<p>We were told by a counselor that we only needed to fill out the FAFSA if applying for need-based aid, not merit scholarships. However, on my son's portal, he gets a message that we have not submitted a FAFSA and his file is therefore incomplete. When he filled out his scholarship app, he said "no" on the line asking if a FAFSA would be filed. Has anyone received merit scholarships without the FAFSA?</p>
<p>Everyone should fill out a FASFA with or without financial need. I am unable to receive need-based aid, yet we were still told to fill out the FASFA. I did receive a merit scholarship before A&M got my FASFA. </p>
<p>Make sure on the financial aid portal that you click awards at the top.</p>
<p>gigemzach is exactly right. I just want to add that just because your merit-based aid hasn’t shown up on the financial aid portal yet, doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t receive any. Some major scholarships (such as the National Merit awards) won’t even be out for another month or so.</p>
<p>Do you happen to know when the Mays hands out their department scholarships?</p>
<p>I did not submit FASFA last year…S received merit money over the summer. However, I was wondering if I should/could still submit a FASFA for the continuing scholarship applications. (The deadline was Feb 1 for the application…but many universities will allow you to submit the FASFA later. I have some lose ends to tie up before I can do my taxes!)</p>
<p>Contacted TAMU’s Financial Aid Office via email today and got a response right away. They said there’s no need to fill out the FAFSA, as they are not one of the schools that requires a FAFSA for non-need-based scholarships. </p>
<p>Schmegel, I’m sure if you email them, they’ll answer your question quickly, too. I was really impressed with their responsiveness–less than two hours’ wait for a return email!</p>
<p>Thank you! All of their offices tend to get back to us promptly…honestly, quite different from UT where D is a senior. We have struggled with some of their departments recently!</p>