Full-pay advantage: can someone break this down?

[Anonymous]

From the article about Trinity College:

There were two numbers that Pérez knew he needed to hit on May 1, the last day that admitted students could accept or reject Trinity’s offer of admission. The first number was the size of the class, which had to be as close as possible to 600 students. The second number, even more pressing, was the combined tuition revenue those 600 students needed to bring in. And back in February, Trinity’s board of trustees decided on the tuition target for the class of 2021: $19 million.

They need a certain amount of revenue which means an average across all students or a certain number of full pay for example.

For the OP, imagine a series of buckets of applicants, some by geography or gender or grades or athletes or full pay, the schools need a basic amount from each bucket to make a class. So your student may be great, but if they need a full ride and there are not spots left, it can be tough. The article shows how this works at one point and is worth your time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From the article about Trinity College:

There were two numbers that Pérez knew he needed to hit on May 1, the last day that admitted students could accept or reject Trinity’s offer of admission. The first number was the size of the class, which had to be as close as possible to 600 students. The second number, even more pressing, was the combined tuition revenue those 600 students needed to bring in. And back in February, Trinity’s board of trustees decided on the tuition target for the class of 2021: $19 million.

They need a certain amount of revenue which means an average across all students or a certain number of full pay for example.

For the OP, imagine a series of buckets of applicants, some by geography or gender or grades or athletes or full pay, the schools need a basic amount from each bucket to make a class. So your student may be great, but if they need a full ride and there are not spots left, it can be tough. The article shows how this works at one point and is worth your time.

This is interesting. Does the Trinity scenario apply to HYPS type of schools? I.e., Do the very top schools also have the "two numbers" that Admissions need to hit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Full pay is an incredible huge advantage that must people who are full pay don’t like to admit.

So far it hasn't helped DS in admissions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:From the article about Trinity College:

There were two numbers that Pérez knew he needed to hit on May 1, the last day that admitted students could accept or reject Trinity’s offer of admission. The first number was the size of the class, which had to be as close as possible to 600 students. The second number, even more pressing, was the combined tuition revenue those 600 students needed to bring in. And back in February, Trinity’s board of trustees decided on the tuition target for the class of 2021: $19 million.

They need a certain amount of revenue which means an average across all students or a certain number of full pay for example.

For the OP, imagine a series of buckets of applicants, some by geography or gender or grades or athletes or full pay, the schools need a basic amount from each bucket to make a class. So your student may be great, but if they need a full ride and there are not spots left, it can be tough. The article shows how this works at one point and is worth your time.

This is interesting. Does the Trinity scenario apply to HYPS type of schools? I.e., Do the very top schools also have the "two numbers" that Admissions need to hit?

It doesn’t apply to need blind schools at all

[Anonymous]

Full pay is an incredible huge advantage that must people who are full pay don’t like to admit.

This 100%. The full pay equation per class has always been a factor, but is even more important now as schools address the delta from Covid spending and loss. Full pay, especially ED, is a significant advantage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Full pay is an incredible huge advantage that must people who are full pay don’t like to admit.

So far it hasn't helped DS in admissions.

If you can’t get in anywhere full pay, that’s just sad

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren’t most top schools need blind now ? It doesn’t seem like full pay helps at top schools

I think a lot of schools moved away from need blind admissions - especially as the costs have risen and if they don’t have a really big endowment. Schools like Colby and I believe Holy Cross have shifted to being need aware https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2019/05/13/college-holy-cross-abandons-need-blind-admissions. There are 4 possibilities- Need Blind and meets full need, need blind does not meet full need, need aware and meets full need and need aware does not meet full need.

Need aware means they look at need as part of the admission decision. They may look at how much you need, is the EFC 20K or is it 60K or can you pay it all. As another poster mentioned - they are keeping a running total of the offers they extend with the amount of aid and models on the likelihood of accepting working towards the number they need for revenue. The bigger advantage is applying ED if you are full pay so you get the boost of the school knowing if they select your child, they are planning to attend.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it illustrative that the number of full pays doesn’t vary much from year to year? Take a look at the common data sets to see this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does need-aware mean full pay helps?

Hell yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Full pay is an incredible huge advantage that must people who are full pay don’t like to admit.

This 100%. The full pay equation per class has always been a factor, but is even more important now as schools address the delta from Covid spending and loss. Full pay, especially ED, is a significant advantage.

- What's the best way to demonstrate full pay? Fill out the FAFSA so they know how much you have or not complete the FAFSA at all?
- Is there a list of full pay schools or is it something you need to suss out by reading each school's profile?

[Anonymous]

If you do not submit a fafsa that is definitely a way to communicate no aid is needed.

Research for each university is important - even if they are not so transparent about their decision-making, they are better in terms of the aid provided in total and per student, plus you can read their individual common data sets (cds).

[Anonymous]

According to net price calculators, we were not going to qualify for fin aid anywhere. That doesn't mean that we can really afford any private schools. We have a 529 but are also funded our retirement accounts and HSA, so we were never able to save too much in the 529. I filled out the FAFSA to see if we could get any unsubsidized loans and the answer was No. We only qualified for a $5500 unsubsidized loan. Did we jeopardize our daughter's acceptances chances by filling out the FAFSA? Just wondering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you do not submit a fafsa that is definitely a way to communicate no aid is needed.

Research for each university is important - even if they are not so transparent about their decision-making, they are better in terms of the aid provided in total and per student, plus you can read their individual common data sets (cds).

OK, but the FAFSA is a Federal form. Once the FAFSA is complete, you are sent to fill out your CSS Profile, which is like a common app for financial aid. There you can choose to send more info to individual schools, or leave them off the list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to net price calculators, we were not going to qualify for fin aid anywhere. That doesn't mean that we can really afford any private schools. We have a 529 but are also funded our retirement accounts and HSA, so we were never able to save too much in the 529. I filled out the FAFSA to see if we could get any unsubsidized loans and the answer was No. We only qualified for a $5500 unsubsidized loan. Did we jeopardize our daughter's acceptances chances by filling out the FAFSA? Just wondering.

We did this last year knowing fully well we won't qualify for need based aid. There is a lot of confusion about whether or not you need the FAFSA for merit-based aid, some of which are through the college and others are through individual donors or trusts. Just thought it would be easier to file the FAFSA. Can't definitely say if that affected admissions or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to net price calculators, we were not going to qualify for fin aid anywhere. That doesn't mean that we can really afford any private schools. We have a 529 but are also funded our retirement accounts and HSA, so we were never able to save too much in the 529. I filled out the FAFSA to see if we could get any unsubsidized loans and the answer was No. We only qualified for a $5500 unsubsidized loan. Did we jeopardize our daughter's acceptances chances by filling out the FAFSA? Just wondering.

We did this last year knowing fully well we won't qualify for need based aid. There is a lot of confusion about whether or not you need the FAFSA for merit-based aid, some of which are through the college and others are through individual donors or trusts. Just thought it would be easier to file the FAFSA. Can't definitely say if that affected admissions or not.

Thank you. I feel like there's a lot of conflicting advice out there.