This may have been answered elsewhere, but I’ve searched and could not find. Does anyone know if accepting ($100 fee) or signing a housing contract could impact your total aid offer? Basically, if they know you are coming, why give aid? I think paying the $100 even before deciding for sure is worth it to get in line for the 1st housing contracts, but if the housing contract comes and still waiting for financial aid…not sure. Thoughts? My D is mostly likely going for sure, but I would hate for her to miss out on aid because of that. She is in-state.
@Curious105 I think that you can safely pay the acceptance fee without the worry of missing out on any aid. According to the merit scholarship website, the only factors considered for the Maximus, Provost and Trustee scholarships are class rank and ACT/SAT scores. The Morrill and Eminence scholarships had applications that were already due. As long as you submitted the FAFSA by February 1st, you should be fine for need-based aid consideration.
http://undergrad.osu.edu/cost-and-aid/merit-based-scholarships
I haven’t received my official cost-of-attendance yet either but like you mentioned with your daughter, at this point I am pretty much decided on OSU so I paid the acceptance to get a jumpstart on housing.