<p>My daughter recently received an invitation to apply at one of the schools she is interested in. This was a preliminary application which asked general questions (areas of interest, what do you want to study, racial background). One of the questions that stumped us was "will you be applying for financial aid?". We automatically checked yes because although, we probably will not qualify for need-based aid, we might need to apply for a student loan of some sort and we are hoping that she would potentially receive some merit aid. I gather from our income we will not qualify for much if any financial aid. Our preliminary calculated EFC is about $45,000.</p>
<p>We are now thinking we should have left it blank. Will this put her at the bottom of the list of applicants in front of those who can potentially pay full freight? It is too late for this school but I am wondering if this question comes up on other applications if we should answer no?</p>
<p>I don’t know if anyone (other than admissions folk) can prove this one way or another, but I believe all schools who state this, because they get to decide how much need you have AND can choose to meet that need with loans if they decide they don’t want you a lot… </p>
<p>Having said that its important to note that there are very few schools with massive endowments (HYPS, Rice…) which meet all demonstrated need with extremely small student loan contributions and small work study requirements.</p>
<p>Bottom line: Schools with very large endowments can afford to be very generous with aid - they just want a well rounded class and do not care about finances when making admissions decisions. Ticking the box just sends notice to the FA people to start collecting/expecting financial info (FAFSA/CSS) and will not impact admission or merit award consideration.</p>
<p>There is no doubt that at many schools it’s an advantage to check no. If you’ve done the homework and know you won’t qualify, it’s my opinion you should check no. Others will argue it’s fine to check yes at school that meet 100% of need but I believe these are unique times and schools need full pay candidates. You can fill out FAFSA at any time for the loans. </p>
<p>And schools that give merit aid should not be effected. They know they need to discount to get the near full pays in the door.</p>
<p>I wrestle with this issue for my S, who may be applying ED to a selective major. He and his older sister will overlap one year in college, so we might qualify for some aid for that year. I have also seen posts that say if you don’t apply for aid the first year, you may not be able to in future years. I wonder how this is affected by major circumstance change, like job loss. I am leaning toward checking the not applying for aid box, as the school does give merit scholarships.</p>
<p>I am no expert, but I am rather logical…I would think the reason a school may not give you FA later if you didn’t apply the first year is for budgeting purpose. Now, if you were to apply and didn’t qualify the first year, it is not likely the school would assume you may need FA subsequent years and put some money aside for you. So, what would be the point in applying? As far as major circumstance change, like job loss - a school would most likely assume it’s a temporary situation and would want you to tap into other family asset before they would consider giving you any aid. </p>
<p>I am with hmom5 - even if your kid is eligible for a few thousand $ aid, you need to decide what’s more important (better chance of admission, or that few thousand $). If your kid is a very strong candidate, he/she would get in no matter what (FA or not). But if your kid is borderline, or if your kid has no special hook, then by not needing aid is a hook in today’s environment. Our private school GCs just gave all rising seniors’ parents such message.</p>
<p>By applying for FA you are also disclosing your family’s financial situation. If I were an adcom and I have 100 similar candidates, I wouldn’t choose a candidate whose family may encounter some difficulty in paying for four years of tuition later (it’s a hassle to deal with), no different than to make sure an applicant is academically strong enough to graduate in four years.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. It seems the consensus is to not check the box. </p>
<p>Even though our EFC is high, there is no way we could meet this for various reasons. I know there are many people in this situation. As they take into consideration your current income and your home equity,our EFC is high. I have a second child I would like to send to college someday also and I think it is ridiculous they want you to tap into your home equity. Isn’t this part of the reason we got into this economic mess? But I digress… Anyway, since our savings are short of the EFC, we most likely will need to apply for some loans to meet the balance any merit aid will not meet. Logically, I thought it would be ok to check the box. However, I see your points and will leave the box unchecked for future applications.</p>
<p>“Now, if you were to apply and didn’t qualify the first year, it is not likely the school would assume you may need FA subsequent years and put some money aside for you. So, what would be the point in applying?”</p>
<p>With the oldest, we did apply her first year even though we didn’t expect any need-based aid. (and she didn’t get any need-based aid) After 2008’s stock market events, our EFC was cut in half and we did qualify, she was offered a grant, work-study, and subsidized loan for her second year.</p>
<p>Don’t confuse loans given through the school (aid) with private loans which you can use to meet EFC. Even if you don’t apply for (or qualify for) any aid, your student can still get private loans. If you’re nervous about checking the box, that might be an option to explore.</p>
<p>LasMa, maybe I am a bit confused. I was hoping my daughter could still get student (Stafford) loans (not private) and even work-study to fill in the gap between the cost of attending and the EFC. Are they not available to people who do not qualify for aid? Since she would have to pay these back, I thought she would still have these available to her. I understand private loans can get pretty murky, depending on the lender.</p>
<p>The federal loan (Stafford) and work/study are included as part of the aid package. Our statement looked like this:</p>
<p>Tuition/housing/fees<br>
Minus scholarship<br>
Minus grant<br>
Minus Stafford<br>
Minus Work Study </p>
<p>Equals balance due <– the amount we have to come up with</p>
<p>Anyone can get a private loan for the bottom line amount, or any part of it. You don’t have to apply for, or qualify for, need-based aid to do this. The loan is in the student’s name, usually with parent as co-signer. Depending on your credit, there are some good interest rates out there.</p>
<p>If you don’t apply for aid, I believe (others check me if I’m wrong), that there will be no Stafford or Work Study. In that case, all of your loans would be private loans.</p>
<p>I just redid the Fafsa calculator because I realized I had to add in savings bonds she received as gifts years ago plus some we also purchased. This raised by EFC by another $10,000 As I was doing this, I also realize that there is no place to add in Property tax,which is substantial where we live ($10,000). I save this in a dedicated account every year. therefire they see it in my savings but it is not an available asset. Do you place this in the box US income taxes paid? It seems wrong but I also don’t understand why they would not consider this as property taxes are mandatory. Am I missing something?</p>
<p>Anyone know if we would still be eligible for a Stafford loan given that no other aid looks possible?</p>