Better odds for full pay applicants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay was definitely NOT any sort of advantage so far this cycle among need-blind schools.

We'll see what happens to waitlisted kids.

I imagine that 2026 may be different.

I disagree. It looks like it was at our private.
The wealthiest kids (parents with w/big-name job titles (CEO, etc) and a history of large $$ philanthropy) were admitted to several private T20 even as marginal candidates. They clearly brought more to the table than others.

That's not full pay. That's being a development case or Z list kid and is an entirely different category that has worked for years and years and is not new to 2025.

Are all uber-wealthy people "developed" though? Or are some borderline offspring of "wealthy" people admitted in the off chance they'll eventually donate? How does it work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

the podcast basically admits that some AO might be googling addresses for Zillow value.

"You can look at address. You can look at street address. And all you need to do is pull up some real estate calculator and you can just Google someone's address and see the estimated value of a particular home.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

DP. The College Board Landscape tool, which most colleges use, gives data down to the census tract.

So. much. data. Algorithms may drive decisions in ways that AOs who are not the Director of Admissions may not even be aware of. Predictive modeling will help the college end up at a certain % full pay vs on financial aid, and I suspect it's even more fine-grained than that, as they do need to stick to a budget.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

Oh well. We’re a full pay, stealth wealth family living in a totally regular neighborhood. We’ll get by somehow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

Oh well. We’re a full pay, stealth wealth family living in a totally regular neighborhood. We’ll get by somehow.

We have an unusual name and my DH is a law firm partner. (If you google his first and last name, his firm bio page is the first hit.) I'd love to think this somehow gives us a leg up in admissions but I honestly just don't think it does.

[Anonymous]

I read a while ago on this forum that some college counselors advise it's better to show your income and assets by filing the CSS Profile and FAFSA to "prove" that you are a full pay. It seems a bit crazy, but could be true?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read a while ago on this forum that some college counselors advise it's better to show your income and assets by filing the CSS Profile and FAFSA to "prove" that you are a full pay. It seems a bit crazy, but could be true?

It seems to me that not submitting a FAFSA is proof enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

Oh well. We’re a full pay, stealth wealth family living in a totally regular neighborhood. We’ll get by somehow.

We have an unusual name and my DH is a law firm partner. (If you google his first and last name, his firm bio page is the first hit.) I'd love to think this somehow gives us a leg up in admissions but I honestly just don't think it does.

I don’t think so - brother is a CXO at a 2000 person company with a unique last name and my nephew didn’t get into any reaches and only half his targets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read a while ago on this forum that some college counselors advise it's better to show your income and assets by filing the CSS Profile and FAFSA to "prove" that you are a full pay. It seems a bit crazy, but could be true?

It seems to me that not submitting a FAFSA is proof enough.

DP. The admission officers at schools that claim to be need-blind will not know whether FAFSA and the CSS Profile were filed, nor the checkbox in the application that asks if the student is applying for financial aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read a while ago on this forum that some college counselors advise it's better to show your income and assets by filing the CSS Profile and FAFSA to "prove" that you are a full pay. It seems a bit crazy, but could be true?

No, that's not how it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

Oh well. We’re a full pay, stealth wealth family living in a totally regular neighborhood. We’ll get by somehow.

We have an unusual name and my DH is a law firm partner. (If you google his first and last name, his firm bio page is the first hit.) I'd love to think this somehow gives us a leg up in admissions but I honestly just don't think it does.

Law firm partners generally not considered uber-wealthy or influential

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I read a while ago on this forum that some college counselors advise it's better to show your income and assets by filing the CSS Profile and FAFSA to "prove" that you are a full pay. It seems a bit crazy, but could be true?

It seems to me that not submitting a FAFSA is proof enough.

DP. The admission officers at schools that claim to be need-blind will not know whether FAFSA and the CSS Profile were filed, nor the checkbox in the application that asks if the student is applying for financial aid.

So if they are boxed out of this information, google/zillow it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say buy into a good school district because better school, better peer group. But it's also buying the assumptions about that applicant pool. Better to be the poorest family in a wealthy district than trying to be the diamond in the rough (who is actually relatively well off) in a poor district.

That doesn’t make any sense. No one’s assuming you’re full pay because of your zip code. Look at all the well-off families around here getting financial aid at their private high schools.

It does, because the college is playing the averages. Expectation value is much higher in a high income zip code, even if it's not across the board. Also, just because some Podunk private HS has false pricing, does not mean the family will qualify for anything special come college. Point is, if you want to use this to your advantage, be the poorer family living in the expensive zip code (and have a high stats kid), or be that scholarship kid at the top private.

Oh well. We’re a full pay, stealth wealth family living in a totally regular neighborhood. We’ll get by somehow.

We have an unusual name and my DH is a law firm partner. (If you google his first and last name, his firm bio page is the first hit.) I'd love to think this somehow gives us a leg up in admissions but I honestly just don't think it does.

Law firm partners generally not considered uber-wealthy or influential

Wasn't saying that at all. Was simply stating that it's quite obvious we are full pay.