<p>Some universities put forth their process of admission as need-blind. However I was wondering if asking a fee waiver could give a hint to colleges about my real financial capacity and thus decreases my chances (After all, Universities are Companies).
I can be eligible for fee waivers but I don't want to save 75$ at the expense of a possible admission.</p>
<p>Furthermore, Parents' whereabouts could also be a quite accurate predictor of what they could pay if their kid is accepted. Do universities use these information?
Maybe should I pay the fees for the need-blind universities and ask for fee waivers when available to universities which would already take financial capacity in consideration?</p>
<p>PS: I'm an international student needing FAs.</p>
<p>I see your point but I wasn’t actually suspecting the universities were lying about being need-blind (I do think that they don’t check the factual financial records about each student) but rather that they might have some insights about students’ financial capacity without technically looking at records by glancing at some information such as the school(s) attended, parents’ jobs and so on.</p>
<p>Anyway you’re right, I will probably ask these fee waivers. Thanks</p>
<p>Schools that are need-blind for US students are not necessarily need-blind for international students. You need to check the details on that for every school.</p>
<p>I find it both amusing and heartbreaking that these are the kinds of tiny insignificant details that college-bound seniors are grappling with.</p>
<p>If a college says they are need-blind, they typically are actually need-blind (recent kerfluffle with GWU notwithstanding). The little cues about whether you request a fee waiver are not going to give them enough information to deny or admit you on the basis of need anyway, but I really doubt that they are tracking who applies for free just for the purpose of rejecting them for need.</p>
<p>But there are only a few need-blind schools for international applicants, anyway (Dartmouth, Amherst, Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Yale, Georgetown, and Cornell). Out of those, all but Georgetown and Cornell meet full need for international applicants, so I wouldn’t imagine it would matter anyway. At other schools, they will take your need into account, but it won’t be on the basis of the fee waiver.</p>