<p>
</p>
<p>The original question was asking if there was any benefit to applying for aid if you knew that you weren’t eligible for need-based aid. I was simply making it clear that at Skidmore, as pertains to institutional need-based aid, if you know that you won’t be receiving need-based aid freshman year, there is no benefit to applying under Skidmore’s policy. Come junior year, someone who didn’t apply freshman year would be treated the same as someone who applied and was denied aid.</p>
<p>So that’s useful information for list-making. And begs the question–are they an outlier or common in this? Because it still seems more like urban legend than typical. Of course, individual information is good, but “apply no matter if you need it or not, because schools won’t give you aid later on if you don’t” may be less useful.</p>
<p>I’ve never seen a reply like that. I’ve always seen, check with your schools, some schools may require it for merit or aid in later years if you need it. Typical doesn’t matter, it only takes one school to make it important that the schools be checked, especially since things change year to year. In most of these kinds of threads the OP doesn’t name the schools applied to and may not want to.</p>
<p>I have heard of Johns Hopkins as a school that does not award institutional aid to students who don’t apply as freshman, though I don’t know if the family’s financial circumstances changed or if they were simply re-evaluating their ability to pay full price. From the JHU website, Financial Aid FAQ for returning undergraduates:</p>
<p>“I have not applied for financial aid in previous years but would like to apply for next year. What shall I do now?
You must file all required documents by the May 1st deadline. When your financial aid file is complete, your eligibility for federal funding will be determined. If Hopkins funds are available you may also be considered for Hopkins funding. However, due to limited institutional funds, it is most likely that you will not receive Hopkins funding. Our policy states that typically, there is no guarantee of Hopkins funding for students who have not received Hopkins funding in previous years.”</p>
<p>It is interesting that they are specifically addressing students who didn’t apply for aid previously, not ones who applied and didn’t receive aid.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That question and answer from their website FAQ is kind of wishy-washy. “…there is no guarantee of Hopkins funding…” That kind of covers everybody, doesn’t it? And while the question specifically addresses students who didn’t apply for aid previously, the answer talks about students who have not received aid previously, a category that could include students who applied for but were denied institutional aid.</p>
<p>Bottom line: check with the school’s FA office to get the real scoop on how your situation meshes with the school’s policies.</p>