<p>I'm applying for no financial aid. However, could anyone offer some advice about how schools look at students needing aid vs not? Even if the school is need blind for international students, surely they would consider the aid factor as a negative?
Will asking for aid to non-need blind schools completely reduce my chances as an international student?</p>
<p>If a school is “non-need blind” in admissions, that is exactly what they are saying: that your chances of being admitted go down if you need financial aid. This has been debated on CC in the past, but the general consensus is that they also look at how much aid you need (more aid, chances go down further).</p>
<p>I take the schools at their word regarding being need blind (not all posters out here do, though). If their policy is to be need blind, they will admit without regard to your need. I know of at least one prestigious school that I think does that, but then their calculation of “meets need” is VERY tight – downright stingy, IMHO. Remember that the definition of “meets need” lies with the school, not with what you think you need. So they have some levers there.</p>
<p>The vast majority of schools are need blind. They don’t bother to advertise the fact, as it’s just taken for granted. They don’t have the time, manpower or a system to go into evaluating need into the admissions process. They admit the best students in the pool and with some large schools, it’s purely a numbers situation (test score, grades, date of your application). They also don’t tend to meet full need either. So when accepted, it’s up to the student and family to come up with the money. </p>
<p>Many admissions offices are totally separate from the fin aid offices and they do not share info. There often is an adversarial relationship between the two offices. </p>
<p>The situation with internationals students and need is a whole other thing, since such students need to complete a student visa form demonstrating how they are going to pay for their time in the US including college costs. Those forms have to be verified by banks–truly gotta show the money. So that’s an important part of the admissions process. Here in the US, when a student is gapped, there are loan, work possibilities and other things that can come into play to make ends meet. </p>
<p>A school might be need blind in admissions, but not equal in distributing the financial aid. Admissions can indicate who is on the “A” list , which may not matter much or at all if students don’t need financial aid, but those students get the lion’s share of grants from financial aid, whereas those who barely were accepted may get nothing other than the federal entitlements. Need blind does not mean 100% of need is met even by the schools own definitions of need. </p>