<p>Just a short question here, if I indicate on my application that I do not intend to apply for financial aid, will I still be eligible for merit scholarships?</p>
<p>Also, anyone knows how much does applying for financial aid hurt my chances of admission? (Im a international student.)</p>
<p>For your first question, that often depends on the school. Some schools use the FAFSA even for their merit-based scholarships but many do not. </p>
<p>For your second question, that… often depends on the school. Most schools do not offer to meet full need for international students and do not offer much in the way of financial aid for them. Many of the ones that offer any financial aid to international students at all are also need-aware for international students (which means they take need into account).</p>
<p>Definitely a school-by-school issue. Especially if you are serious about a school that has “automatic” merit scholarships. </p>
<p>My S got an “automatic” merit scholarship, (Miami-Ohio) but you had to file a FAFSA to be eligible to receive it - regardless of “need”. Luckily I knew about the FAFSA requirement (their website mentioned it) even though we had an EFC of 99,999. Someone on the Miami forum indicated they missed filing the FAFSA and could of had a top merit scholarship based upon GPA & ACT/SAT, but didn’t receive it. That person was going to appeal, but they never posted the results.</p>