I have been doing some research about transferring to brown, and I know that it is need-aware when it comes to financial aid. Given my parents current financial situations, there EFC is greater than the tuition for Brown. Would it be a detriment to apply for financial aid (for the chance of a scholarship) even though my FAFSA clearly shows that I will get no aid? (Will me applying for financial aid and them seeing I do not need any have the same affect as not applying for financial aid?)
Also, is there any statistics about the acceptance rate of people who apply for financial aid versus those who do not? I have seen the thread on college confidential, but are there any other more official statistics?
Not applying for financial aid will mean your need (or lack there of) will not be taken into account. Applying for financial aid when you don’t have need is pointless, and won’t help you.
Data for those with need or who are curious:
When I matriculated as a transfer, there were 110 of us. 20 were on financial aid, including myself (18%). However, 50% of the applicant pool applied for financial aid. This leads me to believe that applying for financial aid was a serious hurdle to gaining admission. HOWEVER, this was almost 10 years ago (oh my god has it been that long?!?!!?), and the finaid budget for transfers was only 400,000 dollars. It was also the first year in many that they even offered transfers financial aid at all. I imagine the budget has gone up since then, making financial need less impactful in admissions. But if you’re curious, call and ask. I actually was able to talk to the head of transfer admissions about it. There were a lot of questions to be answered; they were still working out the kinks.
One thing that is also good to know is that (unless things have changed), it’s an all or nothing system. Either you get in, and are fully funded in accordance with your need, or you don’t get in. You can’t get in and get partial aid.