Seek Financial Aid for all colleges or just some?

[BelknapPoint]

BelknapPoint wrote: »
You must find out if these schools are need blind or need aware.

I respectfully disagree. It doesn’t matter to an applicant if a school is need blind or need aware. What matters is that you like a school, it’s a good match, and the Net Price Calculator suggests it’s affordable; a school’s meeting full need can be critical. A school’s being need blind or need aware can affect the chance of admittance, and then usually only for applicants on the cusp, after the financial aid budget is depleted.

Quoting the part of my post that you disagree with, and not providing any context, is not helpful in this case. Here’s the qualifying language that you left out:

Based on your approach, everything you do depends on knowing this information.

OP was wondering if her child should not apply for financial aid at some “high caliber” schools, fearing that applying for aid might hurt the chance of acceptances. OP further stated that if applying for aid might be a negative, they would not apply for aid and make the financials work somehow. This was the approach that I was referring to. Given this approach, knowing whether or not a school is need blind or need aware is essential. I’m not saying I agree with the approach, but if this is the approach that OP insists on using, the school’s policy must be determined. Otherwise, the student risks not applying for financial aid that may be needed at a school that is need blind.