<p>One of the first questions on the W&M application when I applied was: “Do you expect to be eligible for the W&M Gateway Scholars program which eliminates all debt for Virginia residents whose families earn less than $40,000 per year?” </p>
<p>That’s not verbatim, but it was something along those lines. I only remember because I was going through old papers the other day and was looking at some paper college applications I had gotten from my high school guidance counselor.</p>
<p>But the point is that I’m pretty sure that the school does take financial need into consideration (at least if you’re a VA resident and your fam makes <$40K/yr).</p>
<p>Also, a lot of colleges don’t straight up ask you on the application, “Will your parents be able to pay full tuition for you to come here?” However, almost every application asks for your parent’s occupation. If you list both of your parents as medical doctors, accountants, lawyers, engineers, etc. it’s likely that you are going to have relatively low financial need. Obviously it’s not a perfect indicator, nor am I saying that all schools who ask this question are asking it to take financial need into consideration, they may be just asking to get a better idea of where you’re coming from and what perspectives you can possibly offer. However, I wouldn’t bet against some schools using it as a proxy to judge which students can pay full tuition and which cannot without straight up asking you.</p>