<p>In my pre-suppliment to washu I put that I plan to apply for financial assistance based on need. then i heard that this could hurt my chances of admission, should I write the admission officer saying that i do not plan to apply for need based aid?</p>
<p>Everyone, except for the super-rich, applies for need-based aid. If you don't file the FAFSA and go through the motions for need-based aid, you won't be eligible for federal aid and certain other kinds of loans.</p>
<p>Apply for the aid.</p>
<p>i don't think that my family would actually qualify to receive any so does that change anything</p>
<p>If your family would not qualify for any aid, there is no need to apply (why check it in the first place?). Write, call or e-mail your admissions rep and tell them to change your application. It actually does help your chances to not be applying for aid.</p>
<p>As I understand it, WashU is needs aware only for transfer applications. So it should not be an issue if you are applying straight out of high school. That said, if you're still concerned, you may as well give the office of admissions a call and set the the record straight. </p>
<p>Also, ignore Happymom. While it is true that many more students qualify for aid than realize it, the truth is there are quite a number of who do not, yet are not "super rich" at all. Indeed, WashU has a quite a number of those students, far more than the place I transferred from (Case Western). As I understand it, we've got one of the wealthier student bodies on the whole (as measured by some form of financial aid, can't remember which).</p>
<p>gprime:</p>
<p>they are need-aware to freshman applicants as well.</p>
<p>so i can just call and say that we arent applying for the aid afterall since we probably wont get any</p>
<p>It turns out I was mistaken, and Ronaldo was correct:</p>
<p>Student</a> Life - Need-blind admissions a vision, but not yet a reality </p>
<p>That said, aem, you may as well call them to set the record straight, since it can only help.</p>
<p>Well my family wants me to apply for the aid, so it will say i am on the application. however, if my family does qualify for any aid it will be very little, will the adcoms know this or will they just assume that i need a bunch of aid and so will be less likely to accept me, washu is already a reach school for me....
im worried, anyone have any opinions or info</p>
<p>Why do your parents want you to apply for aid when you are doubtful to receive much of anything? If they think Wash U will give you need based aid if your financials do not show any need, they are wrong. Merit based aid is awarded separately from need based aid, and you may receive some of that, but if Wash U is already a reach for you that is not so likely as well.</p>
<p>never realized that WUSTL is need-ware!!!! Darn... they indicated on the website that anyone with income lower than 60,000 will be replaced with loan, so I thought they are most likely to be need-blind. I am kinda glad I applied with fee waiver!</p>
<p>Wow, sometimes posts on here make me sick.
"then i heard that this could hurt my chances of admission, should I write the admission officer saying that i do not plan to apply for need based aid?"
Risking 4 years of payment so you might increase your chances SLIGHTLY? That's kind of ridiculous, is it not?</p>
<p>Apply for aid. Go and run your own estimate of EFC (search for EFC estimating). If that number is less than $50K, apply for aid. Seriously. You might be shocked. It depends on a lot of factors, but it is possible for families with incomes over $200K to get substantial aid. You just need to run the numbers. The fact that your family is concerned about the cost is an indication you should apply. The impact on admissions is negligble. The majority of students there are on aid of some kind.</p>