<p>In other words, how big of an impact does applying for financial aid make? If I am not applying for financial aid, is that a boost to my chances for admission?</p>
<p>I applied for financial aid.</p>
<p>I got in.</p>
<p>I didn’t receive one damn dime of financial aid.</p>
<p>Apply for financial aid! It’s not worth paying $50,000± a year for an undergraduate degree, anyway. If you don’t receive aid, don’t go there. That’s one hell of a lot of money for a degree, and I see very little instances in which $150,000-$200,000+ for a BA degree is worth it. It’s NOT. Get the aid!</p>
<p>GW’s finaid policies are unclear, but their aid for lower income students tends to be good, but not dependable enough to apply ED.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t call their financial aid good. </p>
<p>I’m middle to upper middle class, so, clearly, I’m screwed.</p>
<p>My friend comes from a low income family. My friend’s single mom with multiple kids makes under $25,000 in an urban area. No assets- rents an apartment. My friend still ended up with $70,000- if not more- in loans. Granted, he at least got some federal loans, but that’s still weak. At least he got something- I didn’t. There’s plenty of stories about people getting aid and not getting aid, but most people I know got weak to meager aid, if any.</p>
<p>It’s hard to figure GW’s aid. If you check various other threads you’ll see numerous complaints but also lots of people who got very generous aid, but to answer the op’s question, I don’t believe “need” has much impact on GW’s admission decisions if any.</p>