<p>Our child is finishing her applications.<br>
The question we have is - does it hurt if you check yes for the Applying for Financial Aid? </p>
<p>If they have this question does it mean that they are not "Need blind"? </p>
<p>We do not think that she will qualify for financial aid based on the FAFSA, but want to go ahead and submit it. In 2 years we will have 4 children in college which may change the whole situation.</p>
<p>I have the same exact question. I’m pretty sure my family will not qualify for need-based aid, but my dad will still go ahead and apply. Can I still leave the box unchecked?</p>
<p>This is a question many people would like to know the answer to and I don’t know the answer. My daughter applied to colleges this last year and this was the first time I had heard that applying for financial aid might hurt your chances of being admitted to a college. I heard it from more than one source and the New York Times published an article about it which I don’t have a link to.</p>
<p>I don’t have the answer but what do I think? I personally think that schools like HYPS have such big endowments that it won’t hurt your chances of being accepted if you apply for financial aid. But for smaller schools that rely more on tuition to meet operating expenses, even for those that say they are need blind, I’m skeptical. I personally think that applying for financial aid might come into play in the admissions decisions, but that is only my opinion and I can’t prove it.</p>
<p>The short answer is: it depends on the school. </p>
<p>For schools that are NOT need-blind, then this box <em>may</em> affect your chances for admission. Non-need blind schools might take a closer look at kids that can pay full tuition especially if their endowment is hurting. </p>
<p>Now, when you see this box on a NEED-BLIND school, this does NOT mean that this has any bearing on your admission status. </p>
<p>I am an administrator at one of these need-blind schools (that awards need-based aid only) that does use this check-box on the admissions application. The only thing the admissions officers do with that check box is submit that list of applicants to the financial aid office, so that the financial aid administrators can proactively reach out to those applicants to remind them of the deadlines to apply for financial aid. The financial aid office has no idea whether or not these students are even admitted. Once the financial aid applicants are complete, a financial aid package is prepared.</p>
<p>Reader’s Digest version: Need aware schools, yes. Need blind schools, no. </p>
<p>I hope this helps.</p>
<p>It does help - thank you. I am wondering if someone does not check the box does this mean that they are then unable to apply for financial aid? We would know more once we fill out the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Some schools have a policy that if you don’t apply for aid the first time around, you can’t apply for it ever even if you have a change in circumstances. Other schools won’t let students who didn’t apply the first time around apply for aid for two years.</p>
<p>Well, they have to let you apply for aid that is governmental; that is out of their hands. So they have to process a FAFSA no matter what. they can only withhold their institutional funds.</p>
<p>as far as checking, I believe that if you check it and they dtermine you don’t have need, then that’s not going to affect your application. It’s the actual need analysis, not the checked box, that would affect you at a need-aware school. And need will not affect you in a need-blind school.</p>