Lots of interesting and helpful info in this thread. But my question is more along the lines of, how long after a student is accepted does the Financial Aid office begin to work on their packages. Is that how it works at all? I can't imagine a school with a Jan. 1st deadline handing the FinAid office a list of accepted students and asking them to begin working on packages just 1 or 2 weeks before decisions go out. Or maybe they do.

This would be a great question for someone with insight into how the FinAid office works with Admissions during this season between application deadlines and admissions decisions going out.

It helps if you are not seeking financial aid obviously.

Some strenuously deny it, but it's true.

What if you don't fill out the FAFSA at all -- not seeking financial aid? Many of the apps DC filled out didn't even have a space to indicate whether he was seeking financial aid or not. So how do they know and does it help if you aren't asking for aid?

You aren't asked to rank schools, but schools can see where else you are applying, and sometimes can guess who your top choices are based on the names or the order you put them in.

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/a-dirty-little-fafsa-secret/

I have read when you fill out the financial aid form you are asked to rank schools and schools can use this information to determine how interested you are in the school for admissions.

This is the intersection between

need-blind versus need-aware

and

meets 100% financial need vs. doesn't

There are a handful of schools--not many, virtually all of them the creme de la creme of colleges/universities--that are need-blind (make admissions decisions without regard to financial need) and meet 100% of students' financial need (as determined by the college). Some schools are "need-aware"--they do take financial need into account in making admit decisions--but whoever they do let in, they pledge to meet 100% of financial need. Historically, most schools have been need-blind, but they don't pledge to meet 100% of financial need, so you may get in but you might not be able to afford it. The number of these schools, as noted in some of the links below, may be declining though. More and more schools are need-aware and don't pledge to meet 100% of financial need.

Some interesting reading:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/22/george-washington-u-admits-it-incorrectly-told-applicants-it-was-need-blind

http://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2013/10/29/does-applying-for-financial-aid-hurt-your-college-admissions-chances/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kat-cohen/the-truth-about-needaware_b_2758566.html

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/should-you-apply-for-financial-aid-2/

http://www.thecollegesolution.com/need-aware-vs-need-blind-colleges-2/

Does anyone have any insight on this relationship?

When I think about the tens of thousands of kids who apply at colleges--and the handful who are accepted--I can't imagine the financial aid office putting together packages for every single applicant. The poor guys, it's bad enough they have to create an account to store all of their FAFSA info in.

When does admissions let them know who to prepare packages for?

And do finaid packages still come with the acceptance letters?