<p>If an applicant will not qualify for any need based financial aid but still wants to have a chance at some merit scholarship $$$, need he / she fill out all of the financial aid forms anyway ?</p>
<p>It varies but, generally, no. But that does not necessarily mean that you should pass on the forms. Check out the specific schools that you are applying to. Northwestern and Colby have merit aid programs that are restricted to those with some "demonstrated need". I'm not at all sure what this means but I think it is pretty clear that you don't qualify if you don't submit the Fin. Aid forms.</p>
<p>Most of the highly selective school's merit aid programs ignore need but there may be other exceptions.</p>
<p>Some schools practice enrollment management e.g. Carnegie Mellon. Figuring this out is about as hard as figuring out airline pricing schedules. At these schools not applying for aid may help your chances of admissions</p>
<p>However, if there is a chance that your family might qualify for need based aid in the future, you might want to go ahead and submit the forms since some schools are reluctant to give need based aid to students who did not apply before enrolling. (On this front you can generally wait till your admitted to decide). Good Luck.</p>
<p>Thanks curious. I was just trying to avoid needless paper work ,etc... Although I don't know the exact cut-offs, I can't see any financial aid in the picture. I guess as you say, the best thing is to check with each school. Marc</p>