<p>I am a rising Senior and I am planning on applying to Dartmouth for ED. My parents make a little bit over 200k and we probably will get minimal to no financial aid. Because of this, I will apply as a full pay student. However, I have a few questions about this.</p>
<p>1) Will applying full pay help Dartmouth admissions even though it is need blind?</p>
<p>2) Will applying full pay make me unable to apply for aid down the road if my family's finances change?
I have a brother 3 years younger than me and when he starts attending college we will probably need some financial assistance.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>The higher acceptance rate ED may help you, not the full pay aspect.</p>
<p>You can be full pay and still apply for FA. If the D FA website doesn’t state that you can apply any year, call and ask them. Most schools will let you, and my guess is that D will, but there are some schools that require you to apply for FA fr year in order to apply subsequent years.</p>
<p>You should ask Dartmouth if you have to apply for financial aid at the onset in order to be eligible for aid later. There are some schools that have that requirement, but most of them have a caveat about change in circumstances with an additional student entering college one of them.</p>
<p>Dartmouth is need blind in admissions so it will not hurt your chances to apply. I would give it a go. You might get something though not much, depending on how that income figure is reported.</p>
<p>For admissions purposes, it will not matter if you are full pay (send ACT scores vs. SAT scores). Yes, you can apply for aid in subsequent years, if you do not apply for aid freshman year.</p>
<p>To be on the safe side, I would recommend that you apply for aid during the ED round. The worse that could happen is that you get no aid. However, in the event that your family has a change in their financial situation (job loss, illness), at least you have the application on file and Dartmouth would be in a position to assess your situation should you need aid during the winter/spring quarters.</p>
<p>How is Dartmouth able to keep the same ratio of full pays every year without?</p>
<p>^^^
That’s the million dollar question for many of these “full need” schools that are need blind.</p>
<p>Maybe they know to accept a certain number from pricey prep schools? Or they let zip codes influence?</p>