<p>Well, it's a pretty simple question: Do you need to fill out the FAFSA if you're only interested in merit aid?</p>
<p>Check with the scholarships that you are interested in. Those that are merit-only probably don't require the FAFSA. Those that are determined by a combination of merit and need will probably want the FAFSA.</p>
<p>We filed the FAFSA for the first year and they gave us some loans even though we specified no loans on the form. I had to snail mail a form back to the school to cancel the loans as they would automatically be applied without the cancellation. We didn't bother filing the FAFSA for the second year but got merit aid from filling out a multi-scholarship form applying only for Merit aid.</p>
<p>The FAFSA is pretty intrusive and I really don't need all of our personal information floating around in Federal and school databases.</p>
<p>some schools won't consider you for any school scholarships without filling in the fafsa. NYU required it.</p>
<p>I would check with the schools you are applying to</p>
<p>Yes, definitely check with the schools you're applying to. Some require you to fill out the FAFSA and/or Profile for merit scholarships while others don't.</p>