What does “full pay” mean to colleges .. and how do they figure?

[Anonymous]

We won’t qualify for FA first year, but when second applies in a year and we have two in at same time? Maybe.

A lot of colleges say if you don’t apply for FA in first year, you can’t ever apply.

Also I think for some schools they require it for scholarships (even the non-need ones) so we’ll be filling out the forms anyway


My question is - if we’re paying full fare, I’d like the bump in admissions that comes with that. Do colleges look at their calculations to identify “full fare” or just look at the kids who didn’t check the “will apply for fa” box.
Thanks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We won’t qualify for FA first year, but when second applies in a year and we have two in at same time? Maybe.

A lot of colleges say if you don’t apply for FA in first year, you can’t ever apply.

Also I think for some schools they require it for scholarships (even the non-need ones) so we’ll be filling out the forms anyway


My question is - if we’re paying full fare, I’d like the bump in admissions that comes with that. Do colleges look at their calculations to identify “full fare” or just look at the kids who didn’t check the “will apply for fa” box.
Thanks

Is your comment above about you can’t apply FA after first year true? Curious an example of those schools

[Anonymous]

You should know that having more than one kid in college at once is no longer considered a factor when determining FA eligibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should know that having more than one kid in college at once is no longer considered a factor when determining FA eligibility.

You should know that’s only fafsa schools. Not css schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We won’t qualify for FA first year, but when second applies in a year and we have two in at same time? Maybe.

A lot of colleges say if you don’t apply for FA in first year, you can’t ever apply.

Also I think for some schools they require it for scholarships (even the non-need ones) so we’ll be filling out the forms anyway


My question is - if we’re paying full fare, I’d like the bump in admissions that comes with that. Do colleges look at their calculations to identify “full fare” or just look at the kids who didn’t check the “will apply for fa” box.
Thanks

Is your comment above about you can’t apply FA after first year true? Curious an example of those schools

Case Western says this on their website. In same boat as OP. Want the possible "bump" for being full pay first year, but will most likely be applying for FA when DC2 starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should know that having more than one kid in college at once is no longer considered a factor when determining FA eligibility.

I only have one (not the OP) so this doesn't apply to me, but I'm curious ..... really? My widowed father (and therefore single-earner family) was able to put two kids through college because we qualified for FA for the two years we were both attending. We both got enough financial aid that his outlay was almost the same as if only one were in school. He was cash-flowing tuition so this was pretty important. I realize this was a hundred years ago ....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We won’t qualify for FA first year, but when second applies in a year and we have two in at same time? Maybe.

A lot of colleges say if you don’t apply for FA in first year, you can’t ever apply.

Also I think for some schools they require it for scholarships (even the non-need ones) so we’ll be filling out the forms anyway


My question is - if we’re paying full fare, I’d like the bump in admissions that comes with that. Do colleges look at their calculations to identify “full fare” or just look at the kids who didn’t check the “will apply for fa” box.
Thanks

Is your comment above about you can’t apply FA after first year true? Curious an example of those schools

OP I've heard this is true for most private schools, but I'd be very happy to be proven wrong. Would solve this whole issue

[Anonymous]

There is no bump for full pay at nearly all of the most selective schools. It’s only a bump at schools that are need aware (as opposed to need blind).

[Anonymous]

Schools that give big bump to full pay during WL round (some even place on WL and accept before RD comes out): UChicago, Syracuse, Duke, Dartmouth, CWRU, Vandy, Princeton, Santa Clara, GW, Penn, ND, Oberlin, Vassar

All "need blind" schools are only need blind during RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no bump for full pay at nearly all of the most selective schools. It’s only a bump at schools that are need aware (as opposed to need blind).

True

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no bump for full pay at nearly all of the most selective schools. It’s only a bump at schools that are need aware (as opposed to need blind).

Correct - except for when it comes to the waitlist. My understanding is that then full-pay candidates get a bump even from need-blind schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should know that having more than one kid in college at once is no longer considered a factor when determining FA eligibility.

I only have one (not the OP) so this doesn't apply to me, but I'm curious ..... really? My widowed father (and therefore single-earner family) was able to put two kids through college because we qualified for FA for the two years we were both attending. We both got enough financial aid that his outlay was almost the same as if only one were in school. He was cash-flowing tuition so this was pretty important. I realize this was a hundred years ago ....

Yes it changed and we can all thank Lamar Alexander (R-TN) bc that was his big policy goal, for some reason.

[Anonymous]

OP we're look at both need blind and need aware.

but it was also my understanding that all schools, even need blind, take full pay into consideration during waitlist round. So it could potentially matter at every school.

[Anonymous]

The biggest way is to apply ED because then they know you are committed to them. For EA, RD and waitlist , I imagine schools have analytics where they can figure the likelihood of the student attending at that price point based on the profile of the student, amount of demonstrated interest, and historical data if the school is need aware/becomes need aware for WL.

Also, you can also see in the CDS for the school how many people applied for aid and how many people were offered need based aid. There was one school, I looked at where 60% did not apply for aid. It’s a step above the DCUM “middle class” when over half the class is coming from families that aren’t even blinking at dropping 80K (no federal loans for kids either) per year likely with multiple kids. And if I knew I was full pay and was willing to paying it, at that school I wouldn’t apply for FA. That seems like knowing you can afford to submit an all cash offer on a house, knowing there is an advantage to all cash offers, but putting financing contingency in the offer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP we're look at both need blind and need aware.

but it was also my understanding that all schools, even need blind, take full pay into consideration during waitlist round. So it could potentially matter at every school.

So many elite schools did not go to waitlist this cycle. Just make sure you are not giving up a potential benefit down the line for a benefit you may not be getting for admissions.