My parents are worried that even if I do apply for FAFSA, I’m going to get little to no financial aid (yearly income is upwards of $200,000). They’re thinking that if colleges see that I’m not applying for financial aid from them, they’ll be more willing to admit me, kind of along the same thoughts as why schools are more willing to admit out-of-state students than in-state.
Should I still apply? Are colleges really more ready to admit students who are willing to pay full tuition vs. students who apply for financial aid? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!
IF your parent’s income is upward of 200k, you are going to be full pay at virtually every school that you apply to.
The conversation that you need to have is how much are your parents willing to pay/borrow for you to go to college then plan accordingly.
Are you parents willing to pay the full freight cost of you attending an OOS public school?
Very few colleges include financial information in admissions decisions. Colleges that do are called “need aware”.
You can run the Net Price Calculator at schools of interest to see if it would be worthwhile to apply for financial aid.
You will need to fill out FAFSA if you want to receive a federal loan for college, regardless of income.
@sybbie719 & @BobWallace: Thanks very much for your responses. Can any of you address my second question?
The answer to your second question has already been provided - only “need aware” colleges consider finances for admissions. See the list that was kindly provided.
Oh as for whether you should still apply…maybe so. (Hopefully someone with more knowledge can chime in here) I think I remember someone saying that if something were to happen during the school year (job loss, large medical bills etc.) and you suddenly need FA you might be out of luck if you didn’t apply before hand. (This may depend on the school). The other thing to consider is whether you have siblings who will be applying when you are in school. I don’t know if the same rule (if there is one) applies about you need to have applied before in order to get anything later. (In this case with 2 in college, you might be eligible for FA)
Since it appears there are very few need aware schools (and even though they are need aware they would see that you don’t need anything so that advantage is still there), perhaps the safest thing to do is fill it out.
Again, I defer to the experts (hopefully, they will chime in!)
Some schools/state programs require filing the fafsa before they’ll award need or merit aid. Florida used to require it for the Bright Futures scholarship, but no longer does - except the schools still want it. This year my daughter was picked for verification and we had a little trouble with completing it because of the new FSA ID and the tax transcript request webpage. Anyway, none of her school’s merit aid, the state grants, or the BF scholarship showed up until that verification was completed. I’m sure I could have argued that the fafsa wasn’t required, but it’s just easier to 'give ‘em what they want.’
You wouldn’t be filling out the first FAFSA until after Jan 1 anyway, and most of your applications will be in by then. There will be a question that asks if you will be filing for FA, but as everyone above said, majority of school admissions offices don’t care.
A few schools give a bonus for filling out FAFSA. Stetson gives $1000 for completing it by Feb 15.