<p>This is the kind of pathetic, shot-in-the-dark question I usually look down on:</p>
<p>What does it "mean" if, a few days before decisions are released, the Financial Aid office is emailing my parents asking for minute clarifications to our CSS and FAFSA? </p>
<p>"Although the Admissions Committee is still deliberating, the Financial Aid Office is currently reviewing Class of 2015 documents. We want to ensure that when candidates are selected for admission we will have sufficient information on file to make a financial aid decision."</p>
<p>On ONE hand, I am not one to grasp at straws and read a whole lot into this.</p>
<p>On the OTHER hand, does Dartmouth's financial aid office seriously work out financial aid for each one of its 14,000+ applicants, regardless of likelihood of admission? Seems a bitty-bit inefficient. </p>
<p>I'd appreciate any casual, anecdotal, or perhaps, even <strong>factual</strong> evidence anyone out there has to offer. </p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>Yeah, got a personalized email myself and I’m wondering the same thing.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, so far I’ve gotten into UChicago and got a likely to Cornell, but deferred from Yale SCEA. No other news.</p>
<p>That is provocative!
I also got into Chicago and got a likely from Duke, but was waitlisted at WashU.</p>
<p>I don’t think so. Everyone on other threads have always said that the admissions office and financial aid office are entirely separate.</p>
<p>Another side note: my friend who got in ED got the same exact emails prior to getting in.</p>
<p>Kinda makes me wish I had made some FAFSA and CSS errors in need of “minute clarifications” myself.</p>
<p>As a casual observer, I would feel a glimmer of fortune for receiving this e-mail ;)</p>
<p>THe admissions and financial aid office function separately in 2 different buildings. In this case sometimes the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. In addition to preparing a number of packages for students who have been admitted, and students who the school may still be in deliberations on (probably deciding whether to admit or waitlist), the school must also pull a random number of financial aid applications for audit purposes.</p>
<p>In our house the request for additional information came (but D had already received a likely letter on one of the first waves so there was no guessing). There have been other parents who received requests and their kids were later accepted. </p>
<p>Over the years, I have seen it go either way. Some people got a request for information and were admitted, while others were not. </p>
<p>Personally I think that the odds are in your favor;) . All you can do at this point is make sure that you get everything in ASAP becase the admissions and financial aid info go out one after the other and you want to be ready.</p>
<p>It is going to be a long week, just hold out a little while longer and you will know for sure. All the best!</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure the admissions and financial aid offices function in the same building (McNutt) and are overseen by a single dean (Maria Laskaris). However, I agree with sybbie719 that the odds are in your favor. Best of luck!</p>
<p>My Bad… The admissions and financial aid offices are in different parts of McNutt.</p>
<p>Admissions 6016 McNutt<br>
Financial aid 6024 McNutt</p>
<p>While Maria Laskaris oversees all of admissions and financial aid, each department has its own directors and staff which take care of all the day to day operations.</p>
<p>thank you for all of your insight!
just more musing:</p>
<p>To me, it seems all that “need-blind” implies is that the admissions office doesn’t / can’t know which applicants are applying for financial aid… but not necessarily the other way around.</p>
<p>In fact, it seems like it would be critical for the efficiency FA department to know who (and who not) to put together packages for…</p>
<p>If the Admissions Office emailed the FA Office with a list of all admitted applicants, then that would still preserve the “need-blind” status of those who needed FA, while expediting the work of the FA Office. </p>
<p>ehh idk.</p>
<p>
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<p>Actually, what need blind means if a student has a need or no need, whether it is $1 or the full cost of attendance, it will not be a factor in the admissions process.</p>
<p>Considering that on the common app there is a question that asks if you will be applying to financial aid and the student clicks yes or no, the admissions committee already knows who will need $ from Dartmouth or any other school. they just do not know how much $ the student will need.</p>
<p>Actually, all that checking that box indicates is that you are asking for aid. It doesn’t necessarily indicate that you “need” aid at all. In fact, there are FA applicants who are determined not to have any need.</p>
<p>I was admitted. So for all future applicants, perhaps there is something to it!</p>
<p>I was another applicant that got a late request for additional financial aid info, and I got in! <3 So yeah, it might signify something!</p>
<p>Turns out I got in! Must be something to it :P</p>
<p>I got a request for information in late February, and I got in.</p>