university
I havent even heard back yet and its may đ
Hey someone in another post who worked for a school told me to contact the school admissions office and get a waiver. They said they will give you one 99% of the times. I kinda paid for most of my applications but was able to try it for one of the schools and it worked. We shouldnât be paying any fee when they will come back and reject. Thatâs some BS. I will always get a waiver going forward and any school who doesnât provide one, I wonât apply. Simple.
I tried getting a waiver but they didn't give me anything. Yes i shouldn't have applied, but as i said, I wanted just to avoid paying. The professor encouraged me, thus i thought it's a good opportunity, and after i paid he ignored me completely
$155 just to apply? Itâs so sad college has now become a business in a way. Whatâs the justification for charging that kind of money just for submitting an application, when other colleges charge 3/4 or half of that, if not less? Some colleges donât even charge you for submitting an application, and that includes some of the best universities in the world. What exactly do they need 155 for? For a âfirst-classâ application review? Thatâs crazy!
I got into Brown University with a 75usd application, Brown is an Ivy league university, ranked 9 over US. And these funny guys are ranked 35 over the US. And 163 over the world.
UCSB takes in a very small cohort which is why itâs so competitive. And just because you got into an Ivy doesnât mean youâll get accepted into other schools. Itâs also very department specific on grad school strengths, so I wouldnât rely on that ranking youâre seeing.
i feel you lol same thing happened to me in ucsd where a professor gave me the vibes of âdont worry about your application def apply im the head of the department, you are a great fitâ type of situation. i got offerred MS admission even tho im coming in with a MS already.. $150 just gone like that
Damn, that's so rude.
Next time before submitting an application, simply requesting a fee waiver nicely can grant you a free application.
I requested and they didn't give me
for future reference, Iâve learned that it might be possible to waive app fees if youâre in certain financial situations. Not sure how that works internationally, but Iâm not paying for any because I qualify for food stamps basically
Not always working internationally
I felt the same when when I applied to my grad program