Is there a list of top schools which are Need-Aware? I know Tufts & WashU are need aware but there are many schools that I have researched which don’t release information (Georgia Tech, UIUC).
Is there a compiled list of all need-aware universities?
Need-aware is only relevant when schools have a commitment to meet need. So, for OOS applicants to schools like GT and UIUC, the school has no reason to care whether you qualify for aid; they’re not giving you need-based aid either way, so ability to pay is your problem, and they assume that if you’re applying, you have some plan for footing the bill.
WashU just announced in October that they are going need-blind.
Northeastern is a good one to look at, where ability to full pay would confer some advantage.
A lot of “need blind” schools use the Early Decision cycle as a workaround. Even though they’re not considering financial need explicitly, they know that full pay applicants are disproportionately represented in the ED pool.
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Do you mean need-blind?
No. I mean the opposite
I took it that OP is full pay and is looking for schools where that confers an advantage.
Either way, the Wikipedia list is a pretty good starting point, although you’ll always want to doublecheck the info at schools of interest: Need-blind admission - Wikipedia
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Why are you looking for need-aware? Ohhhh because you have ability to pay and figure need aware gives you an advantage.
That is so far from my experience that I needed to read @aquapt’s post to get it.
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Yes. I am very lucky to be in a situation where my parents are willing to pay full tuition for my undergrad.
I hope you can go by fit regardless of how they handle need!!
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You are fortunate that you don’t have to limit the schools you apply to, but I think this is less important for admission purposes.
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Have they given you a budget ? In other words, they’re willing to pay up to x $$. Or while they can pay full boat ($85k and riding), they’d prefer $50k or $30k. I could afford to pay too $$ for my kids and no way would I let them take on debt. But while I could afford full pay, it doesn’t mean I wanted to.
That they can or will pay can mean different things. Or they may be willing but prefer that full pay costs less.
In the end, find the right school for you. Just because Tufts is need aware doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
You can check the Cds for reach school. Programs like Tufts and Colgate have high full-pay percentages. There’s a reason why …
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My parents will only pay for prestigious expensive (up to 100k/yr) private undergrad. They prefer cheaper education (UC) but they’ll pay for private if I get in. Our family income is roughly 70k and they have a trust fund specifically to buy a house wherever I commit so housing prices aren’t a concern.
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I think they are going to find that trust fund doesn’t go as far to buy housing in Boulder or Berkeley or Boston as it does in Boise even Baltimore.
IMO, being need award doesn’t change anything for those who can pay. A school that is need blind may stick a student they can’t give full aid to on the waitlist (some don’t guarantee to meet full need off the waitlist). If they are need aware, and you need full aid (at $70k per year, at many schools you’d qualify), how does it help you for them to know you need a lot of aid? They may want you but know you need aid, so move on to the next student who they know doesn’t qualify for aid.
Sorry, 70k per month (Upper-middle). If I go to a low cost area then my parents plan to buy a duplex/triplex and rent out the other units.
I’m specifically looking for universities where my “full-pay hook” will be advantageous. Obviously I will choose on fit but for highly selective institutions I need any advantage I can get.
This is a flawed strategy. Find the right school for you.
Not every school lists whether it’s need blind or aware.
That said you can find data on the CDS. If a school is 50% or more full pay, then likely coming from wealth helps.
It sounds terrible, by the way. You are trying to gain advantage based on your parents success vs your own.
I know it happens every day but it’s uncomfortable to hear.
I think you need to look at your entire picture. Where can you get in. If you’re insufficient, Tufts or Colgate won’t take you just because you have money.
You should find the schools you are interested in. From there you can see if having money helps…in ED for example.
But it seems an odd way to choose a college, especially if they plan to buy a residence. Plus many schools have residency requirements…so who would live in the home ?
Full pay is an advantage at the “tuition dependent” colleges which typically have lower endowments, fewer hefty research contracts, and fewer lucrative grad and certificate programs which bring in revenue. Harvard has all those things I mentioned, so being full pay doesn’t do you any good absent the other things they care about. (Legacy, mega donor, child of an employee, etc). Princeton has fewer of these things ( no business school which is a moneymaker) but its endowment is so big it doesn’t matter.
Full pay at College of the Atlantic? Sarah Lawrence? Beloit? Earlham? Full pay will help. Top 15 colleges? No. Absent the full package of what they are looking for, the money won’t help.
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Just indicate that you won’t be applying for any financial aid…and then don’t. There is a question on the common application about this.
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In all my years on CC (embarrassing how many) I have never heard of anyone trying to use need aware as an admissions advantage.
At any rate, I would suggest not using this as a criterion for your applications, but that’s me. Size, location, academics, EC’s and “vibe” are the usual factors. Cost too of course.
So your parents will only pay for a college with “prestige.” What do they consider a college with prestige?
It sounds like UC’s are a really good option for you since those top schools are a gamble for everyone.
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I’ve definitely seen people strategizing around full-pay as one potential advantage, in the context of more comprehensive “chance me” and “reverse chance” threads. It’s just less common to lead with this as the title and central question of the thread.
But as others have said, it’s really not enough of an advantage at most “top” schools to be worthy of being the central question.
I agree that UC’s are a direction to look in, for a full-pay student looking for top CS programs. While many public flagships are tougher admits for OOS students, UC admit rates tend to be slightly higher for OOS vs. in-state (albeit only slightly). A lot of OOS students can’t or won’t pay the 65K/year OOS cost of UC’s, especially if the UC isn’t Berkeley or UCLA. (So there is sort of an implicit full-pay admissions advantage, in that the applicant pool is self-selecting and the UC system depends on those full-pay dollars.) But CS is excellent at all of the UC campuses. The downside is that CS is also highly competitive, and CS admissions less predictable than other majors as a result. Still, it’s all one application, so you can apply to all of the UC’s as easily as just one, so long as the cost of application fees doesn’t matter to you which it clearly does not!
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If theurincome is 70k a month. Upper middle they are not. Rather they are 1%ers.
You should include them in your discussions. You should also go see schools of varying sizes, locations and weather patterns…see what is right for you.
Many chase rank and end up transferring because their dream was not researched beyond rank. There’s no full proof way to find the right fit but you could, through some visits, find the perceived comfortable school. For my daughter, I knew right away her top choice. I could see her energy when we were on campus. It’s lower ranked but she’s excelling. Perhaps at a higher ranked school, the fit wouldn’t have been as strong. So please do your homework besides need aware schools.
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