<p>Will applying for financial aid impact my acceptance?</p>
<p>I am to a lot of reach schools. Will applying for financial aid hurt my chances?</p>
<p>It depends on the school. There’s two types in this regard “needs-blind” and “needs-aware”
The deciding factor is if the individual school feels like they can support any amount of aid. Many, but not also selective schools are needs-blind, and schools which have a large endowment are generally better in that regard too. I suggest you check the admissions and FA sites for each school you’re interested in.</p>
<p>to add to this</p>
<p>a need blind school is one where the admissions committee has no idea if you need financial aid (FA) or not when they are making the decision. They make the decision (Ya or Nay) and then the FA office looks at the forms and decides how much aid they can give. You may get admission but may not like the aid given.</p>
<p>A need aware institution on the other hand takes into consideration if you need aid before making a decision. This does not mean that they will reject anyone who needs aid, they may in fact give the same or more amount of aid as need blind institution. What they do is to ensure that if they give you admission, they also give you the aid that will make it possible for you to attend.</p>
<p>At the end the results may be the same or similar. A need blind institution may admit 100 students who need aid, but only 50 get a FA package that is affordable. A need aware institution may admit 50 students who need FA, but all of them get good packages. </p>
<p>Again all of this relative. Some students may say “I am willing to make some compromises and take a slightly bad package for a top rated institution” and thus prefer a need blind institution. So yes, in some schools it could make a difference, but at the end of the day I personally do not think it makes sense to go to a school where you have to pay with lots of loans. </p>
<p>The best way to protect yourself is to apply to a mix a colleges, with some financial safeties.</p>
<p>What schools are you applying to?</p>
<p>Most schools are “need blind,” but some are need aware.</p>
<p>BTW…if you need FA in order to go to school, what would be the point of NOT applying? If you got accepted, how would you pay for it?</p>
<p>“What they [need-aware schools] do is to ensure that if they give you admission, they also give you the aid that will make it possible for you to attend.”</p>
<p>Not quite, for two reasons. Some need-aware schools give the school-calculated full-need amount, and some give less than that (gapping). In addition, the school-calculated full-need amount may not be enough to enable you to attend.</p>
<p>boston college, NYU, babson, bentley, TCNJ</p>
<p>There are really 2 dimensions. Need blind vs. Need aware, and meets full demonstrated need vs. not. They are not necessarily related. All 4 combinations are possible.</p>
<p>Some need blind schools meet full demonstrated need, and some do not. Keep in mind that “full demonstrated need” is how much THEY think you need to be able to afford the school. That may or may not coincide with your family’s reality.</p>
<p>Similarly some need-aware schools meet need, and some do not. I think the “point” of need-awareness is not necessarily only admitting those students they can afford to meet the needs of, but also being sure that they admit “enough” full-pay students to support <em>their</em> need for income.</p>
<p>vossron and mathmomvt are right. Need aware schools may not meet full need, just like need blind schools. So there are two dimensions.</p>
<p>OP are there any other schools you applying to, not sure about TCNJ but the others are competitive and you may not get full aid. NYU for example is not known for good aid packages.</p>