<p>Are financial aid forms looked at after an applicant is accepted? It doesn't make sense to evaluate 20,000+ financial aid forms for student if they aren't going to be accepted. Does Columbia evaluate financial aid forms once they know that an applicant has been moved to the accepted pile?</p>
<p>yes, pretty sure that is the case, Columbia is need blind, and makes no sense to evaluate FA is applicant is getting rejected</p>
<p>harvard-</p>
<p>the answer is yes and no. all financial aid forms are reviewed as they enter (for the sake of timing), but for the most part a final and more formal review usually only happens when students are definitively admitted and financial aid packages are complete.</p>
<p>i mean columbia doesn’t complete its class usually until the week or so before letters go out, it would be counterintuitive for the process not to start earlier, but i should clarify that the processes are separate for everyone who is not a foreign (non us/mex/can, or us perm res/tem refugee) applicant; for foreign applicants the two offices talk to each other.</p>
<p>Thank you both confidentialcoll and admissionsgeek! I got a phone call approving my non-custodial parental waiver forms and was just curious since my other schools haven’t contacted me regarding such confirmation.</p>
<p>I’ve heard rumors that regardless of the “need-blind” policy, Columbia takes financial aid into account when choosing between two similar candidates. Half of me thinks that it’s ridiculous and untrue, while the better half is seeing the sad logic of it. 
Choosing the candidate with the higher income means Columbia has to pay less.</p>
<p>Columbia is not need-blind for international (non-US) citizens. I’m not sure whether if Columbia is need-blind for US citizens.</p>
<p>a) it is need-blind for us citizens, canadian and mexican citizens, folks who are permanent residents in the us, or in the us on a temporary refugee visa.</p>
<p>b) at caramel: they take socioeconomic factors into consideration, not financial aid. so they will look at the student and say - this person comes from a poorer, less resourced background, let’s admit him/her because they will contribute to the university’s diversity, and this would be a fantastic experience for them. in fact i’d say it probably helps students from lower income backgrounds at columbia than the other way around.</p>
<p>but i can emphatically say that they do not admit students who can pay just to shore up their bottom line. and this is on good authority from columbia’s admissions office and financial aid offices. there are only a few schools, about 30, that can effectively and emphatically say that.</p>
<p>“I’ve heard rumors that …”</p>
<p>There you have it, ignore rumors! :)</p>