We have a somewhat complicated financial situation. We are divorced and have twins. I am the custodial parent of one kid, and my ex is the custodial parent of the other. I filled out Net Price Calculators for several different colleges, and it appears that I do not qualify for financial aid. I think that my ex is in a similar financial situation (or better), so no FA aid there either. Therefore I was thinking that we do not need to file FAFSA. But then I’ve been reading that some merit scholarships require FAFSA. Is that true? How do we find that out? Do we have to look up each college that we are applying to separately? Or do we need to assume that most of them require it? I thought that merit scholarships are based on merit and not need? I would rather not have to file FAFSA if we don’t have to.
Another question about CSS profile: who and when needs to fill it out? Is it related or separate from the financial aid and merit scholarships? At which stage of the application do we need to fill it out? If someone could explain this to me, I would be most grateful.
Do the FAFSA. It’s not hard. People get overly frightened by it. It’s 30 minutes and done.
In theory, merit aid shouldn’t need it but there are schools that say they want it - and why take that chance.
If you’re not going to do FAFSA, why would you do CSS? It’s need based for private and higher echelon public schools.
In the end, depends on where you are applying. Some colleges - like Alabama, Arizona, Ms State, Bradley and a host of others have up front scholarships - you know the amount b4 you apply
If nothing else, you should do the FAFSA to see what your expected need is. It might surprise you. Other schools, like Chicago, will waive the application fee if you do a FAFSA.
I got no aid - but still am glad I did the FAFSA. I found it not hard at all. I downloaded my tax return into it.
You can apply for Fafsa and CSS when they open for filing. Later as you apply to the colleges, you need to go back to your acct at Fafsa and CSS websites and add those Colleges. Each college has stated timeline/last-date for receiving Fafsa/CSS. You need to watch these dates more closely.
If your kids are national merit scholarship semifinalists then there are some colleges offering all the way from full ride to some scholarship for the semifinalists/finalists. However irrespective of financial status or NMF status there are many colleges do offer merit scholarships .
If your financial situation is tight then you may want kids to consider adding instate public schools to the list of colleges they want to apply. In most cases in state public schools are affordable. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Your kids don’t need to be NMF to get decent merit awards. They need excellent GPA and SAT or ACT scores for awards at some colleges.
Re: the CSS Profile….that is for institutional need based aid. You will need to check which of your two kids’ colleges require the non-custodial parent Profile, and then either you or your former spouse will need to complete it (depending on which kid it is).
Keep in mind that for the 2023-2024 academic year, the FAFSA will no longer use place of residence as the determining factor for custodial parents…it will be the parent who provides the most support (which usually is the parent with the higher income). Also, the FAFSA will no longer divide the EFC in half with multiple students in college at the same time.
We did not complete FAFSA, and our son received merit offers from all of all the schools on his list that offered them. I did check the websites before he applied to confirm that FAFSA was not necessary for merit awards.
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There aren’t many schools that require a FAFSA for merit aid…just check websites, and if it’s not clear, call the FA office and ask.
I also don’t understand why you would do CSS Profile if you aren’t applying for financial aid, which sounds like you aren’t. CSS Profile would require the financial info for both parents, and new spouses, if applicable.
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I filed it for freshman year because one school out of 16 required it. She didn’t choose that school and I never filed again. Very few require it for pure merit awards. If none on your list require it, skip it.
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Few do. True. I just did bcuz it wasn’t hard. It really is a school by school thing and it shouldn’t be needed. But it’s just a y wonder …
You will need to complete a FAFSA if you want your kids to be able to take out the federally funded Direct Loan.
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Merit aid is a type of financial aid.
Fill Out FAFSA if I Don’t Qualify for Aid? | Road2College
Again, is it necessary to fill out - ehhhh - but here’s an article that says you should - for loans and for those that do require for merit.
I supposed you can look at each school you are applying to - but honestly, the FAFSA isn’t that difficult to fill out - well I didn’t think so.
I answered the usual personal questions, downloaded my taxes, and I think that was about it. Maybe some personal investment questions.
Good luck no matter what you do.
There were a few schools out there (and it’s been a few years so I don’t remember exactly which ones) that gave a scholarship ($1000 or so) for completing the FAFSA.
The FAFSA belongs to the student, not the parent, so it is really your kids who fill it out. Currently the parent the student lives with is to fill out the parent section but that will be changing to the parent who supplies the most support. My brother and his ex also have twins and also each take one for tax purposes, but in reality the twins are always together and the parents do not give more to ‘their’ child than the other. Food, housing, skates, skis, medical insurance is all exactly the same.
I had to fill out the FAFSA in order to for D21 to be considered for merit at 2 of the schools she applied to. She ended up with merit from several on her list, including one of the schools that had the FAFSA requirement. I knew we would not qualify for any federal financial aid (and we didn’t) but she was eligible for the federal student loan that’s offered.
Filling out the FAFSA triggered a CSS requirement at 2 schools - one of which was an in-state where she was in the middle of the pack, stats wise, and very unlikely for merit consideration (based on the type of merit this school historically gives out). The other school was not in her top 5. The CSS questions were much more intrusive than the FAFSA and it didn’t make sense to spend the time filling it out when the merit chance was slim and the financial aid chance was nil. I emailed the schools requiring it and they confirmed that it was unnecessary unless we wanted to be considered for merit/fin aid.
We were new to the FAFSA/CSS process as we did not submit it for my older daughter, who received considerable merit without it.
Can you share the two schools that required FAFSA/CSS for merit aid?
Yes, I should have been clear I was referring to need based aid.
UNC-CH was one that asked for the CSS (and there was one other that specifically asked for the CSS - might have been Elon - but that might be wrong). Virginia Tech required the FAFSA for merit.
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