Does Applying for Financial Aid Hurt Chances of Admission?

Dear Subscriber -

This might be the most commonly asked question
I get this time of year:

“Should I Check the ‘Yes’ Box?”

In other words, will indicating on the Common Application
that you are applying for financial aid hurt your chances
of admission?

Many parents and students suspect -or believe -
that if they DO NOT check that box, they
increase their chances of getting in.

The rationale is that, because college
is a business, they want a certain amount
of kids paying sticker price – and they’ll
admit them first, ahead of kids who cannot
pay full fare.

In other words, if you can afford to pay
the full cost of attendance, your chances
of getting in are just a smidge better.

I won’t lie to you, this is not an easy
question to answer. Because there’s no
hard, statistical evidence one way or the
other.

But understand the following points about this
issue:

First, hardly any admissions officer in America
will say – on the record – that full-pay students
get priority consideration.

Many colleges trumpet their “need-blind” policies,
which state that if a student is qualified for
admission, it doesn’t matter whether she needs
financial aid or not.

That being said, we know that this is not ALWAYS
the case from off the record comments.

A year or two ago the New York Times published
an “inside” article at a competitive college’s
admissions office that described how the officers
were asked to remove 100 qualified students in
the “needs aid” pile and replace them with “full-
pay” students.

What college?

Reed College, in Oregon.

Never heard of it?

Have you heard of a company called “Apple?” A
guy named Steve Jobs?

Jobs went to Reed. (I’ll pause while you
recover from the awe you must be feeling at
my ability to make this piece extra topical…
OK?)

Anyhow, it’s undeniable that Reed was not the
only college forced to make such decisions.
There have been a smattering of articles recently
describing similar practices at other top schools.

But I believe that this is not as meaningful
as many parents think. Consider the economic
framework at the top colleges.

Through establishing a superior brand and by
aggressive marketing efforts, America’s
most prestigious colleges have created a
crazy, weird demand for their spots.

The result is that many admit less than 10% of
applicants.

And their wait lists regularly exceed
one thousand applicants, each.

So they don’t have a problem filling their
slots. In other words, supply is far
exceeded by demand.

Financial Aid offices and admissions offices
balance the amount of full-price-paying kids
with those receiving tuition discounts.
It might be 55% who want aid, and 45% who
do not request it, for example.

But as long as the top colleges enjoy this pent
up demand for their slots, their admissions
offices will have no problem filling
their classes up with each type of student.

That’s why I say that, if your student
is qualified to get in – it’s immaterial
whether he or she needs scholarships, grants
or student loans. Sure, in some, rare cases,
it can help marginally.

But let’s say that you simply cannot float the
cost without assistance from the college, but
you do not check off the “Yes” box.

Then your child gets in, and you quickly submit
a financial aid application. Now what?

Again, this answer is not based on scientific
or statistical evidence. But I know from
off-the-record, late night comments at boring
conferences that admissions and financial aid
officers “get” that you’re trying to game the
system.

Will they deny you every last cent of financial
aid? No. But they will feel less inclined to
offer you the full amount that you deserve,
on paper, according to the formulas used by
the financial aid office.

I recommend starting out on the right foot with
your new relationship with the college. If you
need financial aid, be up front and honest about
it.

- Andy

P.S. It’s one thing to indicate you need
financial aid – it’s quite another to get the
maximum you could qualify for. For example,
how do the formulas work? Why do some colleges
have more grants and scholarships to give than
others?

I’m hosting two f.ree college finance workshops
in the next three weeks. You’re invited.

Please feel free to invite anyone you think may
benefit from information like this – which is
merely scratching the surface of how the whole
process works.

Send them this email and they’ll love you forever!

Here’s the link to register:

www.LockwoodCollegeFunding.com

Andrew Lockwood, J.D.

Tagged as: Andy Lockwood, college admission, common application, financial aid