Hello!
I applied to Reed but I’m a little concerned about my financial aid situation. It is to my understanding that Reed is need-aware so they take into account how much financial aid an applicant needs during the admissions process. My issue is that my EFC is 0 (meaning my family can’t afford to pay any tuition at all). Would this alone be enough to warrant a rejection? I’ve demonstrated alot of interest (visited through fly-in program, spoke with admissions counselor during school visit, did my interview on-campus and interviewer said that he thought I’d be a great fit). Reed is my top choice but I’m just worried that even though all the other parts of my application are pretty good, I might be rejected on the basis of how much financial aid I need.
Reed is need-blind until the financial aid budget is depleted, then they take full payers. Check your numbers against https://www.reed.edu/ir/cds/cds1718/cdssecc201718.pdf to get a first approximation of your chances (though numbers are only 20% of admission criteria; the other 80% are HS courses taken, interviews and recommendations, essays, and EC’s). That you applied ED will help.