<p>Washington U is not one of the universities that openly state that they are “need-blind” regarding admission decisions, so one can infer that they may take into account the applicant’s ability to pay when making admission decisions.</p>
<p>Here’s a list from wikipedia of all need-blind schools. I’m sure you can find this from more reputable sources, but I can only think of wikipedia on the top of my head.</p>
<p>[Need-blind</a> admission - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission]Need-blind”>Need-blind admission - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>From a StudentLife article that just appeared on Friday (it was about tuition for next year), it says that 60% of students receive financial aid – which is directly comparable to percentanges at other colleges. The article also said that overal financial aid has increased by 22% over the last two years, and that they just kicked off a scholarship campaign to raise $150 million more in financial aid over the next couple years. </p>
<p>on top of the 60% who receive financial aid, Wash U of course has the merit scholarship programs. The admissions website says they gave away “about 200” merit scholarships last year. That’s about 15% of incoming freshmen, and figuring that some of the merit scholarship winners also received regular financial aid, it’s likely that around 70% of all students at Wash U receive money in some shape or form. </p>
<p>so while Wash U likely isn’t need-blind now, it’s highly probable that they currently take your need into account very little, and within the next couple of years I’d venture a a guess that they will be completely need blind. </p>
<p>i wouldn’t stress about it, though. i’d say for the vast majority of people who aren’t accepted, it wasn’t because you needed money. and for the vast majority of people who ARE accepted, it wasn’t beacuse you DIDN’T need money. Wash U had 23,000 (-ish??) applications last year, there could be one factor or a myriad of factors why you might not be chosen, and trying to pin point it on one thing will drive you crazy.</p>