<p>From what I've read WUSTL is the only one of the top colleges that 1) Does not meet 100% of financial need and 2) Does not practice need-blind admissions. I'd imagine that means less poor students, less working class students, and maybe even less middle class students. Is that true, and what, in general, do you think is the impact of these policies on campus life?</p>
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what, in general, do you think is the impact of these policies on campus life?
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<p>Personally, I’d say the impact on campus life is right around zero.
The percentages of students receiving aid, and the amount of aid received, is totally on par with the schools having need-blind admissions and 100% of need met guarantees. (There’s a list of those schools here: [Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia), not sure if that’s likely to be accurate or not)
All in all, there are certainly more “higher class” students here than you would find at state schools, but I doubt that’s really different from any other top college. </p>
<p>It is true that WUSTL is not need-blind, although it’s probably safe to assume that Admissions makes as many decisions as possible without looking at need, similar to Tufts University’s policy. The reason the school isn’t fully need-blind is that financial aid funds do tend to run out at the end of the admissions process, so that waitlisted students may not be able to get their need met if they’re admitted.</p>
<p>Aside from that, I’m not really sure if the statement that WUSTL “Does not meet 100% of financial need” is true or not. They definitely met mine, but i’ve never really heard much one way or the other… :/</p>
<p>That’s my thoughts. I do wish Admissions would make statements on some of this stuff, though. They do have a policy of covering full need, plus replacing any loans you might need with grants, for students whose parents earn less than $60,000, come to think of it.</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure WashU DOES guarantee to meet 100% of need and do so without loans. I can’t say, however, whether this is limited to students with incomes below a certain level ($60,000). It is not, however, need-blind. This is unfortunate because I am a low-income student with an EFC of zero, but I have been “assured” that this will not be a factor against my application. That remains to be seen.</p>