<p>Call me overly paranoid..</p>
<p>But I was wondering if say, for example, NYU can somehow check out my Common App account to see how many colleges I have applied to and use that as a determining factor to quantify my willingness to commit to NYU? Say, if the number was 15+, they might think Im not committed at all and reject me.</p>
<p>Just curious</p>
<p>No. They will be able to see whatever colleges you list on the FAFSA, however.</p>
<p>Can’t they also see other colleges on the CSS Report?</p>
<p>Some colleges ask what other colleges you are applying to. There have been various discussions on the ethics about how completely one should answer that question (and the ethics of the college asking in the first place), and what effect it may have on admission and scholarship chances, particularly if the college considers “level of applicant’s interest”.</p>
<p>Filling in a FAFSA with multiple colleges makes the whole list visible to all of the colleges. Some colleges may consider the order of listed colleges to be an indicator of the applicant’s preference order, in the context of “level of applicant’s interest”.</p>
<p>Not sure about CSS, though it’s basically a moot point. Any college that requires the CSS Profile will also require FAFSA, so they’ll have already seen them listed there.</p>
<p>Isn’t the CSS Profile submitted first? </p>
<p>Depends on which one you submit first, and what the school requires.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is available on January 1, and some states distribute grant funds on a first-come-first-served basis, meaning many students submit the form during the first week of the year. Some schools don’t have CSS deadlines until February.</p>
<p>OK, that makes sense. Is there any way to avoid having these colleges see each other in these forms?</p>
<p>I’d like to speculate and receive confirmation or rebuttal. Most reasonably reputable schools are need blind for US students. Among other things, this likely means that the admissions and financial aid functions are entirely separate and that an applicant’s affluence will have no influence on the acceptance decision. Under the foregoing circumstances, isn’t the OP’s question fundamentally moot? The fact that one university entity has the OP’s FAFSA data does NOT mean that admissions will have access to it; therefore, admissions will not know what other schools may have received applications from the OP.</p>
<p>Well, it wasn’t inherently moot 
But thank you for bringing into light evidence for the negative.
I do think I agree with you-- for "Most reasonably reputable schools ".
I believe that NYU is perhaps one of the exceptions to that rule, they are pointedly NOT need-blind, even to domestic cases. In any case, my scenario was merely a hypothetical.</p>
<p>Furthermore, since I am quite the paranoid college applicant, and tend to distrust the process as a whole, I think Il just go with the notion that instances in which Colleges scour every single aspect of the applicant’s bio and weigh in every little nugget of info carefully, especially those pertaining to interest level.</p>
<p>Also…please, please, please let me in, I promise Ill pray to the Blue devil every night before sleep</p>
<p>Praying to the Blue Devil nightly is proven to bring all good things.
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<p>NYU claims to be need-blind in admissions: <a href=“Forms”>Forms;
<p>However, it does not claim to “meet full need” or otherwise offer good financial aid. Indeed, there are plenty of stories about NYU admitting students but giving them poor financial aid packages.</p>
@ggwpafk823 this is off topic but I’m confused. One their site NYU specifically says “Admission to NYU New York is need-blind for domestic applicants, and financial support will be tailored for each individual family based upon the results of the FAFSA, PROFILE and TAP applications” So they are need blind for domestic cases. Where did you hear that they were not need blind?
Right, Im sorry. Im not perfect 
I apologize
Truth be told, I stopped seriously considering NYU after I learned that they’re not very generous with their FA (which I am almost wholly dependent on). Again, correct me if Im wrong, but their merit aid is so competitive that it’s virtually non-existent and the relatively non-superstar applicant has to rely wholly on his own wallet and grants.
To me, the two variables-- FA and need-blindness – go hand-in-hand. What good is the acceptance letter if Im going have to pay 200 some odd grand?
I guess I must have read some misinformation (perhaps from CC itself) and never bothered to check the statements validity simply because I didnt care. 
I seriously wouldn’t worry about colleges knowing where else you are applying. In the vast majority of cases they are not going to care. Likely you are overestimating your importance. Sure they may be some schools with enrollment management strategists doing some digging, but likely smaller schools. I wouldn’t try to second guess this.
Sometimes NYU gives very good aid to low income students. But more often they expect a middle class family to borrow a lot to attend that colleges.
I am suspicious about how much influence the blue devil has at The Cardinal and The Crimson.
FAFSA for need-blind schools will NOT expose students to admissions offices. The title “need-blind” specifically prohibits sharing information between FA and admissions offices.
@JustOneDad: Ah, ye of little faith. Quite, tactful, and subtle, he is pervasive.