I know many schools claim to be need-blind and do not take into account your ability to pay into their decisions but I can’t help buy wondering if that is really true. On the first page of the common app it plainly asks “Do you intend to apply for financial aid?” When the adcoms are making decisions do they keep your answer in the back of their head(s)?
Situation: If a two people had similar credentials but one applied for aid and the other did not. Would the school admit a) both of them or b) the one that did not apply for aid
The reason I ask is that i find it hard to believe schools are 100% needblind as colleges/universities are businesses and interested in making money too 
<p>Schools that say they are need blind are...The common application asks the question because it is serving both need blind and non need blind schools.</p>
<p>That said, there are only about 50 truly need blind schools in the U.S. Keep in mind however that not every school that is need blind guarantees to meet FULL need. In other words, they may accept you but they may not give you enough money to attend. That's how they manage to balance their books.</p>
<p>Aside from those 50 schools, many other schools will consider need to some extent - usually they will consider need for the last last portion of their applicant pool (i.e., if they have to choose between two borderline candidates to fill their class, one who has need and the other who doesn't, they may go with the one who doesn't).</p>
<p>There is nothing to lose by applying for financial aid if you truly need it - few people these days can afford to pay full freight - and if you are applying to schools that are matches and safeties, your need shouldn't be much of an issue at most schools.</p>