Does paying in full increase your chance of getting in by a lot?

Depends on how financially needy the school is. Elite schools have fat endowments and don’t have to concern themselves w how much a desirable student is capable of paying.

Lower ranked, financially struggling schools, on the other hand…

Here’s a NYT story about the University of Delaware looking the other way for full pay students from China:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2011/11/06/education/edlife/the-china-conundrum.html?referer=&_r=0