<p>well, yes, I acknowledged that in my first post that all the public schools are need blind. I was respectfully referring only to the few privates that are truly need blind. no need to get testy.</p>
<p>I would also say that most privates are need blind, since most privates don’t guarantee to meet need, either.</p>
<p>The schools that are “need aware” tend to be amongst the group that “meet need” because to meet need, the schools with limited endowments need to know what they can and will pay out. </p>
<p>The many privates that don’t meet need don’t have that issue.</p>
<p>Most schools are need blind. Actually very few schools are need aware. Even privates. They accept and just gap. The few schools that are need aware tend to be selective, meet a goodly % of need, scour the apps carefully, and are conscious of yield figures. The private schools around here other than one, are all need blind. But they are not likely to meet any need. They will present the PLUS and Stafford options for loans and any other federal and state programs, but except for the top applicants, there is no financial aid to speak of that the college gives.</p>
<p>O.P.- Since Univ of WA is your first choice,are you familiar with the “Husky Promise?” It guarantees tuition if you meet Pell grant requirements and are admitted to the school as an In-State full time student. It sounds like your GPA may be a bit low for UW, but if you can get in they’ll also probably give you some additional aid (loans and work study) for room and board. Good luck.</p>
<p>wrist:
I think that williams only dropped its need blind policy for international applicants.</p>
<p>Sorry Speedo, disagree, I believe there are LOTS of opportunities for OP as outlined…don’t close doors early, keep them open!!!</p>
<p>@4safrontman, I haven’t heard of the “Husky Promise”. How do you know if you can qualify?</p>
<p>To everyone, i decided NOT to apply to NYU. It wouldn’t be worth it and if i did get in, i would probably not end up going because of the cost. So, my choices are University of Washington, Western Washington, and Boston University. Also, what is need-blind?</p>
<p>Boston University is also expensive and doesn’t guarantee to meet full need. There are some good scholarships for very top students (I don’t think the stats you posted would put you in contention for those), but typically they gap their students in terms of aid (although for not as badly as NYU reportedly…BU uses the Profile in addition to the FAFSA to determine awarding of need based aid). I happen to love the school (DS is an alum) but apply there with your eyes wide open regarding the finances.</p>
<p>Unfortunately grigg…BU is similar to NYU in terms of aid…BC, however, has a 100% need met policy I believe…</p>
<p>With a 3.4 and a 1700-1800 unless you’re an athlete or a urm you’re not getting into BC and you’re not getting the dough from BU. Also at this students income level it’s not realistic to be traveling across the country for school.</p>
<p>speedo, my point is to educate grigg of school’s that have a 100% need -based policy (BC) vs. those that don’t (BU and NYU)…further, schools that have a true 100% need-based policy generally meet demonstrated need for ALL accepted to the school, even the last one!! Therefore, even reach schools can work for those circumstances!! </p>
<p>I concede that the odds of getting into BC would be slim but there are MANY other privates countrywide that this strategy would work; however, it takes research and planning which is why the OP came here, right?</p>
<p>Lastly, “need” includes the cost for travel from Washington to Boston, so location from home should not dissuade anyone from pursuing a school!!!</p>
<p>I would encourage grigg to pursue the “exploration of privates” path vs. just telling to “just stay close to home”…</p>
<p>grigg02: need-blind is an admissions policy of separating the student’s financial information from the application itself. Your financial data is not even seen by the admissions staff. At a need aware school, your financial data may be taken into consideration when deciding whether to accept or reject you. Oberlin for instance stated that for every 2 students they accept who need aid, they accept one who doesn’t. Reed has stated a similar policy, although not in such specific terms. If you have extremely high need then, you may be rejected by a need aware school that might otherwise have accepted you.</p>
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<p>That’s a strategy that might have worked 5 or 10 years ago but today it’s just not happening for low income kids unless they have very high stats. There’s probably only a couple of dozen 100% need/need blind schools but they’re extremely difficult to get into. The rest of the 100% need schools practice a “need aware” admissions policy and high need applicants need to have extremely high stats to get the dough. A candidate for all these schools needs around a 2000 SAT and a 3.7 plus GPA in the top track with many AP’s and great ec’s. I think the op is better served by a realistic appraisal of his/her chances. Unfortunately at the op’s stat and financial level it’s probably best to put aside the “pie in the sky” and focus on instate colleges.</p>
<p>All of you make a good point. It is a reach for me to apply to some of those out of state schools, but even if i don’t get in, i think it’s worth shooting for at least one. I will most likely go in-state. My choices in state are UW, WWU, and SU.</p>