<p>The problem with your approach is that seat deposits are non-refundable and at some schools, very expensive. You would be tossing a lot of money (there are a couple of schools who have seat deposits that are over $1k). You are not getting this money back should you decide not to attend. The reason behind the high seat deposit fees is to discourage exactly what you are suggesting.</p>
<p>I agree with other as an OOS student, Illinois is probably not going to give you the aid you need, so you should eliminate this off the bat. They are also asking for a $150 seat deposit (which IMHO, should remain in your pocket)</p>
<p>
</a></p>
<p>For many FAFSA only schools, you already have a good idea as to whether you are eligible for federal aid just by looking at your SAR (as it will tell you if you are Pell grant Eligible and will tell you how much you are eligible for in direct loans).</p>
<p>I was on the phone with a number of schools last week, who will not give students financial aid packages until they complete the process (IRS data retrieval or transcript, completed verification forms, etc.) There were a couple of schools that stated they would not send out a finalized package until the student commits (quite a few in the SUNY system, who did not do this last year). However, they did send out tentative packages subject to verification.</p>