<p>Always apply for aid, if you qualify for it. </p>
<p>Statistically, the number you have to look at is the 80% of all applicants who stand to get rejected regardless of their financial circumstances; students from families in the upper income levels have some advantage, but mainly because they have advantages all the way from kindergarten through high school.</p>
<p>The second number you have to look at is the 90% of admittees who will get in even with a need-aware approach. Again, if you can meet the academic and extra-curricular hurdles, your odds of attending Wesleyan flip completely in relation to what they were before you were admitted. <a href=“Elite Smaller Colleges Struggle to Cover Financial Aid - The New York Times”>Elite Smaller Colleges Struggle to Cover Financial Aid - The New York Times;