<p>I’m the OP on this thread and I thought it might be important to clarify my original post a bit. I wasn’t referring to checking or not checking the box as an admission strategy per se. Instead, my concern is more on the institutional level.</p>
<p>Since the check box appears on the “common” portion of the Common App, all schools (need-blind included) will see the information. That would mean that “need-blind” institutions are in fact not need-blind at all. They are “need-aware”.</p>
<p>I think that the better way to structure the application would be to remove the checkbox from the “common” portion of the Common App and, for those schools that are NOT need-blind, have it included on their supplemental section. For need-blind schools, it would be removed entirely from all parts of their application. This would put a true firewall in place (at least regarding the application itself) between the admissions and FA offices.</p>
<p>I would think that need-blind colleges and universities would demand stringent use of this as a way of reinforcing their institutional integrity and mission statement. Perhaps I’m misunderstanding something here, but it seems to me that the current system could be used against applicants from more modest backgrounds in admissions selection.</p>
<p>You are making a bigger deal of this than it actually is. The net-net is if you need aid, check the box and don’t worry about anyone’s strategy.</p>
<p>Need blind simply means that your needing FA whether it is a couple of $ or the full cost of attendance will not be a factor in the admissions process. Remember when you check the box, it simply asks if you are applying for FA, not how much aid you will need.</p>
<p>At most elite schools admissions and FA aid operate in 2 separate places. </p>
<p>Financial aid does the preliminary work for all students; making sure fafsas, css profiles, school financial aid forms, non-custodial profile, forms, waivers, verification paperwork are filed. If a student is submitted, then FA will need to put together a package for the student.</p>
<p>Even for schools that are need sensistive aware, schools manage to find $$ for the students that they really want to admit, whether it means doing a financial review to compare another school’s package or giving a preferential package. </p>
<p>The money becomes an issue toward the end of the process when it comes to deciding between 2 similiarly qualified applicants. The tip would go to the student who needs less of the schools resources.</p>
<p>At my daughter’s #1 college choice, we were told that the F/A question is there so that the F/A office is alerted to create a file for that student. I’d like to HOPE that this is true. And when you think about it, if the school isn’t eager to accept a needy family, the F/A package can contain less grant money and more loans.</p>
<p>“Need blind” is a misnomer (as is “need aware”). All colleges are AWARE to a certain extent of whether or not most of their applicants need financial help – even if there is not a box checked on the form, it is something that generally can be ascertained from the application package – the high school attended, the education and careers of the parents, the type of EC’s and work histories of the students. Rich kids usually don’t attend inner-city public schools or spend their summers flipping burgers, and poor kids rarely attend ritzy private schools or summer in the Riviera. Of course that is not a foolproof method of ascertaining finances – a poor kid could have a scholarship to an expensive private school, etc. – but its silly to pretend that the admissions committee doesn’t have a general idea of where the kid stands in terms of financial need.</p>
<p>But colleges differ in the way that they look at the need-status in terms of admissions. No college completely disregards it, no matter what they say – but the “need blind” colleges don’t use it as a disqualifier for admissions. For example, all schools are very receptive to the children of the rich and famous - there’s no getting around that. At the same time, elite schools do value diversity, so it can be a decided plus factor when an applicant to an elite college clearly comes from a disadvantaged background. </p>
<p>My kids both applied for financial aid and needed a lot of it to afford any private college – there was no way that my kids could attend without 5-figure level grants. They applied to both “need-blind” and “need-aware” colleges – but I don’t think that it was a factor in their admissions. (2 kids, 21 college applications, 1 rejection, 3 waitlists, 17 admissions… no one could convince me that the need for financial aid hurt my kids’ chances in any way) The real issue was the financial aid policies of the school --not the admission policies – along the way each of my kids got accepted to some colleges that simply didn’t offer a realistic amount of aid. </p>
<p>The colleges that claim to meet 100% need tend to be those with the strongest endowments – they aren’t going to turn away students based on money. The colleges that don’t pretend to meet full need generally engage in some sort of financial aid leveraging or enrollment management – the admission decision is rarely based directly on need, but at those schools the admissions department often provides the financial aid department with information that is used to determine the amount of financial aid. (Boston U. has the best info online to give a sense of how this works – they have a chart that shows expected aid levels correlated both with family income and the student’s test scores & GPA). </p>
<p>Colleges also sometimes use the issue of need in counter-intuitive ways. For example, Division III athletics does not allow athletic scholarships – so their coaches have little to offer non-needy recruitable athletes in terms of an inducement to attend. Knowing that, they may choose to focus energies on the athlete who will qualify for a generous need-based grant – so the “need aid” part could be a help at Div III schools, and perhaps a hindrance at a Div I school where even a strong scholarship might not match what the student is likely to get in need-based aid at competing schools. </p>
<p>I think that the question on the form should be answered honestly, without thought of its impact on admissions. I think any parent is kidding themselves if they don’t realize that the average admission officer has a pretty good sense of where the family stands financially after spending 5 minutes looking over the application package.</p>
<p>Agreed Calmom-- they can size up the econmic status lickty split. They know the socioeconomics of assigned zip codes
Like mentioned here before-- colleges fill up the seats like an airplane- various levels of discounted tuitions-- higher discounts offered to the more attractive student. If student is applying for a bunch of reaches & wants financial aid-- probably will get a bunch of waitlists. If they are a higher caliber student, they might get in w/ an offer of aid/merit.</p>