We are not going to be eligible for need-based aid and so it wasn’t on our radar. Kid is devastated. Will this affect the early action admission or are the two related?
It depends on the institution. Contact them first thing tomorrow and explain. Perhaps they have an Early Action II?
Unless the FAFSA deadline is the same for Early Action II (if they have it), you could always request to have your application considered under Early Action II. If they do not have early action II, you could always request it to be moved to the regular decision period as I am almost certain that the FAFSA deadline has not passed for regular decision. You would not be able to find out until April - but if financial aid is a must, that is something that has to be done. Either way, contact the admission office.
At most colleges…applying for financial aid does NOT have anything to do with admissions. If you didn’t apply, the school will rightfully assume you plan to pay the full cost of attendance.
Also, this is early action…do you plan to apply for aid? It’s very likely that you can complete the forms…but won’t find out your financial aid award…or lack of one…until those applying RD get theirs.
You can call the college to ask. BUT if you are not planning to apply for aid anyway…this isn’t a problem.
@HeyItsNick some schools have ED 2…but not very many have EA 2.
If you aren’t applying for FA, it doesn’t matter. If the school requires the forms for merit aid, check with them if you can still file and be considered.
Usually what being late means is that you won’t get any financial aid information at the time ED decisions are made so you’ll have to accept or decline the ED position without knowing if you’ll get any money.
@sarapheena
I am not understanding your problem. If you’re not going to be eligible for need based aid, you don’t need to fill out the fafsa or css. Most schools are need blind (some are need aware) and your admissions decision is separate from your financial aid decision. Can you clarify?
My daughter missed the CSS deadline for an EA school…we don’t qualify for any need based aid and weren’t going to fill it out. The school said it was required by them to receive merit awards, and to just get it done as soon as possible.
@PepperJo some schools seem to want you to apply anyway or so it seems to us… We may need needlessly worried. I hope so. Ah, I see now that you are in a similar situation. I’m breathing a bit easier. Thanks for responding.
@twoinanddone It is EA rather than ED. I’m thinking it isn’t going to change anything as long as the school doesn’t kick out the early action application because the financial aid forms aren’t there.
No school can force you to complete the financial aid forms.
But if you have a question…call the admissions office in the morning and ask “Is my student required to complete the FAFSA and Profile to be considered for admission… if we do not want to apply for any kind of aid.”
The school will give you the answer…and I’m betting it’s…no.
Please let us know!
My guess is that their wording about filling out the FAFSA is trying to be inclusive but it’s causing confusion. If you aren’t applying for FA, IMO no need to fill out the FAFSA (but do check with the university directly!)
My kids have applied to 20+ schools over the years and we never filled out the FAFSA.
There are many people who never fill out FA forms - Trump, Bush, Obama, Tom Brady’s kids won’t, movie stars won’t, Bill Gates won’t.
We don’t fill out the FAFSA. I called my daughter’s top three schools and was told that it had no bearing one way or the other in terms of acceptance, Early Action or otherwise. She’s been accepted to 6 of her 12 schools thus far and a couple of those reminded us about the FAFSA but it isn’t necessary for attendance.
PS: And my daughter received merit aid from 4 schools without filling out the FAFSA.
We didn’t fill out the FAFSA either (we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we’d be full pay) and it didn’t impact decisions or merit awards. Some schools do require it for merit but not the ones on our DD’s list.
It could only make a difference if the school is calling financial aid “merit aid” and some do use the terms scholarship, financial and merit aid interchangeably.