Financial Aid after submitting?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>First, I'm deeply sorry if this thread seems pretentious. Classmates and other CC members have told me before that I have a good shot at getting in; I'm just a little nervous about whether applying for aid could prevent me from getting in.</p>

<p>I applied rolling to the Ann Arbor campus (LitSciArts) around Thanksgiving 2010 and indicated that I would not be applying for need-based financial aid, as I doubted that I'd get anything. In hindsight, that was silly. Does anybody know whether I can change my application to reflect that I'd like to receive a financial aid decision if accepted? If so, how?</p>

<p>So far, I've been accepted to the UMich Dearborn campus with a full-ride merit scholarship. I haven't received a decision from Ann Arbor.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, my stats are probably relevant, as I believe UMich is need-aware in its admissions, so here's a quick overview.</p>

<p>SAT: 2300 (790 Critical Reading, 780 Math, 730 Writing; National Merit Semifinalist)
ACT: 31 (subscores between 28 and 35)
GPA: 3.94 unweighted, 4.06 weighted
Senior course load: AP Calc BC, AP Chemistry, AP Statistics, Intro to PE, AP Government, AP English, Spanish 4
Recommendations: Counselor, AP English and AP Econ
Major ECs: Muslim students' association (President), school newspaper (Feature Editor and Co-founder), Fed Challenge (specialty: finance), MUN (delegate to two in-state conferences), Future Problem Solving (traveled to States 2010), DECA (Entrepreneurship state finalist, traveled to California competition 2009), blogging, Amnesty International (helped plan Regional Conference 2010), languages (able to at least read/write several languages, including Spanish, Urdu, Arabic, Hebrew, and Cyrillic-script languages), diversity club (helping to organize inaugural Culture Week)
Other information: In-state applicant from public Michigan 9-12 high school (sends dozens of students to UMich); South Asian and Middle Eastern heritage</p>

<p>Given my stats, would be at a big disadvantage (with respect to admissions) if I applied for financial aid this late in the process?</p>

2

<p>Don’t worry about a thing.</p>

3

<p>You will absolutely not be penalized in any way for applying for financial aid, and should make the effort to ensure that your parents’ tax info is filed early this year so that you can apply to FAFSA for the “early” Michigan deadline of Feb. 15 – that way you will hear earlier. Like the earlier poster said, no worries whatsoever. UMich will meet very close to your full need as an in-state student; and might even offer you additional merit money given your robust achievements.</p>

4

<p>Thank you both for the feedback and encouragement. Before I become the umpteenth person to bug my admissions officer about this, does anybody happen know if there’s an automated way to apply for need-based aid? Would it be alright if I just sent the CSS and FAFSA forms to the financial aid office, or is there some way of notifying the office of my plans?</p>

5

<p>When you apply for CSS and fafsa there should be an option to send them to UofM. That’s all you should need to do unless they ask for additional documents.</p>

6

<p>^Yes, you need to complete CSS as soon as possible – use last years taxes and update, if need be. Use Michigan’s school code to have it sent to them (it’s on the finaid website at umich.edu).
For Fafsa, make sure your app is complete around Feb. 15 to allow processing time to be in by March 1 – this makes you eligible for any state awards as well. Again, just do the online FAFSA and include Michigan’s school code for it to be sent to them. Cheers.</p>