Hello everyone,
My family has made the commitment to pay full tuition for my first year. I don’t plan on filling out FAFSA this year because I am scared that it may negatively impact my admissions. Is it possible to apply for FAFSA during my sophomore year?
Thanks!
Are your colleges need aware? If not…admissions won’t ever know your financial need.
There are a small handful of colleges that place restrictions on applying for aid in subsequent years if you don’t apply as an incoming freshman. You would need to check your school to see if it’s one of this small number of colleges.
How much will your family pay the other years?
Is it a FAFSA-only school or a CSS Profile school?
How much does the school cost?
You can ALWAYS file a FAFSA. It is your right. Whether the school gives you any of its own money is up to the school. If you feel it will keep you from being admitted to a college, wait to file until you are admitted this spring and then file it. If you are entitled to any federal aid, you’ll get it. You might get aid from the college’s own funds.
You have to fill out the FAFSA for each year you want aid. I think if you ask the colleges you have applied to whether they consider need before admissions.
@twoinanddone is correct. You can always file,a fafsa for getting the Direct Loan…or the Pell Grant if you are eligible,
That small handful of schools with restrictions have them on institutional funds.
It’s really a small number if achools.
Well…these three schools are ones you indicated you were applying to. They are need blind for admissions. Submitting financial aid application forms won’t make a speck of difference in terms of admissions.
These also require the Profile for institutional aid.
What other schools did you apply to?
You should run a Net Price Calculator on the school website to get an idea of what your need-based aid would be if you were to apply for it. And as @Madison85 says, you need to find out how much your parents will pay for subsequent years, and see if this is a workable option for four years.
OP, you don’t “file for FAFSA.” FAFSA is a form you submit to the federal government. Colleges use the information from that and/or the CSS Profile to determine how much, if any, financial support they will offer you related to need. It will also make it possible for you to take out Stafford student loans each year, and determine your eligibility for a PELL Grant.
To answer your specific question, with most schools you can skip a year and then file the next. Check with your school(s) to make sure they are ok with that.
the only thing that filing for the FAFSA does is determine your eligibility for Federal aid (PELL, subsidized loans, SEOg/ federal work study). For institutional aid, you will need to file either the CSS Profile, the non-custodial profile (if applicable) or the school’s own financial aid forms.
Just because you apply for financial aid in subsequent years, does not mean that you are going to be eligible. It is the school who determines how much your parents can afford to pay.
Sit down with them, run the net price calculator to see how much the school thinks that they can afford to pay. Project this amount over the course of 4 years. Make sure that you have a financial safety that you are willing to attend if your parents cannot afford these schools over the course of 4 years.
Do you know your costs for freshman year and have a plan to pay?
^ Do you have a plan to pay for all FOUR years?