<p>I think you’re confused about prestige/acceptance rates…many US colleges don’t have high acceptance rates (above 50%). Many public schools, especially “flagship” universities, have outstanding reputations and are respected world-wide for their research contributions and they’re virtually all need-blind. You have four such schools on your list, with varying price tags and admissions practices. Those are schools you’d be more likely to gain admission to than Harvard/Columbia/Stanford regardless of your FA response…the ivies are not “likely admits” even for kids with perfect stats with or without FA. So, not asking for FA will not get you anywhere with a need-blind school, like Cornell, and will also not tip the admission scales much at a need-aware school if you wouldn’t otherwise be a solid candidate for admissions. It might be a tie-breaker at a need-aware school if the other candidates would need significant aid in order to attend.</p>
<p>If you apply via the Common App and don’t do separate applications, then you’re going to answer the “will you be applying for FA” question once. If you apply separately to a school, you can tailor your response to whatever you think will best serve your needs. I think it’s safe to assume that Stanford will not be calling GT to discuss your finances.</p>