[rococode]

> unless you are getting that free tuition or come from a wealthy background

The point that's being made is that your "unless" covers effectively every single student at Harvard (and the other need-blind schools). If you get in, you're either well-off and don't care about tuition, or the price tag is going to be low enough that you can justify paying it to go to Harvard instead of taking whatever other scholarships you may have received (and it may even be overall cheaper than other schools).

These top schools know their students are getting full scholarships from other schools. They accepted them because they want them, and a couple thousand dollars a year's difference is a low price for them to pay to ensure the student chooses their school.

I think the only valid "unless" is "unless you're wealthy but not super-wealthy". There's certainly a range of income where they won't give you aid but you aren't that rich (maybe your parents are FAANG SWEs). If your family makes $800k a year, you probably won't get any financial aid but you may still balk at a $250k tuition.