<p>I was nicely surprised to receive an "Apply for Free" offer from a highly selective
university. Maybe it was because of my SAT scores or AP results? Dunno. It wasn't for
financial need - we're a one of those families that makes too much to get much
or any aid but will be pretty stressed forking out full boat fees and tuition.
What's odd is that among the hundreds of mailers and emails I've received
I've only received that one apply free offer from a top school and a very few from
schools I've never heard of and are not recognized for the major I want -
comp sci. Is there a list of schools that offer application fee waiver for
merit? When I look up application fee waivers on google the results I find
are relative to financial need and admonitions not to ask unless you
really are in need. But $70, $100 application fees add up. </p>
<p>I wouldn’t apply to any school I wouldn’t want to go to, especially if it’s a highly selective school. It’s up to you if you really consider that school as a safety or a reach.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t have looked into this school if they hadn’t sent the freebie application. And it turns out it’s impressive on a number of fronts. It was a great marketing IMO. With no up front cost there’s no harm in applying. It just gives me more options come April. </p>
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<p>Exactly. The school is hoping that you apply not necessarily because they want you as a student, but because their ranking/stature/reputation is based in part on how many applicants they have and how selective they are.</p>
<p>@MiddKidd86 But that would be an expensive way to increase application numbers in order to boost perception of exclusivity. And as I say I haven’t seen other schools doing the same and they all have the same competitive pressures. My guess would be they want more applicants from the >2200 SAT to boost the mean or perhaps they want more kids from a particular geographic area or both. </p>