If you apply for financial aid - will a school still consider you if they don’t have money to offer you or will they reject you and move on to a full pay applicant? Will they accept you but tell you they are accepting with no aid?
I don’t want my financial aid application to stop me from getting into a school - however, I could use the financial aid if I qualify. Beyond that - I will be full pay if it means acceptance or rejection.
How does this work?
@Rathgar we were told to apply. tomorrow is the deadline for many schools so don’t miss out. you can always change your mind and tell admissions later that you are no longer considering it and instead are a full pay applicant. 
Applying for FA will most definitely have a negative affect on your chances for admission. Almost all schools are transparent about this issue. Having said this though, if you can’t afford full pay don’t hold back from applying for FA.
building upon what @LaxPrep said, everything else being equal, it only makes economic sense for a school to accept a fp applicant over one needing fa 
will they still accept you but tell you it is without FA or do they move on to a full pay applicant?
Unfortunately not. Schools do not want to cause families financial problems if they know they can’t afford the tuition.
well hopefully the fact that I applied to more local schools - not in the top 25 - will give me some type of better chance
Don’t let it discourage you! I know plenty of students who applied for financial aid and were accepted. Many schools have millions of dollars reserved for FA. @Rathgar
@LaxPrep , is that (applying for FA could be against you) right? If you said you would apply for FA but doesn’t submit FAFSA/CSS on time, would that make you a full pay applicant? Or should I make it clear to the schools that I no longer apply for FA?
I would make sure to email the schools so that they know you are no longer applying for financial aid. Since FA plays a significant role in the application, it would be better to be safe.
And yes, unfortunately many of the prep schools are not at a point financially where they can offer need blind admission. Keep in mind, they do offer generous FA packages for admitted students, it is just more difficult to be admitted in the FA pool.
@LaxPrep , woops, I didnt realize this was prep school forum, sorry. Would the same be applied to colleges?