Please complete the English Proficiency Waiver form found on your application portal, and we will review your request. The link may be found on the far right-hand side of your portal page, under “Helpful Links”. Email requests will not be accepted.

In most cases, we do need to have an application and an official high school transcript on file before we can review a waiver request. 

No - we require the ISFS and supporting documentation to be submitted in order to complete your application for review. We will not review your applciation until all required documents have been submitted.

When you submit your financial documents, our staff reviews them to ensure they meet our requirements (both the completed ISFS form itself, and supporting financial documents showing two years’ worth of liquid funding).

When we receive your documents, we mark them as “received”, and once they are reviewed and found to be sufficient, they will be marked as “sufficient”.

Please allow 5 days for our staff to review your documents once they are submitted. Once they are reviewed, your application portal will be updated appropriately.

If you are currently in the U.S. on a valid, temporary, nonimmigrant visa and do not intend to apply for an F-1 student visa, you do not have to submit the ISFS. Please email adm_updates@rpi.edu to confirm your intentions and request the ISFS waiver.

If your circumstances or your intentions change, please notify the Office of Admissions immediately. The ISFS is required if you intend to apply for an F-1 student visa.

If you have an Arrival Departure Record (I-94) from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with one of the following designations: “asylum granted” or “refugee”, please send a copy, as an attachment, to adm_updates@rpi.edu.

If you do not have an I-94 with either of those designations, you may submit other documentation that demonstrates that you have applied for asylum. Please send a copy of your documentation, as an attachment, to adm_updates@rpi.edu. We will review your documentation and either waive the ISFS requirement or be in touch to request additional information.   

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) & DREAMer students should follow the application instructions for an international applicant. Detailed instructions may be found above. At Rensselaer, our definitions of domestic versus international, as far as the application process goes, are aligned with the federal government’s definitions of eligibility for federal financial aid (versus residency, for example). So, without U.S. citizenship or a green card, a student would be considered an international applicant versus a domestic applicant.   

For the question, "Select your citizenship status," please choose  "DACA, undocumented, Deferred Enforced Departure, or Temporary Protected Status".