<p>Hi; I am a new user and I have been trying to resolve an issue. Do you think I will receive financial aid based on these facts about my family? Should I even apply? I heard from some people that some schools "just want your money" and chances of acceptance is higher when you don't get or apply for financial aid. I'm in the graduating high school class of 2012.</p>
<ul>
<li>Household income: $210,000-$230,000</li>
<li>Father only works, mother does not</li>
<li>We own 3 cars (2 luxury, 1 non-luxury)</li>
<li>House cost is $500,000-$600,000</li>
<li>We currently own 2 apartments (for investment purposes); combined value: ~$300,000</li>
<li>I never had a job</li>
<li>My sister will graduate high school in 5 years</li>
<li>No other siblings</li>
<li>Household of 4 people</li>
<li>I live in NJ</li>
<li>We have a good credit rating</li>
<li>No crime in our family</li>
</ul>
<p>These are colleges that I will be applying to:
- Northeastern University
- Penn State Main Campus (University Park)
- Drexel University
- Rutgers University (New Brunswick)
- Temple University
- The College of New Jersey
- Boston University
- Bentley College
- Babson College (maybe)</p>
<p>Do you think I will get it? Should I even apply for financial aid? For example, if I knew I was going to get $10,000, I definitely wouldn't apply if it would help NOT to apply. All the help is greatly appreciated! Also, do colleges determine your income from the applications? Or all they know is if you are applying or not applying for financial aid?</p>
<p>I highly doubt you’d qualify for aid, but you can apply if you want.</p>
<p>For schools like Penn State and other OOS publics it won’t matter…they won’t give you any aid anyway.</p>
<p>Some/many of those schools are need blind so it won’t hurt you to apply for aid.</p>
<p>Have your parents said that they will pay full freight? If not, then that will be your issue. Be sure to get clarification from your parents as to how much they will pay. Make sure they know that you won’t qualify for aid. </p>
<p>Schools do not know your income if you don’t apply for FA.</p>
<p>You should ask your parents to fill out EFC (estimated family contribution) calculators based on their tax returns, but from the information you’ve provided, you will not be getting any need-based financial aid from any college. If you have good stats relative to the school’s averages, you may be eligible for merit aid at some privates and at Rutgers or TCNJ (as a New Jersey resident).</p>
<p>Colleges determine your income from paperwork (FAFSA, CSS/Profile) your parents must fill out if you apply for financial aid or for federal loan programs (Stafford, PLUS). If you do not apply for these, colleges will not know your income. Some families who are not eligible for financial aid still want to use the federal loan programs so they have to fill out the FAFSA, which is based on your parents’ most recent income tax return.</p>
<p>Very few private schools are completely need blind, and if you are already a competitive student within the applicant pool, it may give you a small competitive advantage not to apply for financial aid at a private university or at an OOS public. It will not affect your admissions to instate (NJ) publics.</p>
<p>I see… Considering that almost all these schools are high matches and slight reaches, I should not apply for FA? Do I still fill out the FAFSA though?</p>
<p>I think you are a little confused. Need based financial aid is based on your family income and assets…not on the difficulty of acceptance for you at the school or your stats.</p>
<p>However, if you are looking for merit aid…you need to check to see if the schools require you to complete the financial aid application forms for merit aid. Some schools do require this.</p>
<p>I will say…if the schools are reaches for you…you probably are not going to be in the running for merit aid. Do you have any safety schools on your list…or are they all high matches and slight reaches? </p>
<p>You might want to discuss college finances with your parents to determine how much they can/will pay for you to attend college annually.</p>
<p>Fill out the FAFSA form and find out your EFC. Some assets you have like the house you live does not count. You will most probably find that the EFC is greater than the Cost of Attendance for all the colleges you are looking at. If the EFC is much higher than the COA, just submit the FAFSA form. You will not get aid but can get Satfford subsidized. </p>
<p>If the EFC is around the COA, fill out the CSS profile and submit it also, in addition to FAFSA.</p>
<p>By doing this you can apply for stafford loans.</p>
<p>However before you do all of this, assume you will not get aid and take Thumper1’s advice
<p>Oh ok I see. So the FAFSA doesn’t actually give the aid; it determines if you are eligible for federal or state FA? FA from colleges themselves is different?</p>
<p>Correct FAFSA does not give aid it is an application used to determine whether or not you will qualify for federal aid (and sometimes state aid). You also must complete the FAFSA to be able to take out Stafford loans (up to 5500 for freshman year). </p>
<p>Some schools may also use the FAFSA to make decisions regarding their own institutional aid. Other schools will have their own aid form or use the CSS Profile to determine whether they will offer a student institutional aid. </p>
<p>With income in the range you indicate your family makes you will be able to take out 5500 in Stafford loans for your freshman year, but will not qualify federal grants. At schools that use the CSS Profile or their own form to determine institutional aid you are unlikely to qualify for need based aid. Some schools still require a student to complete the FAFSA (and maybe other forms) to be considered for merit aid. The website at each school should make it clear.</p>
<p>It sounds like part of your question is whether you should indicate you will apply for need based institutional aid at your reach schools? Maybe someone more familiar in the institutional aid award process and policies at need blind vs. need aware schools regarding how applying for aid impacts admissions.</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that by next month (October 2011) all colleges must have a cost of attendance calculator on their website. My understanding is that the federal government is requiring that it be somewhere prominent, like on the main admission/financial aid site. So while it might be a bit tedious to enter your tax info over and over for each college to get an estimate of your need-based and/or merit-based award, at least you would have an idea of what each school might (or might not) offer you. If you have last year’s taxes handy it won’t take too long-- you just enter the numbers from the forms. The bonus is it doesn’t just allow you to compare aid packages, it allows you to compare your total cost of attendance including all of those sneaky hidden fees and the breakdown of grants and loans.</p>
<p>As to whether or not you should apply for aid at need-aware or need-sensitive schools, my best advice is to check the school’s website and if the answer isn’t there, call and ask. I would imagine that each school could have their own policy, whether it’s they automatically reserve so many spots for full-pay students or they admit as many students as they can regardless of aid status and then backfill with full-pay, and if all financial-aid applicants are treated the same or if the ones who would only get $5k are looked at differently from those who need $40k. Also, some schools will only admit students if they can fund them so if you would only get a few dollars and your family can afford the full cost it could be that not applying for aid could offer a significant boost, so it’s probably best to try the calculators and then call and get the official word.</p>
<p>You would not be eligible for need based aid, but you might possibly get a merit, or talent based scholarship (depending on your major). Almost all schools require you to have filled out a FAFSA for any type of scholarship. Since there is a filing deadline, it certainly does not hurt to go ahead and submit the FAFSA in case you are offered something later.</p>
<p>FAFSA is a form that captures financial information. The data is fed into a calculator that has some formulas and spits out a EFC. You have to remember that this is the guidance from the government and if the EFC is low,you are eligible for subsidized aid and grants. FAFSA helps determine elegibility for different types of Government aid.</p>
<p>Other than for Government aid, colleges can choose to use a different form (CSS/profile for example), use different formulas, factor different information etc. In other words, colleges can come up with their own EFC based on their model.</p>
<p>The OP should apply to a few schools that will give assured scholarships for stats.</p>
<p>He also needs to ask his parents how much they’ll pay each year. If he hasn’t had the “money talk” with his parents, he shouldn’t just guess that high EFC people can/will pay that amount.</p>