<p>Columbia, Yale, Harvard, etc...all of the need-blind schools. Do they really not take into account your financial situation? </p>
<p>My brother had a college counselor who advised him that he should not check the "need financial aid" box for his first year because colleges do take that into account, regardless of what their status is. He didn't check the box and got into Columbia, but we had a hefty fee to pay.</p>
<p>If I get into a 50k a year school without aid I ain’t going to be able to pay anyway, so I might as well check the little box.</p>
<p>Yes, they’re truly need-blind.</p>
<p>AR, Pre-October 2008 I would have said yes, colleges that say they are need blind are need blind. In fact, they had “money to give away” and were looking for clues to who might need it. Economic diversity was important and racial diversity.</p>
<p>Now, with endowments plummeting, colleges are more sensitive to their budget constraints. They are still “blind” but they feel around for clues for who might be able to pay full freight – zip codes, parents’ professions, summer activities etc.</p>
<p>Also, bear in mind that what you get is what they think you need. Again, in this topsy turvy environment that may not align with what your family can actually afford, especially with unreliable real esate and retirement figures.</p>
<p>Have a serious talk with your parents before you finalize your list. There’s nothing worse than getting an ideal acceptance and not being able to afford it.</p>
<p>Not a single one of them is actually need-blind. The only question is whether and how they use that information in decision-making. They all have financial aid budgets, and even before the endowment pledge, virtually always took almost exactly the same percentage of full pay students unless specifically instructed to do otherwise (which would make them equally non-need blind.)</p>
<p>I agree that it’s probably not 100% need-blind. They may not look at your actual information but I’m sure they put feelers out. However, it depends on your situation. Even with the endowments melting, these colleges are still pretty rich. If you are a low-income student, it’s not going to matter. These schools have so few Pell-grant recipients (students with incomes under $40,000 or under $60,000 with no assets) that giving those students a full ride is really a drop in the bucket. I would say, don’t invest your time in worrying about whether these schools are actually need-blind - try to decipher what they think your “need” is, see if you can afford it, and work on getting in.</p>