As the title says, my parents decided after I submitted all my applications that they want to apply for financial aid (even though we’re not low income) just because. If I chose “no” on the Common App for financial aid, is this possible? Would I have to contact each individual school to change my status? A quick response is much appreciated. Thanks!
URGENT - What to do if selected "no" for financial aid on Common App but parents changed mind after?
I would contact each school and request that this be changed.
Depending on school, you can update that choice in your student portal. Contact FINANCIAL AID (not admissions) if you end up needing to contact school. But act fast bc Feb 1 is common deadline. And verify the school is need blind before you change your status.
MomTwo2, if the student NEEDS financial aid to attend a college, they need to apply for financial aid whether the school is need blind…or not.
An acceptance will do the student NO good if they don’t have sufficient aid to be able to attend the school.
I think you DO need to tell admissions. I would send an email that copies both admissions and financial aid (emails are pretty easily found the websites of most schools) and let them know. I would get going on this ASAP, as some deadlines are looming for FA materials.
Have your parents run the net price calculators for your schools? That might be a good starting spot for them if they haven’t. Applying for FA can be quite a hassle, and if you aren’t really eligible for any, then there isn’t usually any reason to jump through all those hoops.
@intparent do you think there’s any point in applying if our income is >200k and I’m the first child (of two) to be entering college? my parents aren’t the most informed so no they haven’t run any calculators
Not likely–you don’t have to be low income to get aid from generous schools but income over 200k would not likely get any at most schools. Even at generous schools it seems unlikey. But you would have to file a FAFSA asap, so you can gather the papers for fafsa and that will give you the information to fun the NPC, just takes a few minutes. Being first to enter college doesn’t affect financial aid at all. Now you can still qualify for merit aid if you applied to schools that give any.
Apply for your parent and student PIN for FAFSA right away. Do you need CSS PROFILE for some of your schools? Look at the deadlines on school web sites. You may have to request extensions if you missed them.
Start some NPC and EFC calculators, getting info you need from your parents and see what you can possibly get By filing a FAFSA, you will be eligible for a student loan of $5500 for yourself and your parents can apply for Parent loans through Direct Loans even if you don’t qualify for any aid. This might be a time to find out what your parents can truly afford and what they are willing to pay so you don’t get any surprises in this area when you have acceptances. Every year, kids get told that certain schools are unaffordable after acceptances are on the table, sometimes for the first time cost is even brought up.
It is much, much easier to run the calculators than to go through the FA hoops. They are on each college website on the financial aid webpage. Ask them to do that with you tonight. Note that if your parents are divorced, own a small business, own rental property, or have trusts, those are things that can make the calculators not as accurate (they would show more aid than you would probably actually get in most cases).