<p>1) Is need-blind or need-aware better?
2) Is financial aid different for international/canadian applicants?
3) Will your EPC be higher if your families income is higher?</p>
<p>thx</p>
<p>1) Depends on whether you have need. Need blind means they do not take your financial need into account when making admission decisions. It does not necessarily mean they will meet your need - just that it is not a factor in the admissions decision.Need aware means they do take it into account so if you have need it may be a deciding factor against you.
2. Yes. International students cannot submit FAFSA and are not eligible for federal aid such as Pell grants, Stafford loans. Some schools do not provide aid or promise as much aid for international students.
3. Yes. EFC is based on income and assets (family and student). The higher they are the higher the EFC.</p>
<p>Ok, thank you very much for the reply. So correct me if I'm wrong, you will get the same amount of financial aid whether or not it is need-blind or need-aware and the only difference is whether or not you will be accepted into the school depending if they can meet your need or not?</p>
<p>Correct: Need-blind schools will not look at your FA needs when deciding whether or not to accept you, while need-aware schools may take your FA need into consideration when making an admission decision.</p>
<p>However, this does NOT mean that even though you give schools the same financial information, that you will receive the same amount or type of FA from all schools. Schools (particularly privates) use different formulas to determine FA packages. And, even for a given amount of need, the components (grants, loans and work study) of a FA package may vary considerably.</p>
<p>So why do we have need-blind schools? Wouldn't it be more a hassle to accept students then realize you couldn't meet their financial need?</p>
<p>Nowhere is it written that a college/university HAS to meet the financial aid needs of the students that are admitted. And, in fact, most of them don't. Most will "gap" some, if not all, of the financial aid applicants. My niece has been gapped 10k for next year. She's cashing in all of her college fund to pay for 08-09, but after that she will have to find another source of money (private loans???) to make up the difference, or she will have to transfer to a cheaper school.</p>
<p>Colleges/universities are not charitable institutions. They are businesses. If they admit you, need blind, and then can't meet all (or even any) of your need, but you figure out a way to pay the difference (or even full freight), well then they will be just perfectly happy to have you turn up for class. Some colleges/universities that admit you under these conditions (also called admit-deny) will permanently remove you from the list of financial aid candidates. Be warned.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply, what do you mean by "gap"?. See I really want to go to Brown, and I believe I may be able to(if it weren't for the $$$). The financial aid page on brown states that they have a "need-blind policy for US Citizens or permanent residents" however I live in Canada(and have a candian citizenship). What does this mean for me?</p>
<p>thank you :)</p>
<p>a 'gap' = unmet need. For instance if your need as calculated by the school (as opposed to what you may think your need is) is $20,000 and they only award you $12,000 in need based aid then you have a 'gap' of $8,000.</p>
<p>Hi, thanks again for the reply. What are some schools that are known to offer "good" financial aid, how about schools that offer full need? Sorry for all the questions by the way :P</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>What that means is that they will consider your financial need in determining whether or not to admit you. It probably also means that they will not only consider whether you have need, but how much need. </p>
<p>Brown is not only need-aware, it meets full need (meaning it says it doesn't gap). That makes it less likely to accept you if you have substantial need. Why? Let's say you can afford $5K a year and Brown costs $50K. That means you have $45K in need a year. They are promising they will come up with the $ so that means they have to want you $45K worth. Someone else might only need $10K. They could accept 4 of those students instead of you and still have $ left over. </p>
<p>My dd applied to one school that is need-aware and meets full need, just like Brown. She visited numerous times, knew the admissions officer, blah, blah, blah. She was not admitted even though she was admitted to a number of colleges and universities that rank higher but are need-blind. If you have the stats for Brown, you have the stats for some other schools that are need-blind. Do yourself a favor and apply to them also.</p>
<p>I believe some schools that are need-blind and offer full aid to international are: </p>
<p>Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst, Middlebury </p>
<p>Please double check on their websites. </p>
<p>By the way, I think you should contact the schools (check webpages, email or call financial aid office) you're interested in because: 1- this is changing all the time, and 2- I really suspect Canada may be a special case (especially for schools near the Canadian border). For example, according to this press release when Dartmouth announced it was going need-blind for internationals, it already was need-blind to students from the US, Canada and Mexico. </p>
<p>Dartmouth</a> News - Dartmouth announces new financial aid initiative - 01/22/08</p>
<p>OP,
Have you read the sticky thread at the top of this forum that deals specifically with Intl student FA? That might be a good place to start, and as 2collegewego says, always check the college website for the most current information.</p>
<p>Need blind and need aware only refers to how the colleges view your applications related to your financial aid needs. Need blind schools do NOT consider your financial need when they make admissions decisions. Need aware schools do. This does NOT refer to schools that MEET FULL NEED. That is different. It sounds like you are looking for a school that meets full need. I will say that my understanding is that most schools that meet full need are also need blind for admissions. BUT schools that are need blind for admissions do NOT necessarily meet your full financial need.</p>
<p>Thank you for all the replies. Do these schools determine how much financial aid you need? Say your EPC is 18k, you can still opt to pay more right? Or "must" they decide how much financial aid you need if you apply for it?</p>
<p>@entomom, I'll check out the stickies now, thanks.</p>
<p>Schools will determine your financial need and will award you a financial aid package. When you receive that award, you have to return something to the college indicating which portions of the award you are accepting. if you don't want to accept something (like a loan, for example) you can decline that portion of the award and pay that amount yourself. And it's EFC (Expected FAMILY Contribution). </p>
<p>I have to ask...why would you opt to pay "more" than what your college is expecting you to pay?</p>
<p>"I have to ask...why would you opt to pay "more" than what your college is expecting you to pay?"</p>
<p>Well, won't you have a higher chance of being admitted this way if the college is need-aware?</p>
<p>Thumper, you wrote, "I will say that my understanding is that most schools that meet full need are also need blind for admissions. BUT schools that are need blind for admissions do NOT necessarily meet your full financial need." </p>
<p>That's not necessarily true <em>especially</em> for internationals.</p>
<p>bazookaworm, </p>
<p>Few people can afford to pay more than what the colleges estimate. </p>
<p>The colleges estimate what your parents can pay from current income. They also look at your parents' assets ($ in the bank, investments, house) and take a percentage of that and add it on to what they think your parents can pay. Then, they look to see if you have income or assets. They take a portion of that. Then, after all of that, they estimate what they think you can make in the summer. They add all of that together and come up with an Estimated Family Contribution. </p>
<p>After that, they <em>usually</em> give students a loan amount and/ or they estimate an amount the student may earn during the school year. After all of that, the college/ university digs into its own pocket for grant $, assuming, of course, that it's willing to do so and you haven't won any outside $. </p>
<p>So... let's say your parents make $60K and the colleges estimate they can pay $10K from that. They may also see that your parents have a house worth $160K and decide that your parents can contribute $5K from that. Now, they see that you have money that you've been saving since you were little-- let's say $3K. They'll say, let's add $600 to the pot. And they'll say you can work in the summer and earn $2300. So far, we have $17,900 and that doesn't include loans.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Brown is not only need-aware, it meets full need (meaning it says it doesn't gap).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>No, Brown is not need-aware: (from the Brown Financial Aid site)
[quote]
Beginning with the Class of 2007, Brown implemented its need-blind admission policy. Need-blind admission simply means that an applicant's ability to pay for their education will not be a factor in the admission decision. In other words, a candidate's financial need will not be taken into consideration when deciding to admit, wait list, or deny an applicant. This policy applies to all U.S. Citizens and Permanent Residents regardless of the program to which the applicant has applied. Brown will continue to consider a foreign candidate's financial need when deciding to admit, wait list, or deny the applicant.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>bazookaworm, when you apply to a school you will check a box stating whether or not you will apply for financial aid. Based on this, need-aware schools will accept you or deny you partly based on your financial situation before you even see how much they would expect you to contribute. It's all or nothing for need-based aid, unfortunately.</p>