<p>Do colleges offering need-blind financial aid for international students never ever consider the ability to pay in deciding admission? That's their stated policy, but do things really work out without any bias?</p>
<p>You are mixing scenarios:</p>
<p>Need blind only pertains to admissions. This means that your needing financial aid will not be considered a factor in the admissions process.</p>
<p>There are very few schools that are need blind to international students HYP, williams, I think MIT come to mind. They are extremely competitive as most accept fewer than 100 students.</p>
<p>Meeting 100% of demonstrated need is a different story. Because most schools only offer limited financial aid for international students (main reason why many are not need blind) the ones that state that they meet 100% of your demonstrated need do just that. Again, only a hand ful of schools do this.</p>
<p>Remember that demonostrated need is a relative thing as the college determines your demonstrated need based on the income and assets of you and your family. The college may give you an EFC that you beleive you cannot afford to pay, so this still may not help your cause.</p>