<p>If a college is truly need blind, why do they need so much information before they have actually accepted you? Why can't this information be held frozen by FAFSA or Profile until you are accepted? What happens to the thousands of W-2 statements that are mailed to a school when students are not accepted? I guess my question is there reason to believe they are not as need blind as some schools say they are?</p>
<p>You might do a search on this subject - it's been covered very well by great posters like Mini. "Need blind" isn't what people think. Each school, year by year, takes in approximately the same ratio of full-freight payers to "needy" ones, and that cannot be coincidence. Apparently "need blind" is like a jury case, where the judge says, "Disregard what you just heard when making your decision." Theoretically, the college is not supposed to take need into consideration in any <em>individual</em> case, but in reality, they know the facts, and take them collectively into account in order to make ends meet, so to speak.</p>
<p>I feel the same way, Mr. B. I flat don't want to do the FAFSA and Profile knowing full well we won't qualify for anything. What I want to know is, since colleges seem to boast about all the financial aid they award, will my child be penalized or flat-out rejected if we don't apply for financial aid?</p>
<p>Tookie, your child definitely won't be rejected if you don't apply for financial aid. But, if he/she is applying for merit aid many colleges and scholarship programs do require that you fill out the FAFSA anyway. In this case, failure to fill out the FAFSA will jeopardize their chances for receiving merit aid.</p>
<p>I don't think your child will be flat out rejected if you don't apply for aid, the penalty may come with the assumption that you are going to fully write the check and you don't have the money to do so.</p>
<p>As nedad says, schools are truly not need blind because there are alot of things that the adcoms can tell just by looking at the first pages of your application:</p>
<p>The area in which you live and the approximate value of homes in that neighborhood</p>
<p>The approximate income based on what you state your parents do for a living and or the colleges they attended</p>
<p>The high school you attend as many students attend their neighborhood high school and your adcom will most likely know the demographics of that school district.</p>
<p>Your school profile with the average SAT scores for your school and
the percentage of students that attend private 4 year colleges/universities
Your EC's (private music lessons, horses, dance, ski, gymnastics tend to be expensive sports)</p>
<p>Needblind schools still need all of the financial aid info sitting right there so that the aid can be processed as soon as an admissions decision is made. There is quite a frenzy in financial aid at this time of the year, as the have to come up with the money for the kids that the adcoms admit. For needblind schools, it is much easier for the adcoms, as they do not have to give a thought about how much the kid costs. When financial aid gets the list, they have to put together a package and even need blind schools have some limits. So they have to dish out the grants which everyone wants, and then work out the loans and work study. They may have to decide who to gap. Usually admissions has codes on the accepted apps as to the desireability of the student, or it can be pretty much first come, first served. Once the grants are gone, that is it for grants. Need blind does not mean you get 100% of your need met. Most schools are need blind, because it is really a painstaking process to be need aware. Many people think that just checking that box that you are applying for financial aid is all the adcoms take into account for need aware schools. That is not the case at all. A need of $5-10K is a whole different story from a kid with a zero EFC. And how much the college wants the kid plays a role too. Most colleges in this country are need blind because they do not go through such detail in need analysis, worth, etc in admissions. Admissions accepts the best candidates with a surplus because they know some of those kids will not be able to afford to come, and financial aid has to decide who get wha and still ensure a target class.</p>