<p>I had read somewhere that many schools will give preference to a number of students who do not request aid. I think that this may seem contrary to needs blind admission, but the admission may be blind to those requesting aid, but not to those who do not. I was wondering if anyone has experience or knowledge that spots are saved for non-aid students...and whether requesting aid increases competition for spots at competitive schools. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>If admission is “need blind”, then they do not consider it. Admissions is separate from financial aid considerations. If the school does not state that it is “need blind”, then likely they do consider whether and how much aid is needed for students on the cusp for admissions.</p>
<p>This issue is likely more of an issue at need-aware institutions, who do not commit to meet demonstrated financial need. I attended a seminar given by Peter van Buskirk (he has a website called <a href=“http://www.theadmissionsgame.com-%5B/url%5D”>www.theadmissionsgame.com-</a> a very insightful website, IMHO). He used to be Director of Admissions at Franklin and Marshall College). He let us know that college is a business, and there are certain schools where if two students are of equal caliber, the student who does not request aid may be the one that gets the offer of admission (this is a huge generality and not specific for any particular school). Many schools that are truly need blind separate the admissions and financial aid offices so that admission is NOT contingent on whether one requested or did not request aid. The best advice is to ask each school specifically about their policies.</p>
<p>How do we know which schools are need-blind or not?</p>
<p>^ The college usually says it on their website.</p>
<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I would verify any school on this list as policies do change.</p>
<p>And there are very few need blind schools in the country. I would guess less than 20. Hardvard, Stanford, Princeton, u penn, who else ?</p>
<p>As stated in wiki:</p>
<p>Barnard College
Beloit College
Boston College
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University
Brown University
California Institute of Technology
Claremont McKenna College
College of the Holy Cross
Columbia University
Cooper Union
Cornell University
Davidson College
Deep Springs College
Duke University
Emory University
Georgetown University
Grinnell College
Hamilton College
Harvard College
Haverford College
Harvey Mudd College
Johns Hopkins University
Knox College
Lawrence University
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Olin College
Pomona College
Rice University
Stanford University
Swarthmore College
University of Chicago
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Richmond
University of Rochester
University of Southern California
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Vassar College
Wellesley College
Williams College</p>
<p>So that totals to 46</p>
<p>I find it interesting that MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, and Princeton don’t according to wiki.</p>
<p>The above listed schools are need blind and full need for US applicants</p>
<p>These schools below are actually need blind AND full need for ALL applicants, US and international</p>
<p>Amherst College
Dartmouth College
Harvard University
MIT
Princeton University
Yale University</p>
<p>Cornell & Georgetown are need blind but do not guarantee to meet full need for internationals.</p>
<p>There are a lot of exceptions (like transfer students), so check the wiki page for notes, and verify through the individual schools.</p>
<p>very correct and therefore my last statement is completely incorrect. Sorry. I found it weird 3 Ivies didn’t do it but it was an error.</p>
<p>Embarrassing! :(</p>
<p>Don’t be embarrassed! Your instinct to notice they weren’t on the list was correct. They were simply on a separate list above since they include internationals. :)</p>
<p>The list of schools which are need blind for admissions is much larger when including schools which do not claim to meet full need*. But that just means that the needy students are more likely to get an admission letter to a school that they cannot afford, unless the school’s costs are very low.</p>
<p>*Examples include open admission community colleges, or admit-by-formula state universities to do not meet full need for out-of-state students.</p>
<p>Correct. This can also result in essentially an admit/deny when you are in fact accepted, however they gap you in your finaid offer or load it with loans as opposed to grants, making the school financially unreachable.</p>