Are colleges really "need-blind"?

bluebayou
Fri, 06 Nov 2009 00:05:21 +0000

appdad:

I for one, am willing to accept at face value that colleges that claim to be need-blind truly believe that they are. But it is impossible for a highly selective college to be need-blind. Test scores are income-related. GPA is income-related. Taking lotsa AP/IB courses is income-related. ECs are income-related. Well-written essays can be income-related. Etc. Etc. The point is that EVERY admission criteria used by highly selective colleges is correlated with higher income families.

Like some colleges, Williams College freely admits that they give admission tips to low income kids (“low ec”)…while definitely admirable, how can they accomplish that and still be need-blind? My public state Uni also gives tips to low income kids but claims to be need-blind – impossible to do both!

Again, it can’t just be circumstance that the % of kids on finaid NEVER varies at a particular college. Look at the common data sets over time of many private colleges and you’ll find the % receiving need-based aid does not change year after year after year. How could that happen if admissions was truly need-blind.