<p>My dad received a pretty substantial raise in 2008. I'm not eligible for any need based financial aid, only loans and work study. A couple of my colleges have stated that they are need-blind, but I am unsure of the role that family income plays in the admissions process at schools who aren't. </p>
<p>Will my family's ability to pay give be an advantage (or disadvantage) for me when my apps are being reviewed? Does anyone know how much of a factor this is?</p>
<p>Alright the general consensus from what I have read, is that top need blind schools, HYPS, are totally need blind. Not applying for financial aid won’t really matter. </p>
<p>For other near top schools that claim they are need blind, then it gets more complicated.</p>
<p>For example, I’m sure if you were applying for UC Berkeley and were not applying for financial aid it would be in your favor. Other top publics like UNC Chapel Hill might also look favorably on fully paying OOS students after declining endowments. </p>
<p>I didn’t think those with high incomes were eligible for work/study. </p>
<p>Others can correct me if I’m wrong, but work study is a federal program for incomes that qualify for aid.</p>
<p>Of course, you can work a regular part-time job if you want.</p>
<p>Will my family’s ability to pay give be an advantage (or disadvantage) for me when my apps are being reviewed? Does anyone know how much of a factor this is?</p>
<p>At schools that are “need aware,” not applying for aid can help a bit. </p>
<p>Has your family said that they can afford their EFC? Since your dad’s big raise was recent, your family may not be prepared to pay a big EFC. How much have they said that they can afford to pay?</p>
<p>What are your stats? What financial safety schools are you applying to? You should apply to 2-3 financial safety schools that you can either pay for out of pocket or with small loands, or you can afford because of assured merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I very much doubt that it would hurt your chances if your family is ready to pay full fare for college. It could only help. And for you it means that you’ll have more options since you won’t be dependent on financial help.</p>
<p>Also you should consider ED at your top-pick school. If you’re not dependent on financial help you’ll have an advantage over candidates who are dependent.</p>
<p>1) my parents assured me that they can pay the $55k+ each year.</p>
<p>2) there was little to no chance that the family would experience any negative financial impact in the near future. There are kids on this board who applied ED in the fall (no FA needed) and their parents now can’t afford the school because of a suddent divorce, reduction of income, etc.</p>
<p>Anyone know which schools are need aware? Is there a list somewhere?</p>
<p>In answer to the OP’s question: it won’t make any difference to the need-blind, but yes it will help for the need aware. There’s a big difference. I believe one reason why there seems to be an application explosion is because applicants sent many more applications to many, many places to determine how will give the best financial package. If your family is now able to afford full fare, you won’t have those same worries.</p>
<p>As Handala points out, there are many need blind schools that are not need blind for the waitlisted candidates. So being full pay can help pretty much everywhere. When schools need more full pays, they just make it a big year for the waitlisted.</p>
<p>Its kind of unfortunate in my case, actually (well, okay, as far as things like this go.) The raise was VERY significant, meaning that 2 or 3 years ago I probably would have been eligible for need-based financial aid and now I’m not at all.
Since we’ve only had this large income for a couple years, it’s safe to say that I’m not rich. I’m sure it would still be doable for my family to pay full tuition at a private college for 4 years, but not a breeze.
I’m not applying to Ivy Leagues, mostly private liberal-arts colleges and a couple of private universities.
Thanks for all the replies!</p>