Can you receive financial aid after getting into a college? What is the process for this, and are there certain deadlines you have to meet?
This totally depends on the school in question. And there will almost always be deadlines.
Look at the Financial Aid web page for any school you are considering to see how they handle financial aid, their requirements, their deadlines, etc.
The FAFSA for the 2020-2021 aid year will open on October 1.
Some schools also require the CSS Profile. Some schools require their own scholarship application.
There are sometimes department scholarships, extra work study that becomes available if other students don’t use theirs, sometimes even SEOG if those students didn’t return to school this year.
You can always ask at the FA office, and they will know the procedures.
From your other thread it sounds like you’re starting the application process now and your targets are the Ivies. If you’re still planning to apply ED you should apply for aid when you send in your application. You only have a short time to accept an ED offer. If you need financial aid to attend how will you know if the college is affordable if you haven’t applied for it?
Not applying for aid won’t increase your admission chances, and even if it did it doesn’t matter if you can’t pay. Colleges know some families wait until after admission decisions to apply for aid. Some of them have a rule that students who don’t apply for aid for freshman year are ineligible to receive it for subsequent years. I don’t know if that applies to students who miss the deadlines. Your best bet, if you need aid to attend college, is to apply for it when you send in your applications. Each college will list their deadlines on their websites. Make sure you find them and figure out a way to keep track of them.
Why would you wait to apply for need based aid if you need it? And especially if you are applying ED.
It depends on the school. Check for the policy on each school’s website.
Find the guidelines on each school’s website.
There are always deadlines. Find them on each school’s website.
And if you plan to apply ED, there are early priority deadlines for those financial aid forms to be submitted in order to receive a financial aid award with an ED acceptance.