Can I wait to fill out FAFSA until after I get in?

My EFC is $70,000 and I’m not applying to schools that cost more than that. One school says they’ll only offer merit aid if I fill out the FAFSA, but I’d rather wait to fill it out because one of my schools is not need blind and I have a better chance of getting in if I don’t apply for aid. So can I wait to fill out the FAFSA until I hear from colleges?

Only list your merit money school on the FAFSA.

If the school is need aware for admissions…and you apply and they see they don’t need to give you a nickel of need based aid…how would this affect your admission chances!

Need aware schools, I believe, look at the financial need of the students and, at some point in their admissions process, the amount of need based aid a student needs might affect admissions. You don’t have financial need, right?

Look at the deadlines for submission of the FAFSA. If you applied regular admission, you may find that the deadline for filing this form is well before you will receive notification of admission.