So I’m a low income family. If I apply to a school and fill out the estimate incomes etc for the two forms, and the colleges think that I wouldn’t be able to pay for the school no matter what b/c im not a top tier student to grab the scholarships. Will I be just rejected?
If the school is need blind for admissions, your finances will not be known to the admissions folks.
If the school is need aware, your ability to pay will be considered when your application for admission is reviewed.
Most schools are need blind.
What colleges are you talking about? Folks here might be able to tell you if they are need aware or need blind.
It depends on whether the school is “need blind” or not. Need blind schools do not look at financial need when considering whether to accept students or not. Some schools are need blind for US students, but not for international students.
Lots of schools give 2 kinds of aid:
(1) need based aid, where they look at your family’s income and see how much they think you can pay, then offer you some or all of what you need to afford the school. A school that “meets need” tries to give you enough so they cover all that difference (but it is their definition of “need”, and your family may not agree… many schools do not meet need, and they “gap” students (provide some need based aid, but not enough to meet your full need so you can afford the school).
(2) Merit Aid - Is generally not dependent on financial need, but is based on your statistics compared to other applicants (higher stats can mean higher merit aid).
If you tell us what school you are thinking of, we can help you figure out if they are need blind and if they meet need.
Boston University- probably need blind I REALLY HOPE SO.cuz top choice
Northeastern University.
Lafayette College
Villanova University
Rensellear Polytechnic Institute
Case Western Reserve
This is what I think about these, but you should double check their websites:
Boston University - Need blind admissions, but does not guarantee to meet need (so they may “gap” students and not offer enough aid for you to attend).
Northeastern University - Not need blind in admissions, but they do meet full need for the students they accept. (Some schools that are “not need blind” still take a lot of students who need a lot of aid, but those students on the cusp of being admitted or not are the ones who often lose out on admissions)
Lafayette College - Not need blind, say they meet 98% of student need for those they admit
Villanova University - Not need blind, also do not guarantee to meet need
RPI - Not sure (so they probably are not need blind and don’t guarantee to meet need, but you would need to see if you can tell from their website)
Case Western - Not need blind, also do not guarantee to meet full need
Not sure what your major or stats are (and if you are a senior and your apps are already in), but you might look at Holy Cross - - they are need blind and say they meet full need. But their deadline for this year was January 15, so you are probably too late to apply there if you are a senior.
Have you run the net price calculators for each of these colleges? Boston University, in particular, has a NPC that is pretty accurate from what I hear.
I would suggest you do this…as it sounds like financea are a consideration.