Do you think these schools would be more inclined to take someone from a private school(one of the many Marist schools) and whose parents could pay the full tuition without any aid??? Please say yes
Thanks,
Matt
Well this may not be a GQ, but I believe the three schools you listed in your subject don’t use ability to pay as one of its criteria for admission. At least not officially.
That’s what I mean, no school is going to list that officially or Jessie Jackson would be on their ass. Caltech would be the LAST school to say that.
Well, I know MIT didn’t take one kid with plenty high SATs and grades that went to a public school and COULDN’T pay tuition.
(not that that kid is bitter)
The methods of the Admissions department of any private university is always mysterious. I don’t think that the people who decide on Admissions have access to financial aid information.
Granted it was a long time ago, but I don’t believe I submitted any financial aid info with my college applications. Don’t they ask after they grant you admission don’t they?
When I went to MIT almost everyone I knew was on some kind of Financial Aid.
All three schools claim that they have need blind admissions.
But, then, if people have the kind of money to pay full tuition, they’ve probably paid for a bunch of other educational experiences that look good on applications for their kid. They’ve paid for the tutoring, they’ve paid for higher test scores, (some have paid for better grades), and the schools will rate an “A” from a top rated private highschool much higher than they’ll rate an “A” from an underfunded, inner-city high school that has low test scores year after year.
So, no, you can’t buy your way in directly - but indirectly, yes, you might already have done so.
I currently attend Mudd, and have talked to some of the people who decided to admit me. They assure me (and anyone else who asks) that they don’t even know financial aid information when making an admittance decision.
I was rejected from Caltech and MIT, with a 1570 SAT score, 3 perfect 800 SATII’s, a Cumulative 4.61 GPA (grade inflation has made this useless as a measure of hardly anything, but I was 3rd out of a class of approx 400) and a International Baccalaureate Diploma. However it is they decide who gets in, it is obviously not based on grades alone, Flymaster.
And no; I can’t afford to pay the full tuition to any of the schools.
Oh, I’m well aware, and I’m honestly not bitter. MIT is an insanely competitive school, and, although I have no REAL idea how it is they decide how a person gets in, I’d have to bet that it’s pretty much a random luck of the draw thing after the final cut. I had pretty much the same grades as you, plus 3 varsity sports and lots of other extraciriculars (although I can’t spell, obviously 
). There’s just thousands of other people just like us. Oh well. RPI’s doing fine for me. 
I attended Caltech, and I can say that if they aren’t need blind, they hide it really well. Nearly all of my peers had some sort of aid. Many paid very little out-of-pocket. Some paid virtually none. The admissions people and the financial aid people have different offices, and even the application had a separate financial part that went to the financial aid office directly. Actually, when I applied I failed to send any of the financial stuff until after I got accepted. The admissions people didn’t seem to notice.
That’s one of the many good things about good, small, private institutions – they have lots of money to throw around. (Quite honestly, Caltech has a ridiculous amount of money. They don’t need to sacrifice credentials for wealth in their acceptees.)
Regarding the acceptance process more generally: there definitely is an element of luck to it all. The students right around the cut-off are, of course, more or less equally qualified. Sometimes the admissions folks just have to squeeze something out of an application in order to make a decision on it. I’ve talked to some of these squeezers, and they talk about noting this or that characteristic of the application and how sometimes it’s just flat-out hard to decide. They never hint that they look at the parents’ bankroll.
And, best of luck to you!