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A curiosity for me is that the Ivies are among some of the few universities where you get need-blind admission and financial aid. I have many acquaintances that

A curiosity for me is that the Ivies are among some of the few universities where you get need-blind admission and financial aid. I have many acquaintances that did not pay a penny in tuition. But that does not fix the larger issues with the system.

LudwigNagasena 5y ago
How can a college that hides its selection process guarantee need-blind admission?
- krastanov 5y ago
  Yeah, I give you, this is a problem that should be fixed. For what is worth, if you get admitted, you have ~4 years in which you can request to view your admission paperwork, which includes some pretty interesting and weird notes from admission officials on why you were accepted. There are multiple articles on the internet of students doing that and sharing what was considered "holisticly nice" about them.
analog31 5y ago
A college that my daughter was accepted at claimed to meet 100% of need, as I think a lot of private colleges do. It meant that after we filled out the FAFSA and an additional form that some private colleges use, they figured out how much we could "afford" to pay, and it was about 100% of full freight. We're a middle class family, let's say supported by 1.5 professional jobs, since one of us works part time. We didn't have a quarter million dollars jangling around in our pockets, and were greatly relieved when our daughter chose the nearby public university instead. Also, it's often expected that "need" will be partially met by working a campus job, and taking out loans. It's great if the college wants to curate a student body including some low income students, but I think there's a pretty big swath of the middle class that's neither poor enough nor rich enough for one of those colleges. I'm not devastated. The state university is damn good, and hobnobbing with the influential is only useful if you happen to be skilled at hobnobbing.

LudwigNagasena 5y ago

How can a college that hides its selection process guarantee need-blind admission?

krastanov 5y ago
Yeah, I give you, this is a problem that should be fixed. For what is worth, if you get admitted, you have ~4 years in which you can request to view your admission paperwork, which includes some pretty interesting and weird notes from admission officials on why you were accepted. There are multiple articles on the internet of students doing that and sharing what was considered "holisticly nice" about them.

analog31 5y ago

A college that my daughter was accepted at claimed to meet 100% of need, as I think a lot of private colleges do. It meant that after we filled out the FAFSA and an additional form that some private colleges use, they figured out how much we could "afford" to pay, and it was about 100% of full freight. We're a middle class family, let's say supported by 1.5 professional jobs, since one of us works part time. We didn't have a quarter million dollars jangling around in our pockets, and were greatly relieved when our daughter chose the nearby public university instead. Also, it's often expected that "need" will be partially met by working a campus job, and taking out loans. It's great if the college wants to curate a student body including some low income students, but I think there's a pretty big swath of the middle class that's neither poor enough nor rich enough for one of those colleges. I'm not devastated. The state university is damn good, and hobnobbing with the influential is only useful if you happen to be skilled at hobnobbing.