<p>Do you apply for financial aid after acceptance?</p>
<p>There are more than 3000 colleges in the US. Most of them are need blind for admissions. Most of them also gap your need by a lot if you need much more than what you would get from the govt. So when you are talking about need aware schools which are the ones to which you are more likely to get accepted if you do not apply for financial aid, it is a small group of college. Most of them are selective and trying to maintain or improve that selectivity. They may not have the endowment or budget to give everyone who needs aid, the amount needed. They do tend to give those they accept close to what is needed to attend. So when they are looking at candidates for admissions, they have to allocate their funds more carefully than the schools that can blindly accept without looking at need or the schools that don’t care because they simply gap the kids when they run out of financial aid money to allocate.</p>
<p>This information can change from year to year. And how need aware can also change. Many schools are 90% need blind, but then have to start budgeting when they get to the last 10% of the kids. So, at such schools, if you are among the top or even midrange of candidates for admissions, the need awareness most likely won’t affect you If you are on the borderline of acceptance, need can come into the picture. And kids who are on that borderline and are full pay, or only have a small amount of need could be at an advantage at that school. </p>
<p>The schools I’ve seen with my kids all ask you on the app if you are applying for fin aid. A “yes” is not necessarily going to hurt you. Need aware schools usually look at how much need you have. If you only have a $10K need, for example, you would be in better shape than the kid who needs the full cost covered, all other things equal. So, it’s not just that you have need, but how much that can have an effect.</p>
<p>Many schools have the admissions and fin aid in the same office, or run by the same person. In that case, there is a strong awareness of the students’ needs and very easy to check the FAFSA and fin aid apps. Where I went to college, the offices are not even i the same building, and if the student indicates he need fin aid, his acceptance notice is given to Fin Aid so that they can begin putting together a a package for the kid and keep tabs on the budget as they go along. However, preferential packaging often occurs with admissions letting fin aid know if a candidate is a strong one or not. The ones who are most wanted by admissions tend to get better packages, less self help, for instance. Or at schools that do not meet 100% of need, the more wanted kids are likely to get their need met whereas the borderline acceptees will probably get gapped.</p>
<p>Most selective schools let you know if they are need blind in admissions. If they are mum on the subject, it is a sign that they are need aware.</p>
<p>Just because a school is not need blind does not mean the packages are not going to be good for any or all kids. If the school really wants you, the package they put together for you can be the best offer. I’ve seen this happen. That’s why they are need aware; they want to meet need the best possible for their most wanted applicants.</p>