Does applying for financial aid affect one's chances for admission to college?

Paying for College
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<p>0123456789</p>

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<p>Yes, it can. There are a number of schools that say that they are "need aware". What that means is that they have a budget of so much financial aid, and when that is depleted, some candidates with need are not accepted. Usually the border line kids are affected, especially those who need a lot of aid to go to the school.
Most schools are not need aware; it's usually the smaller, private ones that are. But most schools do not offer 100% of need. You have to some how come up with the gap money. If your academic profile is strong, sometimes it is favorable to apply to need aware schools that guarantee 100% or close to it in aid. Doesn't help much if you get accepted and can't afford to go.</p>

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<p>88classof07, what schools are you considering?</p>

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<p>IF you are an international student, only a few schools are need blind to international students so with the schools having limited funds for internationals students, the ability to pay will definitely be a factor in admissions</p>

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<p>i'm mostly thinking of public universities; i live in virginia, so uva and william and mary are a couple. i'm also thinking about carnegie mellon and boston college.</p>

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<p>I was told by a very "knowledgeable" person that when there are two similarly qualified people competing for a spot, the one who can pay his/her way gets the nod.</p>

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<p>Sadly, there are very, very few schools whose endowments are large enough to have totally need blind admission; it would be a bank-breaker for all but the wealthiest. For a very rough idea:</p>

<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There are even fewer colleges/universities that can afford to be need blind AND meet 100% of the estimated need of all admitted students. As cptofthehouse says, however, consideration of one's ability to pay typically comes into play at most selective schools for applicants who are on the cusp admissions-wise, so don't let it become a major factor in limiting your choice of schools!</p>