Do colleges know EFC before acceptance?

[Anonymous]

Or only that student will apply for FA (but not how much they’ll need)?

(And then they look at ECs and resume to guess how much aid they’ll need?)

[Anonymous]

Need blind colleges know nothing. Need aware colleges have a range of practices so it’s best to ask the admissions department.

[Anonymous]

Schools that are need aware do consider financial aid status when making acceptance decisions. Need blind schools separate financial aid status from admissions. However, most schools can approximate SES through info from the Common App and many use software such as Landscape and enrollment management software that provides contextual data about applicant's environment such as if they attend a high FARM high school, the media income of their neighborhood, zip code to determine if most people are owners vs renters, single parents vs married, etc.

https://highered.collegeboard.org/recruitment-admissions/management/landscape

[Anonymous]

Need aware schools who meet full need will know and consider that number when reviewing applications. Read Selingo’s book about how Lafayette handles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need aware schools who meet full need will know and consider that number when reviewing applications. Read Selingo’s book about how Lafayette handles.

Adding: Need blind school may also consider it at the waitlist stage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools that are need aware do consider financial aid status when making acceptance decisions. Need blind schools separate financial aid status from admissions. However, most schools can approximate SES through info from the Common App and many use software such as Landscape and enrollment management software that provides contextual data about applicant's environment such as if they attend a high FARM high school, the media income of their neighborhood, zip code to determine if most people are owners vs renters, single parents vs married, etc.

https://highered.collegeboard.org/recruitment-admissions/management/landscape

I had no idea! Thank you for this.

How does that work out for boarding school students?

Or do parents have to list their home address in the Common App? Should use PO Box?

[Anonymous]

YES

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Need blind colleges know nothing. Need aware colleges have a range of practices so it’s best to ask the admissions department.

They know. They just say that they don’t consider it.

[Anonymous]

What if you are low income in a rich zip code?

[Anonymous]

What if you apply for financial aid and receive little or none? Would the AOs change their decision? Or do they not know any of the details?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if you are low income in a rich zip code?

I am! My child qualified for the Pell Grant but lives in Potomac and attended Churchill. Based on her many acceptances, I do think that our “rich” zip code helped. However, I think being in the Churchill district with so many super privileged children hurt her with UMD which would have been an easy first choice. So it goes both ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Schools that are need aware do consider financial aid status when making acceptance decisions. Need blind schools separate financial aid status from admissions. However, most schools can approximate SES through info from the Common App and many use software such as Landscape and enrollment management software that provides contextual data about applicant's environment such as if they attend a high FARM high school, the media income of their neighborhood, zip code to determine if most people are owners vs renters, single parents vs married, etc.

https://highered.collegeboard.org/recruitment-admissions/management/landscape

I had no idea! Thank you for this.

How does that work out for boarding school students?

Or do parents have to list their home address in the Common App? Should use PO Box?

For boarding school they use the school and home address. Kids are asked for their permanent address and parents domicile on the Common App. Because most boarding schools are well resourced, AOs have higher academic expectations of students but many are also feeder schools to elite college. However, if the student lives in a low-income neighborhood, that would also be considered. I think using a PO Box would look like you are hiding something. But it could also signal wealth.

[Anonymous]

There are clues in the college app as to family income (home address; parents’ Ed level and job titles; certain ECs; type of high school) sufficient to make certain assumptions.

I’ve been told at some T25 schools indicators of wealth are actually not a bad thing at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What if you apply for financial aid and receive little or none? Would the AOs change their decision? Or do they not know any of the details?

Again, it depends on the school. Some schools (need aware would know). Receiving little or no financial aid would work in a students favor at a needs aware school. AOs make the first wrong of decisions and then the Enrollment manager steps in and uses prediction modeling/algorithms to help "shape" the class. In other words, they determine how much aid is available and who to give what and how much based on major, stats, yield, etc. Listen to this podcast: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/2024/07/18/interview-194-don-hossler-and-stephen-burd-on-enrollment-management/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What if you apply for financial aid and receive little or none? Would the AOs change their decision? Or do they not know any of the details?

Again, it depends on the school. Some schools (need aware would know). Receiving little or no financial aid would work in a students favor at a needs aware school. AOs make the first wrong of decisions and then the Enrollment manager steps in and uses prediction modeling/algorithms to help "shape" the class. In other words, they determine how much aid is available and who to give what and how much based on major, stats, yield, etc. Listen to this podcast: https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/2024/07/18/interview-194-don-hossler-and-stephen-burd-on-enrollment-management/

*round not wrong!