We absolutely qualify for financial aid of some sort, Filled out the Fafsa form, etc. But what if we only want to apply to financial aid to some colleges not all?
You choose which schools to send the FAFSA to, but why wouldn’t you want to apply for FA at all schools?
Because my kid believes that there are a few “reach schools” that we’d have the rest of the family dg ditches to pay for. But not all. My kid is “right on the border” of being a shoe-in at 5 decent colleges, but a question mark at 2 slightly higher caliber. If she applies to the 2 higher caliber without asking for financial aid, I would dig ditches on the graveyard shift in addition to my regular day job for that. We do not think she would get into the “high caliber” ons if she were also asking for financial aid.
Does that make sense, that she would be a more attractive candidate at the high caliber schools if she didn’t ask for a financial cushion?
If these “high caliber” schools are need blind in their admissions practices, then no, it makes no sense at all. Are the schools need blind, or are they need aware? If either school is need aware, in order to prevent much hate and discontent later, you better be sure that money is available to pay full freight if an offer of admission is made and financial aid is not requested.
For need blind schools you might as well ask for financial aid, because asking will not hurt you at all.
I am highly dubious regarding whether it is worth taking on debt to attend a university that is slightly higher ranked. There are a lot of very excellent professors who are teaching at a large number of very good universities. There are also a few bad professors teaching at any university, including the top ranked ones.
I don’t believe any school is truly “Need-blind” anymore…admissions can quickly look up your street address on Realtor.com and see how much you paid for your home/date and.and see current estimate of market value…they can also estimate salaries of both parent incomes, see if you have other children going to college - now or in the next 3 years, etc. If your home has lots of equity, well bad news…but no one asks them to why they deny or give more to one student or another…really, it’s not based solely on the FASFA or CSS profile.
Colleges are very savvy…do not think that they are altruisitc…it’s a cash game for more than 50% of admitted students so they can offer huge scholarhips to the rest of the admitted class…just look up the numbers on the common data set…this is all published, not fake news folks…
Colleges don’t have time to look up every applicant’s house on Realtor.com, then swing by the assessor’s web page to see what the value might be, THEN visit the recorder of deeds site to check out the mortgage and try and guess how much of that may be paid down.
If a college is need blind, take it at face value: it means admissions won’t consider your ability to pay. They may, however, accept your kid whether or not you can afford to send him/her.
I second those who will tell you not to file for financial aid based on rankings or ratings, but but file based on need blind vs. need aware.
$300,000 is an awful lot of ditches
There is no way I would skip applying for FA if we would “absolutely qualify”. That seems like a very unwise decision.
If your kid needs need based aid…apply for need based aid. Maybe you can scrape together one year of $70,000 a year costs…but can you do 4 years?
Really, even if there is an edge for being full pay, it’s not huge. Your kid would still need to meet the standard for acceptance at these schools.
I just can’t imagine NOT applying for need based financial aid if you really need and qualify for it.
An acceptance without sufficient aid to attend might as well be a rejection.
Apply for the aid.
Which places are the ones you think you’d be willing to dig ditches for, and which are the ones you wouldn’t be willing to dig ditches for?
Wow thanks for all this great feedback! My daughter’s college choices are all over the map, but for good reason, that she has excelled in several areas but has no idea what she wants to do. That’s why this is a bit terrifying. I think there are 2 colleges that if she got into, she’d be able to pursue any and everything she wants and yes, they are both high-caliber. They are elite, yes, but not huge and I’m sure there are scores of kids just likelier applying.
So maybe we don’t seek FA for just those 2 schools? Is it as simple as removing those college names from the FAFSA list? Because I also see in eh Common App there is a Yes/No for "will you be seeking financial aid, correct?
Thanks again for any clarification here.
I think everyone’s point is this: Are those two elite schools need blind or need aware? You can find the answer on each one’s web page.
Often the most selective schools are the most generous with aid, so if you know you will qualify, it doesn’t make sense to hold back. Also, there are some colleges where, if you don’t file in your freshman year, you may not file again later. So if circumstances change and you need to start digging ditches to put food on the table instead of funding an education, your DD may find herself having to drop out. Researching this ahead of time can be cheap insurance.
Almost all the “elites” are need blind for domestic applicants. There is no reason not to believe them. Being full pay is not going to help you unless you are an international applicant.
Are these FAFSA only schools? Have you filed the CSS Profile?
Ask for financial aid.
Elite usually equals expensive. What is your EFC and how will you come up with the money to be full pay?
What are the schools you’re thinking of not applying for aid at?
Bates is need aware, eg.
Look at the school’s endowment. If less than $500 million, then being full pay can confer an advantage for borderline candidates. An inside look at how being need aware is in the recent NY Times article, where the reporter sat in on Trinity College’s admissions office for one season.
Full stop. You must find out if these schools are need blind or need aware. The information will be on each school’s financial aid web page. If you don’t know what these terms mean, than learn. Based on your approach, everything you do depends on knowing this information.
In spring 2018 you mentioned a sophomore son and a junior son. How many kids do you have, and how many of them will be in college next year? If your EFC is being calculated with more than one child in college, you should be aware that it can increase a lot when there’s only one. How are you planning to pay for the others? I don’t think you can dig enough ditches to cover 3 college tuitions.
The ditches you would dig will lead you to be onTV in 10 years complaining about how you were forced to borrow an exobitant amount of money for your student to attend a decent college. And you would likely be beiing the government for relief from your bad decision.