Schools claim FA doesn't affect admission - how sway?

[Anonymous]

I've noticed that the privates we applied to all say that FA doesn't affect admission. But how not? If there was a truly blind admissions process, the schools may end up with too many FA kids and not enough full pay, meaning they can't afford to give out as much FA. I've also heard that you have a better chance of being accepted if you're full pay. We applied for FA but I'm starting to think that it's possible that it may hurt our chances of being accepted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've noticed that the privates we applied to all say that FA doesn't affect admission. But how not? If there was a truly blind admissions process, the schools may end up with too many FA kids and not enough full pay, meaning they can't afford to give out as much FA. I've also heard that you have a better chance of being accepted if you're full pay. We applied for FA but I'm starting to think that it's possible that it may hurt our chances of being accepted.

My understanding is that FA doesn't affect the initial admission decision based solely on the merits of your student application. This is the part that's "blind" as advertised. But if the school, upon review of the FA application, then decides that they can't offer the amount of FA needed, the initial admit decision may turn into something else. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've noticed that the privates we applied to all say that FA doesn't affect admission. But how not? If there was a truly blind admissions process, the schools may end up with too many FA kids and not enough full pay, meaning they can't afford to give out as much FA. I've also heard that you have a better chance of being accepted if you're full pay. We applied for FA but I'm starting to think that it's possible that it may hurt our chances of being accepted.

My understanding is that FA doesn't affect the initial admission decision based solely on the merits of your student application. This is the part that's "blind" as advertised. But if the school, upon review of the FA application, then decides that they can't offer the amount of FA needed, the initial admit decision may turn into something else. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

This makes sense.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the PP. My son was waitlisted at a Baltimore private school so I called to see what the deal was. They said he was qualified but we required too much FA. They were waiting until the admits got back to them to see if it would free up any money for him and some other kids who were waitlisted for FA reasons. We ended up going elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

It depends on the school. School's will do it 2 different ways.

1. You will receive an offer of admission and an amount of FA, you can either accept it and make up any difference or you can walk away.

2. The school will ask you what you really think you can afford to pay and if the school can't offer that they won't accept your kid.

[Anonymous]

PP I don't think this is exactly true, I mean you check if you require FA on the application at least at a lot of the Baltimore Privates. Additionally in the FA application there is a section that you actually have to enter in the amount of tuition you can feasibly afford. I believe they may still admit you even if the numbers do not match. We got different awards from 3 different schools all with the same tuition cost and none matched the amount we said we could afford.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]PP I don't think this is exactly true, I mean you check if you require FA on the application at least at a lot of the Baltimore Privates. Additionally in the FA application there is a section that you actually have to enter in the amount of tuition you can feasibly afford. I believe they may still admit you even if the numbers do not match. We got different awards from 3 different schools all with the same tuition cost and none matched the amount we said we could afford. [/quote]

I hope this is the case across the board. If our #1 offers us and can't match the amount we listed, we may be able to work around it (as long as it isn't too far fetched), but, I also understand that they want commitment and don't want a family to leave after one year because they couldn't afford it.

[Anonymous]

I don't think Baltimore privates claim to be need blind. I think they pretty uniformly offer financial aid to only about a quarter of the school, with upper school students receiving a disproportionate share.

Your child's chances of getting into a Baltimore private are definitely higher as a full pay student.

[Anonymous]

If a school is truly need-blind, they are doing admissions independent of FA applications, and then allocate the FA among the admitted students. The allocation is not blind--they'll offer more to particular kids they want to get, and no school we looked at commits to meeting the full need for all admitted applicants. So some families who applied for aid will get in, but won't be granted any aid. The schools factor that into their yield.

If a school is waitlisting a child based solely on FA needs, they aren't need-blind (and not all schools are--some commit to meeting the FA needs of all admitted students, for instance). There are compelling reasons for schools to be on either side of this ("need-aware" vs. "need-blind") so it's not a mark against the school if they're one vs. the other, IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If a school is truly need-blind, they are doing admissions independent of FA applications, and then allocate the FA among the admitted students. The allocation is not blind--they'll offer more to particular kids they want to get, and no school we looked at commits to meeting the full need for all admitted applicants. So some families who applied for aid will get in, but won't be granted any aid. The schools factor that into their yield.

If a school is waitlisting a child based solely on FA needs, they aren't need-blind (and not all schools are--some commit to meeting the FA needs of all admitted students, for instance). There are compelling reasons for schools to be on either side of this ("need-aware" vs. "need-blind") so it's not a mark against the school if they're one vs. the other, IMO.

+1. I think it really depends on the school. We were admitted to one school and were told in a separate communication that could not offer any FA. When I called the Admissions Director to let her know we would be accepting elsewhere because we needed FA, she said that they do not like to make decisions for applicants so they will admit a qualified student even if they cannot offer aid because sometimes families find other ways to fund it. On the flip side, I have heard that one school in particular was calling around to WPPSI testers asking if they knew of any Black applicants who were full-pay. I won't even begin to comment on my real reaction to this...other than to say, my take away was this particular school wanted to increase diversity but were only committed to doing it racially and not socio-economically. My child was WL at this particular school and I can't help but wonder if we could afford to full pay if the decision would have been different. The school were DC was admitted is providing us substantial FA (more than 50%), so I can only surmise our needing substantial FA was not a negative factor.

[Anonymous]

I am 11:29 and I was referring to DC private schools I have no idea what they do in Baltimore. When we applied a few years ago we experienced both the scenarios I laid out. The school who asked upfront what we could afford and then accepted or rejected us depending on that amount said that they do not like people to overextend themselves or do crazy things like take out loans so they take what you say you can afford as written in stone.

I don't believe there any need blind private schools in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 11:29 and I was referring to DC private schools I have no idea what they do in Baltimore. When we applied a few years ago we experienced both the scenarios I laid out. The school who asked upfront what we could afford and then accepted or rejected us depending on that amount said that they do not like people to overextend themselves or do crazy things like take out loans so they take what you say you can afford as written in stone.

I don't believe there any need blind private schools in the DC area.

Beauvoir and Maret both claim to be need-blind on their websites.

[Anonymous]

"Need blind" is much different from "meeting the full demonstrated need" of families.

The need-blind schools will admit you if you meet admissions standards, regardless of income. However, they might well not give you enough aid to make it possible for you to attend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:"Need blind" is much different from "meeting the full demonstrated need" of families.

The need-blind schools will admit you if you meet admissions standards, regardless of income. However, they might well not give you enough aid to make it possible for you to attend.

Exactly this.

We do know at least two families who were WL at GDS because there wasn't enough aid to offer them unless other aid offers were turned down. So I don't think all the schools even claim to be need blind, and they certainly don't commit to provide financial aid if admitted.

[Anonymous]

A need-blind approach seem like a formula for chaos at acceptance time.

There's only so much money in the FA budget. The FA offered will not meet the full need.of many.

Why admit someone who will need a significant amount of FA when you know that it's highly unlikely that they'll be able to come up with the difference between the cost and their likely FA offer?

That forces someone who can afford the cost onto the WL.