<p>our fafsa efc is 99999... yeah... i know that's ridiculously high, is there any point applying for financial aid from indiv. colleges that require the profile and stuff?</p>
<p>r u a millionaire?</p>
<p>freek-- well, our EFC was close to 70,000 and ummm we are definately nowhere NEAR millionaires...</p>
<p>I've been trying to get information on this in another thread - with a high EFC the question is why bother? But I'm being told to fill it out anyway because "it can't hurt" and there may be other merit money you could get by only filling out the FAFSA and profile. However, no one can ever give me any specific examples of what they mean. What other merit aid? I thought merit aid had nothing to do with "financial need based aid" which is what the FAFSA is for. I am so confused and the deadline is approaching fast.</p>
<p>Merit aid is given generally for high grades/scores in relation to other incoming kids at that school. No it has nothing to do with need based aid but each school has different ways of deciding and implementing if you qualify. Some colleges require you to complete the FAFSA to be considered for merit aid.
Don't know why but it is their merit money so they can make any qualifications they want.
Usually it says somewhere on the web site or in the finaid info if this is the case for each school.
The FAFSA is free, if you applied to many schools it can get confusing determining who requires it for merit aid so that is why everyone is telling you to just do it.</p>
<p>It can also help in subsequent years. If something happens to affect your income in the future (job loss, illness, etc.), you will be on file with previous years' documentation. Some schools put the FA applicants in a queue for priority in getting aid: continuing students who are receiving aid, freshman & transfer applicants, continuing students who applied for aid as freshmen but didn't qualify, and everyone else. So not filing can put you at the end of the line in subsequent years. Since no one knows what the future holds, it's better to prepare as if you will need aid somewhere down the line.</p>
<p>i know filling out the fafsa may hlep you in some ways, and i've done that, because it's free... but what about the css profile?? i just don't think doing the css profile and sending it to all my schools, which will just put me out of about $100, will help me at all..</p>
<p>^^I did the Fafsa bc it is the only way my kids can take out the non-subsidized Stafford Loan. I knew we wouldn't qualify for aid, but this had to be filled out anyway. Crazy? Yup. Also on this note...I was called by the Admissions Office of one of the private schools my D is applying to. They said we had checked off that we were applying for FA, but they had not received a Profile. (This was several weeks before the Profile deadline). I happened to mention that we were only filling it out bc we have our kids borrow a little in order to have some ownership in their education costs. And interestingly enough....she said if I was positive we weren't going to qualify for aid, NOT to fill out the Profile and to call the Admissions Office and officially request the aid request be removed. Point being, that since this is a highly selective school, her chances for admission would be 'better' w/o that box being checked. Wish I had known that from the beginning. Don't file a Profile if you are sure you won't qualify for aid. The Fafsa has no bearing on this, because it is Federal funds. Hmmmm</p>
<p>Nikrud, But the schools still see the FAFSA? But if they require the Profile, and if you don't file it, you aren't considered as having applied for aid? If you indicated on your app that you were applying for aid, and decide not to, should you notify them? D has already been accepted but we are hoping for more merit aid.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I was told to fill it out anyway because you never know what happens, employment-wise, from year to year. My dad was in an accident and out of work last year for a few months. That could change everything (except his job paid while he was out). I am worried that we'll end up with the 99,999 to because of my parents' income (I, however, have zero income!). The sad part is my parents work really hard and after the house payments and the taxes taken out, there's not a whole lot left!</p>
<p>And remember that some schools require the completion of all their required financial aid application forms for all kinds of aid including merit aid. DS's university required both the Profile and the FAFSA, plus two years of tax returns, W-2's and 1099's for consideration for any kind of aid, need based and/or merit. There were some exceptions but those scholarships had special applications and were very limited in number. And the school also made it clear that if you didn't apply for finaid freshman year, you would be ineligible in subsequent years.</p>
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But if they require the Profile, and if you don't file it, you aren't considered as having applied for aid?
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</p>
<p>Yes, that is correct.</p>
<p>There are a number of schools that are need aware. In those schools, asking for financial aid can affect your chances of getting admitted. Usually those schools do not just look at who is asking for fin aid, so I'm surprised that the adcom said that to you. Need aware schools look at how much aid a person needs, not just that a person is asking for aid. I am curious as to which school would actually say a thing like that. I've yet to hear an adcom ever say that the mere request for fin aid is going to affect admissions, just that because their fin aid funds have not been able to meet the need, the money has to be allocated to the kids the school most wants, and to have the money go as far as possible. These schools are often the ones that do require all aid forms filed as a freshman or there would be ineligibility consequences in subsequent years.</p>