<p>We have realized for a long time that we are not eligible for financial aid, bec of our income and 529 savings. And we believe this is fair.</p>
<p>However, here's the question. Do we need to fill out the financial aid forms to be considered for merit scholarships? </p>
<p>Our daughter (a junior) has a 3.8 weighted GPA and 1980/2400 SATs, so she is not a top top student.</p>
<p>Thanks for any help.</p>
<p>Yes, for most schools you need to at least file the FAFSA to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>Your D's stats are fine. I've seen merit scholarships this year for lower stats than that. Depends on the school.</p>
<p>You need to check with the colleges. Some require that the finaid forms be completed for merit aid as well as need based aid. In the case of both of our kids...colleges required both the FAFSA and the Profile for both need and merit based aid. We had to do the forms...and when DS was the only one in college we also weren't eligible for need based aid. But we did the forms.</p>
<p>All the schools that my kids applied to that offered merit scholarships made the offer with the offer of admission. The parameters were clearly displayed on the admissions website. They usually used a combination of GPA and SAT scores.
There are quite a few schools out there that your daughter will qualify for very very nice merit aid awards.
For families that won't qualify for financial aid picking the "right" school is very helpful.
Search carefully!</p>
<p>Thanks to all for your responses.<br>
Sounds like we ought to fill out the FAFSA regardless of lack of need (at least according to colleges).<br>
Yeah, we would love it if she could get some merit aid, but really we're just trying to figure out how she can be admission to a strong smallish liberal arts college. Sounds like it will be nearly impossible for the class of 2013.</p>
<p>Not true! Look at Clark University for instance. She would qualify for merit aid there based on her scores. They also look at ECs and want demonstrated leadership but if she has that then she would be in good shape. </p>
<p>The trick is to find schools where your D's stats are in the upper range of admits and that have a history of giving merit aid. Clark is just one example.</p>
<p>Also certain federal loans that are not need based (such as the unsubsidized Stafford) require that you have filed for financial aid.</p>
<p>There are quite a lot of LAC's and small universities that your daughter would qualify for merit aid. Good ones too.</p>