Should we complete the FAFSA?

Hi all, my husband and I are struggling with whether or not to complete the FAFSA/CSS for our son who plans to apply at Case Western for Fall 2019. By all the calculators, our EFC is of a level that we will likely not get any Financial Aid and instead hope that our son will help with Merit Aid given his good academic record. Additionally, he is being recruited for an athletic team at Case. The coach has helped with a pre-read that has come back as ‘likely’. The question is this…does not filling out the FAFSA hurt us at all? Can it affect Merit amount, if we fill it out? We honestly cannot afford the cost without Merit Aid. Thanks in advance!

Well, Case Western is D3 so the FAFSA won’t change anything there. If he gets a hook from athletics and gets in, no issue with not getting in because CWRU thinks you need financial aid.

Some merit awards do require you to file the FAFSA. I don’t know if that is the situation at CWRU.

So I don’t see how filing FAFSA can hurt you.

doesn’t case require css profile as well?

What are your son’s stats? Is he a likely candidate for scholarships

With our tax return in hand it never took me more than 15 minutes to fill out the FAFSA. It was required at DS’s school to be eligible for merit aid.

We were specifically told by several schools that anyone who hoped for any kind of aid (including merit aid) had to fill out the FAFSA. No FAFSA, no merit aid. I don’t know what Case Western’s policy is, but you should find out.

Thanks for your comments…he has a 30 ACT, 4.05 GPA with high rigor academics (AP, Pre-Engineering, College Prep). Class rank is 20/418. Although he is re-taking his ACT on 9/8 and doing the SAT on 8/25.

Fill it out as it keeps the direct loan option open for you.

Case requires both the FAFSA and Profile for need based aid consideration UNLESS your income ism below $65000 a year…and if that’s the case you can apply for a Profile waiver.

Sounds like your income is higher than that.

When you did the Case Western Reserve net price calculator, what was your net price (you don’t have to tell here…but think about that)? Your son isn’t going to get athletic scholarship money from case if they ar D3. He might get some merit aid, but as you know, his chances will improve with a much better ACT score. Has he tried the SAT?

If you only do the FAFSA, your son will only be considered for guaranteed federally funded aid like the Direct Loan, and the Pell…you likely aren’t eligible for a Pell if you aren’t looking like you will get need based aid.

The Direct Loan of $5500 for a freshman is available to anyone who completes a FAFSA. So, if you want that loan for your son, you have to do the FAFSA.

You need to contact the school to see if the Profile is required. They are helpful in the financial aid office, so,give them a call.

We are considering not filling out CSS for our S19’s schools. I have run NPCs at all of his schools and we will be full pay. We will fill out FAFSA since it’s easy and we may have him take the federal loan depending on the school. I have heard that some schools want families to fill out the CSS also in order to be considered for merit so I’ve started to call the schools to see if that’s the case. I’ve called three so far and all have said we do not have to file CSS for merit. I’ve also heard that some schools don’t allow you to start filling out paperwork after freshman year but I haven’t found that to be the case yet either. We will probably file CSS with whichever school he ends up attending when our D21 goes off to school since there is a small chance that we would get a little aid.

I would just call Case and see what the financial aid office says. Easy peasy.