<p>We're in the same situation. We did not apply for need-based aid for freshman year. I know we wouldn't get anything this year and why give out more information than is necessary?. We'll apply next year so we can get a Stafford/Plus loan, if necessary.</p>
<p>collmom-agree with you 100%! We started saving from the time our student was born--and feel it basically penalized us in the end. We tried to do the "right" thing--didn't buy the McMansion, etc. and are now paying full price. With just one more year to go--we just commented about how much more money we would have had in calculating tuition spent over these last 3 years! We hope the return will be promising; just don't know with this economy!</p>
<p>Regarding post # 47:</p>
<p>it may be appropriate to bear in mind that 20% of Cornell undergraduates, nearly 3,000 students, are New York State residents attending its state-contract colleges. As such they pay deeply-discounted tuition, an effective subsidy of over $15,000 per year. If you treat this subsidy as fully equivalent to a grant, then a quite different profile emerges, I imagine.</p>
<p>Lisares, you should be able to look at your assets and determine whether you would get aid if you lost your jobs. If the answer is no, I see no point in filling out the forms. If you're close, fill them out.</p>
<p>I have a hard time fully believing in the true need blindness of colleges that come up with the same percent on aid year over year. And if your schools are need aware, I most certainly would not fill them out if I knew I wasn't going to get anything.</p>
<p>How would we do that? Fill out the calculators with zero income? And by assets, you mean non-retirement investment and savings accounts? Not home equity? Because who knows what that is or if one could get another home equity loan at this point. Someone said they count 6% of your assets toward tuition. I am very bad at math. Let's say the assets as defined above are $200,000. That is savings/investments, not home equity. So they would figure roughly $12,000 should go toward tuition. So that would mean that if we lost our jobs our "need" would be the difference between $12,000 and the COA? I very much appreciate your help and advice. I think in addition to being bad at math the whole topic makes me so nervous I can't seem to figure it out.</p>
<p>If your assets are in the $200K range I would fill the forms out, at least for the need blind schools and those that won't consider you for aid if you didn't get it as a freshman. You really need to contact each school to clarify the latter point.</p>
<p>I do think most Profile schools will still consider whatever portion of home equity they were considering before, even if the loans are not as readily available. They probably will be again soon anyway.</p>
<p>You probably have a fairly good idea of how stable your employment is. If you're a bankruptcy attorney or a gun manufacturer, you may feel on very solid ground and again, choose not to file. If you're a real estate attorney or owner of a high end retail store, file!!</p>
<p>Due to the changes last year in Ivy financial aid policies, we filled out a FAFSA etc. for S's junior year. H thought it was a waste of time and was totally opposed to the process, which is a pain in the butt (as many of you know). I was convinced we would get "a little something". Well, I'm sure the laughter could be heard across the country as S's school received our application (and we are not Bill Gates). Verdict: waste of time</p>
<p>Senior Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: mid South
Posts: 4,877 Due to the changes last year in Ivy financial aid policies, we filled out a FAFSA etc. for S’s junior year. H thought it was a waste of time and was totally opposed to the process, which is a pain in the butt (as many of you know). I was convinced we would get “a little something”. Well, I’m sure the laughter could be heard across the country as S’s school received our application (and we are not Bill Gates). Verdict: waste of time </p>
<p>Momofawildchild your post was much needed laughter. I have the same thought but may fill it out anyway. We are choosing to pay full sticker over lesser ranked but good schools with great merit $$. I am feeling the pain before it even starts. We will be bleeding money. I plan on never retiring and working always part time, that is my solution. Thanks for the chuckle.</p>
<p>Your student can get Stafford loans if you fill out the FAFSA. The deal is better than most college kids could get on their own. The interest rate is better than PLUS.</p>
<p>That’s why we filled out the FAFSA this year, cpt. Just in case we needed to take out a loan.</p>