<p>We will not qualify for need-based aid, maybe some merit or talent aid at best, but it seems so final to have our daughter say "no" on the common app. If situations change, can we revisit that question then?<br>
Is there any reason to say yes, and to fill out all the forms if you do not expect to qualify?</p>
<p>Some schools require that forms be filled out to receive merit aid. Also, family circumstances change..ie: loss of job, disability, etc. I have read that it is recommended to complete it, but many schools are not need blind when it comes to admissions.</p>
<p>They may not be need blind for admissions, but that doesn't mean that checking that you're applying for financial aid is an automatic "no". My understanding (at most schools, of course - schools are certainly free to do what they want) is that if you're in the pile where need becomes a consideration in admissions, they look not only that you've applied, but how much you would need. They're looking at their own bottom line. So if you don't "need" anything, you would be considered the same as if you hadn't applied. To that extent, though, not checking the box doesn't buy you anything.</p>
<p>Does anybody know, if you end up needing financial aid say in their junior year, does it behoove one to have filed in freshman year?</p>
<p>Weenie, I don't know, but I have read that it does. I have always really wondered. Great question!</p>
<p>Weenie, CC conventional wisdom says yes. However, I believe it's partially an individual school thing, and partially determined by gov regulations. Some aid cannot be contingent on a freshman app--if a student qualifies for fed/state aid in any given year, the school needs to facilitate that whether or not the student filed frosh year, so it has to process the FA forms.</p>
<p>As far as institutional grant aid, that is where a school has leeway. My S's school did process his FA and did give him grant aid this year, though we did not apply freshman year. In fact, they were surprised that I even brought up the question. Other schools may handle it differently, so a call to the FA office is your best bet.</p>
<p>weenie: From the Dean tip Thread from USNews:"Peter Van Buskirk, a former admissions dean at Franklin & Marshall College, in Lancaster, Pa., has started spilling the beans."</p>
<p>"
A lot of parents believe if that if they apply for financial aid, the student's chances of getting in are reduced. Is that true?
I believe that is the case. I would further say that it depends on where the student is applying. It is really important for students to put themselves on the right playing field. By that, I mean putting themselves into a competition that makes sense for them. Find the place that matches up with your ability to perform. Find the place that values you for what you do well. That school will make sure you get what you need in order to complete your education. The bottom line is that a student's ability to be self-supporting financially is an important credential at many places."</p>
<p>"
How about not applying for aid the first year, to give the student a better chance at admission, then, once the student gets in, applying for aid for the second year. Is that a wise strategy?
Colleges build their financial aid budget for the upperclass years based on the expectations or demonstrated need they see in the entering class. As a result, hiding your need for aid the first year is not a good idea. Colleges might say, if you looked rich when you got in but look poor in the second year: "That's your problem," because they didn't budget for the aid when they let the student in. They might just say, "Here are some loans." Better to apply to a school that values the student for who he or she really is."</p>
<p>
[quote]
Does anybody know, if you end up needing financial aid say in their junior year, does it behoove one to have filed in freshman year?
[/quote]
Vassar does. From its website:
[quote]
In awarding its resources the college has established priorities. First priority: students who received scholarship assistance when they entered Vassar and continue to demonstrate need as determined by the Office of Financial Aid. Second priority: freshmen and transfer applicant pools, with a portion of the available scholarship resources allocated to insure that we reach our enrollment targets. Third priority: returning students applying for financial aid for the first time, or demonstrating need for scholarship assistance for the first time. Within this third group priority is given to seniors, juniors and sophomores - in that order.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>They specifically state that it is not wise to fail to apply for FA as an incoming freshman just because you think you won't get any.</p>
<p>mamafish, our son used the CA exclusively except for our state flagship university and received merit aid offers totalling $376,000. For his top two choices(RPI and Case) he received merit aid offers of $25k and $22.5k per year respectively. The CA did not seem to hinder his quest for merit aid in the least.</p>
<p>If merit aid is important to applicants and their families the important work is in the preapplication research that is done, not the application form they choose to use. In the case of special scholarships, yes there may be additional items required. Our son had to have our pastor write a letter of recommendation for him to qualify for a $15k/yr scholarship earmarked for a member of the Presbyterian Church USA at one college. And yes, he was offered it.</p>
<p>The CA made the application paperwork so much easier that I would not hesitate to recomment it to any student.</p>
<p>This is what makes it worth thinking about, I guess - since Vassar is on D's list, as well as others where "maybe" it would help to show she is self-supporting, the common app forces the issue -- or urges us to submit multiple versions or use the schools' own apps. Although we could certainly understand, and live with, being 2nd or 3rd in line for aid at Vassar in future years if things change. </p>
<p>Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>That is useful info, originaloog. Did you check the "Yes" box where it asked if you were applying for Fin Aid, and did you submit FAFSA and Profile?</p>
<p>We too are doing the homework on those merit/talent options. A couple places I have checked say that FAFSA, Profile or request for need-based aid is not required to be considered for the merit aid. </p>
<p>I don't mind the extra paperwork, but if it is all for naught, and if it actually might help chances to NOT apply, I won't mind having a few hours away from the computer!</p>
<p>I guess the main thing people who probably won't qualify for need-based aid should think about is if they will have another kid heading off to college while the first one is still there. Then sometimes it's worth applying for financial aid. That was the reason I asked I asked the question above. </p>
<p>We always apply for aid, even though we never seem to qualify for any really. LOL. My kids filled out whatever application they could get to easily, and they qualified for merit aid at nearly every school they applied to. (And we always checked the box "yes" we were applying for aid.)</p>
<p>Note - Vassar doesn't give out merit aid.</p>
<p>We checked the FA box on the common app, even though we were pretty sure we wouldn't qualify (we didn't). </p>
<p>It didn't hurt my d's acceptances, and she got merit aid at many of them. </p>
<p>(Oh, and in addition to not giving out merit aid, Vassar went need-blind this year.)</p>
<p>We did the same as Chedva, checking the FA box and doing the FAFSA thing. I have no idea why we did it as our efc was in excess.</p>
<p>I, too, am struggling with checking "Yes" for finaid, even though our EFC indicates that we should not bother. Hoping for a miracle maybe? DH thinks I am wasting my time filling out Profile and later on FAFSA when it becomes available, but I somehow think we are better off doing so. For need-aware colleges, it would seem that checking "Yes" on finaid would not really harm the student's chances if the finaid award was actually determined to be zero. Am I understanding this correctly?</p>
<p>I wondered if "financial aid" on the common app also meant "merit-aid". It sounds like we'll have to think about individual schools and situations in responding to that. Good thing you can have different "versions"</p>
<p>That's my understanding, mountains: Both the student who doesn't apply and the student who doesn't qualify get nothing, so it makes no difference to the schools' "bottom line."</p>
<p>Thanks, chedva. I can rest easy now. That is, until I write the first college tuition check next year.</p>
<p>Can someone follow through this thinking with me. Not expecting any FA. D is applying to schools in hopes of merit aid. Merit aid at these schools is considered regardless of application for FA. Also, merit aid is offered at the time of acceptance.</p>
<p>If we were to check off that we were applying for FA, wouldn't a school rationalize that they would not need to offer merit to attract D to the school. On the other hand, if we did not check of yes to FA, might they not look at that and say in order to attract D to school, perhaps we should offer merit so isn't looking at paying full boat.</p>
<p>Rated PG,</p>
<p>I'm not sure I understood the second half of the dilemma but in terms of the first half: there is a wide range between the point at which colleges stop offering need-based aid and the point at which families stop caring about money.</p>