<p>Oh, Hat-- I see. But based on DadIIs off the cuff comment? Pshaw.</p>
<p>does anyone know the % of applicants who do not apply for financial aid?</p>
<p>I don’t think they would ever disclose that. Colleges only let us know % of students who get FA.</p>
<p>Collegedata</p>
<p>Harvard entered as an example.</p>
<p>[Harvard</a> College Tuition, Costs and Financial Aid - CollegeData College Profile](<a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=444]Harvard”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg03_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=444)</p>
<p>Shows percent of students attending who applied for aid but not percent of students applying to the university who applied for aid.</p>
<p>It doesn’t show % of applicants who do not apply for FA.</p>
<p>Agreed, but it does show some information that may be of interest to the individual who asked the question.</p>
<p>If we know how many applicants do not apply for FA, and we know how many students receive FA, then we would know if admit rate is the same for FA applicants vs non-FA applicants. Without that piece of information we would never know if a school is truly need-blind.</p>
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<p>This seems as fair a solution as is possible. It awards enough aid to make it possible for the applicants requesting need-based aid to actually attend instead of being gapped. It doesn’t promote admit/deny where a student is admitted without receiving any aid. I can’t help but wonder how many need-requesting kids were skipped over once the school reached their limit. :(</p>
<p>What do others think? Would it be more fair to offer everyone who was admitted and who qualified for need-based aid a little (or a lot) less aid, spreading around the pain? To put more loans in the packages? We see all of these different approaches from different colleges. Would it be better if all schools had the same approach? I think the most frustrating part of the process is not being clear on what a school really means when it states admissions are “need blind” or “need aware”.</p>
<p>As a full pay parent, I would prefer to see more merit aid.:)</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^I’ll drink to that^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>There is plenty of merit aid. Maybe not at the schools you’d like… :)</p>
<p>
That seems fair, in fact I think any method is fair as long as the applicants know about it ahead of time. </p>
<p>Because some students/parents may put down they are looking for aid, thinking it doesn’t matter one way or the other, whereas if they knew they would have a better shot at a preferred school by going full pay, they might be willing to stretch a little financially for the admissions benefits.</p>
<p>I would love to see more merit aid, but there are those that will say that even the merit aid would not be awarded fairly. Most will claim that many kids who qualify for pure merit aid (NOT need-based scholarships) have had an unfair advantage with regards to the merit…better schools, money for test prep, more ways to take advantage of ECs. </p>
<p>My gut feeling right now, having just been a full pay at a private Top 20 ($$$$), is that if one cannot afford the tuition, then look at what is affordable. No saddling of students with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt. Up front know what you can afford w/o any type of aid (loans or scholarships). Know what you can absolutely afford up front w/o assuming there will be aid, scholarships or loans. I think this economy has taught many folks a lesson about affordability. We don’t (hopefully) buy houses or cars that we cannot afford. Perhaps a college education should fall into that category. Both my parents and spouse’s parents were full pays when we went to college and we each attended colleges that our parents could afford and that we could gain admission. We did not have debt when we graduated and we both paid for grad degrees out of our own pockets (again, no debt). With our own student, we started saving and living within our means long before student was born. We therefore were able to send our student to college as a full pay/no debt. We do not, however, fund our alma maters, nor do we intend to fund our student’s alma mater any longer. We paid our bill and our student’s bill in full and will not fund someone else’s education. (Yes, you can call us whatever you want–stingy, cheap, etc). If our student wants to attend grad school, then our student can fund that bill. AND, hopefully, our student can pass on a college education to any children that may come along. </p>
<p>I am sure my opinion may not make many people happy, but as I said, looking back with no more tuition to pay, this is my take on the subject. I am not trying to sound like a martyr, just someone that has been down the college tuition/saving road for a very long time.</p>
<p>“buying your way into a home”</p>
<p>i suppose the op would consider my 20% down payment on the home i bought in 1994 not quite fair to those who had no down payment.</p>
<p>“There is plenty of merit aid. Maybe not at the schools you’d like…”</p>
<p>Excellent insight. “Oh yeah, my kid got into NYU but we were really disappointed in the aid package. Pittsburgh offered him a full ride, but my little darling doesn’t want Pittsburgh … s/he wants NYU.” And somewhere there’s a different kid lamenting that Pittsburgh didn’t offer enough aid, but Slippery Rock offered a full ride!</p>
<p>Yeah, I get that it’s irritating that schools are reluctant to reveal their pricing warts to the world. But that lament isn’t limited to institutions of higher education.</p>
<p>nd AL - Fortunately for you, your parents paid for your college education. That’s something to smile and be happy about. It doesn’t occur for everyone.</p>
<p>smile - You can dish out gratuitous licks or you can be thankful you own your home and give yourself a pat on the back for probably having made some good choices along the way.</p>
<p>Wishing everyone’s kids the best of luck getting into schools they like and that no one’s back gets broken paying for them to attend.</p>
<p>smile - Well I, for one, enjoyed your post. Just for clarification, did your acquire that 20% down payment meritoriously?</p>
<p>Deborah T - just FYI, Marie Antoinette never said “let them eat cake.” She’s unfortunately born the brunt of that myth.</p>
<p>I was told by someone who should know at a top LAC that due to the economy, they were deliberately focusing more on full-pays for the next few years in order to make sure they had the aid to keep their current students who needed aid afloat – that it was more important to keep their current students who needed aid in the system than to solicit new ones, and so they would prioritize full-pays for the next few years.</p>
<p>Pizza, I beleive I heard Brandeis, who got hit hard as they had money with Madoff, was doing that – focuing on taking care of kids there. I commend them for that. The kids already there dont have as many choices.</p>
<p>^^ “Your Majesty, the people are hungry for more transparency in the awarding of Financial Aid.”</p>
<p>Yes, there are many privates deliberately focussing on full-pays now … and many publics looking to admit higher-pay OOS students.</p>