Some colleges are need aware in admissions but meet full financial need. What does this really mean for freshman admissions and what are the colleges looking for in this situation? Thanks in advance CC for helping me figure out this complex process.
My D’s school falls into this category. They say that it means that they have to be aware of the aid they’re giving out when building a class, and that at the end of the admissions season especially they give more weight to full pay ability. We are full need, so it worked out ok for my D.
It depends upon the policies and procedures of such schools. Some may run every single application need blind and code the applicants in terms of how much the school wants them, and then financial aid figures out how they can accept the target number of kids on budget. Some have enrollment companies working out the best outcomes. Some just throw apps in two piles, need and no need. Some just accept until the finaid money runs out and the last bit gets nothing. Those schools tend not to offer Fin aid to wait listed kids. Nothing left.
Such schools sometimes have other ramifications in their policies. These are the schools that often will not give financial aid, certainly not guarantee it for students who do not start out applying for aid. They also might not guarantee to meet any increases in need that arise in future years, (though most will reduce aid if you need less by formula) Often they just require FAFSA for future years because often increased federal and state aid is all a student will get if need increases, and they do have to monitor what they are giving in government money.
How do I investigate the policies and procedures for individual schools? Are they transparent or some hidden secret?
Most schools are pretty open about it and it is on the website. I think Holy Cross just went to need aware but still meets 100% of need (as it defines it). As the class starts to fill up, they have to look at how much those last 100 or so students will need. If they are running low on funds, they’ll have to take the full pay student over the similarly qualified high need student.
Most schools are need blind for admissions, but they aren’t promising to meet your need either. They’ll admit you but the FA office gives you what they can and it might not be enough.
Need blind versus need aware can be found under the admissions tab for the school’s entry on collegedata.com . Note that most colleges are need blind for admission, but do not make any promises of good financial aid. Note also that schools which are need blind when evaluating individual applicants may still have admission policies that favor correlates to lower or higher financial aid need, chosen to help manage the financial aid budget and tuition yield of the class on an overall level.
“Meet need” is not as meaningful as people seem to think it is, due to colleges’ different definitions of “need”. Use each college’s net price calculator to get an estimate for that college.
A few schools on D’s list are need aware. One school called themselves “asset aware” since they didn’t like the term “need”. Another school said they look at the amount a student needs and then just deny the applicants they can’t cover without really reading the application, especially at the end of the cycle. We have found many schools love to talk up their financial aid awards during info sessions but do not say if they are need blind or need aware. I found myself raising my hand and asking them. Interestingly, one parent approached me after I asked the question and asked me what “need aware” meant…
I was chosen by a need aware/meets need school for a fly-in program next month. I am excited and grateful for the opportunity to explore the school.
Based on several factors, it could be a potential match for me. My parents did the net price calculator and determined that it was affordable.
When researching the school, I discovered it was need aware/meets need. I would most likely only apply RD because of financial reasons. Would applying RD knock me of contention? Also, if they admit me, (I understand that nothing is a given) would there be any money left to make the expected family contribution match the net price calculator?
They are flying you in, so they must like you at least a little bit. Since money is an issue for you, apply RD so that you can compare aid packages.
Probably means that if you need a lot of FA and are at the low end of the college admissions staff’s desirability rankings (which may have been holistically determined at the more selective colleges) within the proposed admit class, but the proposed admit class does not have sufficient predicted tuition yield, then you would be among those most vulnerable to being replaced by someone (presumably from the proposed wait list or from the upper rankings of the reject pool) who needs less FA for the college to get to an admit class with sufficient predicted tuition yield. Similarly, need-awareness could be to your advantage if you need little or no FA.
Obviously, the effect of need-aware admissions is most likely to happen near the margin of admit versus waitlist or reject. The college will still admit what it sees as very desirable applicants with high FA need, and will still reject those it sees as well below the admit threshold in desirability even if they need no FA.
Did your daughter apply ED or RD?
Well, you know that the school is need aware in admissions, so you know that if you qualify for financial aid, that can be an additional reason to be rejected.
Look up the school and see if it meets full need for all students they accept.
With schools that are need aware in admissions but meet full need, you can pretty much accept that you will get competitive financial aid if accepted.
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Did your daughter apply ED or RD?
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My daughter applied ED- though interestingly from the above posts, she was not at the top of their stats. Not even in the 25-75 percent band for scores.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/10/magazine/college-admissions-paul-tough.html
Article on just how much ability to pay (unsurprisingly) plays in admissions.
I have known many kids who have attended need aware schools on good financial aid. If accepted, the aid packages seem to be ax competitive with those from need blind colleges. In fact, many times, the school was picked because the aid package was the best of the offers.
Depending upon the school, for most purposes, it makes no difference that the school is not need blind, once accepted. There is that risk when you apply to these schools, needing aid, especially a lot of aid, you get denied for that reason. It’s not like they tell you that is the reason you were not accepted either.
There is a also a bit of a boost in admissions if you don’t apply for financial aid. Then there is zero chance that your need for a certain financial aid package affected the decision. But that doesn’t mean that is the only reason you were accepted either. They don’t tell you that you are one of the kids whose chances were elevated by being full pay. I’ve seen plenty of full pay kids, who did not apply for financial aid get turned down at these schools. They are often very competitive and selective in admissions
Wow! That was disappointing but logical. Colleges have to stay afloat.
The school is considered a very selective and meets full need. According to Niche, my scores and grades are better than 71% of admitted students (whatever that means) After submitting an application with middle class family income, they chose to offer me an opportunity to fly-in and experience the school. If they reject me in RD round because of my financial need, I will still have some interesting memories and another college t-shirt.