<p>Is Reed generous? Do they have need-blind admissions? Anything I should know about FA at Reed?</p>
<p>It’s not really need blind. If you are asking for fin aid you are put in a much more competitive applicant bracket. Source: my admissions counselor.</p>
<p>But I’ll add more, if you get in with fin aid there is a very good chance you will be able to afford it.</p>
<p>Reed is fairly generous with their financial aid, guaranteeing to meet 100% of your demonstrated need. That means if your EFC from FAFSA and the CSS Profile is $5,000, they will literally cover the rest, partly through federal loans and work-study, but mostly through institutional grants. The most common complaint is that people think their EFC is too high. Collegeboard’s EFC calculators are pretty accurate: [EFC</a> Calculator: How Much Money for College Will You Be Expected to Contribute?](<a href=“http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp]EFC”>http://apps.collegeboard.com/fincalc/efc_welcome.jsp)</p>
<p>Reed is not need-blind, but they claim that few qualified applicants are rejected based on their need. However, if you are on the wait-list and need FA, it’s unlikely that you’ll be accepted because they have probably overextended their FA that year. I was actually accepted “late” and had to defer a year because they had no more Financial Aid money left (the recession has caused more people to need aid than usual) which is a very unusual situation. But my package definitely beats my previous lib-art school’s crappy “aid,” where I got a merit-based scholarship but was still expected to cough up double my EFC and take out the maximum amount of loans (which, for an independent student, is a lot).</p>
<p>I guess if you are in the lower or middle class bracket, you will benefit the most. If your family is pretty wealthy, you might get better merit scholarships/aid somewhere else (Reed only offers need-based FA). Don’t let the need-aware-ness scare you off-- if they want you, they will make it happen.</p>
<p>Something like 50% of students receive financial aid and the average package is around $30,000. [Reed</a> College | Financial Aid | REED COLLEGE - Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/financialaid/financing_knowing.html]Reed”>http://www.reed.edu/financialaid/financing_knowing.html)</p>