<p>I applying to a bunch of top colleges, and I'm worried that they will see that I would qualify for a lot of financial aid and that would weaken my chances. I know that they mostly say that they are "need-blind" but in reality it colleges in America are businesses, not charities. So, do colleges see the amount of financial aid i would qualify for?</p>
<p>Need aware schools will consider your financial need when you apply for admission.</p>
<p>Need blind schools will not consider your financial need when considering your application.</p>
<p>But really…it is what it is. </p>
<p>What good would it do for you to be accepted into a school that you cannot afford?</p>
<p>i can afford it if i need to, grandparents would loan me money</p>
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<p>Not-for-profit colleges in America combine aspects of both charities and businesses.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing with that – the only colleges that really would even have a reason to care about how much aid you can get are colleges that award their own institutional aid. If the college’s “financial aid program” constitutes only administering federal Pell grants, federal loans, and state grants and loans then I don’t see why they would care since they aren’t really out of pocket anything. </p>
<p>The colleges that award institutional aid can be need blind especially if they have an Early Action program or some other set-up where the admissions process begins and ends before the financial aid process really starts. If the college really wants to discriminate against applicants that do need a lot of aid, it can freely do so just by changing how it handles this. The institutional aid that you are qualifying for is coming from the college and it is the sole determinant of how its own aid is distributed. They will know how much aid you qualify for because they are the ones who ultimately decide what that means.</p>
<p>OP, are you international student?</p>
<p>It is a terrible idea to borrow a lot from your grandparents. How much do you think you’ll be earning upon graduation? </p>
<p>How much do you think you need to borrow?</p>
<p>Middkidd…I doubt seriously that those for profit colleges are giving away droves of institutional aid:)</p>
<p>To the OP, read my post number one again. Yes, some colleges will see your financial need. And yes, at those colleges, it can affect your admission results. </p>
<p>If you do choose to borrow from your grandparents, you need some sort of legal agreement with them regarding their money. This needs to include the amount needed annually, and your repayment plan…at least. You also need to be certain that money will be available to YOU for all four years. What if your grandparents die, or need the money for their own needs? This very much could happen.</p>
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<p>Not sure what you’re referring to; my comment was specifically about not-for-profit schools. But I do agree with your sentiment.</p>
<p>Most colleges and universities in this country are need blind in admissions. They really do NOT care how much aid you need because most of them do not meet full need anyways. In fact, most schools are non selective in admissions. So my guess here is that you are talking about, dealing with the very small number of schools that are selective in admissions to you, have some sort of guarantee to meet full need as they define it. Even in this category, most colleges are need blind in admissions and those that are not, are only need aware for a small percentage of students. </p>
<p>Though, yes, schools CAN and some HAVE lied about whether they are need blind in admissions or not, for the most part, that has not seemed to be the case. We, you, no one who is not “in system” knows for sure. But you can out and out ask the admissions office of a school if admissions is need blind if you cannot find that info on the school website. Googling need aware colleges will give you some idea s to what schools do take need into consideration. Here is a sampling of what Wikipedia lists for need aware colleges:</p>
<p>THese are need aware but guarantee to meet full need for those they do admit:</p>
<p>Bates College Brandeis University Bryn Mawr College Carleton College Colby College Colgate University Connecticut College Franklin and Marshall College Macalester College Mount Holyoke College Northeastern University Oberlin College Occidental College Reed College Scripps College Skidmore College Smith College Trinity College Union College Wesleyan University</p>
<p>Then there are the schools that are need aware AND do not guarantee to meet full need:</p>
<p>Abiilene Christian University Agnes Scott College American University Auburn University Beloit College Berklee College of Music Berry College Bradley University Case Western Reserve University Catholic University Centre College Clemson University College of the Ozarks College of Wooster Colorado College Creighton University DePaul University DePauw University Dickinson College ( Drexel University Earlham College Fairfield University Furman University George Washington University Gettysburg College Hampton University Hofstra University Howard University Johnson & Wales University Lafayette College Loma Linda University Loyola Marymount University Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University Chicago Marquette University National University The New School Pepperdine University Quinnipiac University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhode Island School of Design Rhodes College Rochester Institute of Technology Rollins College Seton Hall University Southwestern University Spelman College St. Olaf College Trinity University University of Dayton University of Denver University of Puget Sound University of San Francisco University of St. Thomas Sewanee: The University of the South University of Tulsa Villanova University Wabash College Washington University in St. Louis Wheaton College Whitman College Willamette University Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>
<p>This information changes from time to time, so what Wikipedia is listing today may not be the case. You have to ask. And there can be schools that belong on these lists and are not.</p>
<p>Given that that there are 3000 or so universities in the US, this is not a lot of colleges. Also, some of these schools give excellent merit money. TSome are also very generous to those student they most want in terms of financial aid. So to cross them off the list just because they are need aware for some of their students, could be a mistake.</p>
<p>Many of the schools on cptofthehouse’s first list “(need aware but guarantee to meet full need for those they do admit”) are partially need-aware. That is, they admit the first 80 percent or so of the class need-blind and only use FA information to see how they need to compose the remaining 20 percent while still staying within the school’s FA budget.</p>
<p>Interesting list… @cptofthehouse </p>
<p>where did this come from?</p>
<p>Then there are the schools that are need aware AND do not guarantee to meet full need:</p>
<p>Abiilene Christian University Agnes Scott College American University Auburn University Beloit College Berklee College of Music Berry College Bradley University Case Western Reserve University Catholic University Centre College Clemson University College of the Ozarks College of Wooster Colorado College Creighton University DePaul University DePauw University Dickinson College ( Drexel University Earlham College Fairfield University Furman University George Washington University Gettysburg College Hampton University Hofstra University Howard University Johnson & Wales University Lafayette College Loma Linda University Loyola Marymount University Loyola University New Orleans Loyola University Chicago Marquette University National University The New School Pepperdine University Quinnipiac University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhode Island School of Design Rhodes College Rochester Institute of Technology Rollins College Seton Hall University Southwestern University Spelman College St. Olaf College Trinity University University of Dayton University of Denver University of Puget Sound University of San Francisco University of St. Thomas Sewanee: The University of the South University of Tulsa Villanova University Wabash College Washington University in St. Louis Wheaton College Whitman College Willamette University Worcester Polytechnic Institute</p>
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See <a href=“http://admissionshelp.rit.edu/knowledge_base/topics/is-rit-a-need-blind-institution”>http://admissionshelp.rit.edu/knowledge_base/topics/is-rit-a-need-blind-institution</a>. RIT claims that it practices a need-blind admissions policy.</p>
<p>NONE of those schools are a guarantee for those categories–they just give you ideas of what college have been there. Things change at the drop of a hat. I just found those on Wikipedia. One has to check the websites of the schools and even directly ask admissions officer to find out what the current policy is.</p>
<p>Unless you have a legalized loan agreement from your grandparents, any money that you receive from them must be reported on your financial aid applications for your 2nd,3rd and 4th years. So be careful or you will jeopardize any financial aid that you might receive.</p>