<p>I've noticed some of the top colleges are need-blind for domestic students, but need-aware for international students. How much does the financial need affect admissions into these schools? My family would probably need full or 70-80% financial aid. </p>
<p>Obviously the answer depends on the university, but as a rule of thumb I’d say, “it matters a lot.” The contrast between international student with financial need vs international student without financial need can be seen at Cornell, which has a unique admission policy in the field. Cornell does not reject international students whose financial need they cannot meet but rather admits them without financial aid. So, every international student who applied for financial aid but was admitted without aid was perfectly qualified to attend, but would have landed in the “reject” pile if Cornell had the same admission policies as other need-sensitive top universities. (And let’s face it, an offer of admission without sufficient aid is practically a rejection.) </p>