Are all colleges need blind or do some take ability to pay into consideration?
Are waitlists “need aware”?
Examples from T50 and LAC/Nescacs, would be helpful.
Are public universities like Michigan required to be need blind?
Thank you.
Colleges with need-aware admission review do not always reveal their policies in a clear way. For insight into this, with some specific examples of schools included, this New York Times article may be helpful:
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This article seems to have what you’re looking for.
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Bates is need aware when choosing from the waitlist. My D accepted her slot on the waitlist this year but knows she has virtually no shot because she needs aid.
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Probably about a third of colleges overall are need aware for individual applicants in admission.
It is not always obvious which ones are.
Below is a link with a list of need blind colleges if you scroll down.
I would assume that private colleges that don’t state a policy are need aware. I wouldn’t make that assumption about state colleges and universities. As noted in the NYTimes article, some colleges are need aware to be able to meet full financial need for all accepted students. Need blind colleges that don’t meet full financial leave are the schools are the schools that tempt families to take out extra loans to attend.
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That headline is misleading, since there are far more than 104 colleges in the US that are need blind for individual applicants in admissions. Most of them do not make any promises to “meet need” for all domestic undergraduates (the 104 colleges may be those which are need blind and promise to “meet need” for all domestic undergraduates). Also, promises to “meet need” may not mean that much, since each college’s definition of “need” can vary.
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Bates is need aware during the regular admission process (ED/RD) too.
For OP, many, probably, most colleges are need blind…including many public schools. Some publics are required to be need-blind, like the UCs.
Generally, if a college doesn’t say on their website they are need-blind, then they are need-aware/need-sensitive. Schools do vary in their policies too…for example, some are need-blind on the initial app read then need-aware later, and some are only need-aware at the very end of the admission process (because they are trying to hit a certain net revenue number (tuition less FA)).
IMO the vast majority of colleges are need-aware when going to the waitlist, because they want these students to attend (so a school that doesn’t meet full need giving an FA package with a gap makes little sense), and also because FA budgets may be maxed out by then.
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Many colleges don’t explicitly state whether they’re need blind or need aware because they’re constantly debating/reevaluating their positions internally. Their ambiguity is purposeful and allows them to easily change their policies.
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Isn’t the question backwards? They vast majority of colleges are need aware. Of the small single digit percentage who are “need blind,” the majority don’t assure meeting full demonstrated need. You’re in a rarified crowd that are both need blind and full demonstrated need.
And even with need blind schools there are ways admissions can deduce financial means through obvious cues. Did the student take on of those crazy expensive for profit pre college summer programs for example? If so, they probably have means.
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Many, probably most colleges are need-blind (for US citizens/perm residents), see ucbalumnus’ posts above. Nearly all publics are need-blind, of course most don’t come close to meeting full need.
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These articles offer further discussion on this topic:
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Are you looking for schools that will give preference to strong kids that can pay more? If that is the case then state so. In which case, Northeastern, Wake Forest, Tulane, and a few other ones are pretty good. Usually schools that have multiple ED rounds are a good bet in my very unscientific experience.
Or if they have endowments per student on the low side. Its just a financial reality for those schools that they have to take need into account
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Be aware, too, that some schools use different terminology. At an open house at LAFAYETTE, I asked if they were “need aware” and was told that no, they were not, they were “asset aware”. I asked what the difference was and the answer was they were technically the same thing but “need aware” sounded more negative than “asset aware”.
Would’ve been difficult for me to not actually roll my eyes when the speaker answered with that!
I think Lafayette has received some negative press after they divulged how need factors in to their admissions process to Jeff Selingo, who then featured them in a chapter in his book “Who Gets In and Why?”.
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@ultimom that is very misleading. Just about every public university is need blind for admissions. So are community colleges. Just those two combined is more than 104 colleges.
Quote from my post: I specifically noted that state colleges and universities are different.
Northeastern is need-blind for US students and need-aware for international students.
A lot of elite colleges will tell you that they are need-aware for a small proportion of their applicants. Wesleyan is one of them and I’m old enough to remember when Brown used to do the same thing. What they will tell you is that they start the admissions cycle with a certain pot of money and proceed to monitor how much they can afford to commit to the need-blind admitted cohort (assuming a certain yield) in the weeks and months that follow. They usually get through 90% of the applicants before switching to a need-aware process.
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