Sorry, I know this must be answered somewhere, but all I can see is that it’s required by selective colleges IF you are looking for fianancial aid. We will not qualify for any financial aid, other than if a college wants to offer merit aid as an incentive. My husband wants to know:
Do we even need to fill it out? It is so long and complicated. Is there some option on the CSS to say you don’t want any financial aid? Should I call the financial office at the colleges to ask if it must be submitted? Or is it simply a case of, there will be NO chance of merit aid if the CSS isn’t submitted? Do “gift” and "merit aid " mean the same thing? Our child will probably be offered merit aid at a few of her colleges, and of course that is great. Any help appreciated.
It depends on each school. Some require the FAFSA and CSS for consideration for any merit scholarships; others don’t care.
Some schools want to verify there isn’t another source of aid, such as PELL grants, before awarding merit money. It’s a pain in the neck, but it’s worth it if there’s a good chance of merit money.
On the common app, there is a quedtion that asks if you will apply for financial aid. If we say no, are we shooting ourselves in the foot for merit aid?
^^^No question, your answer sends a signal, but who knows how individual schools will interpret it? We didn’t apply for aid and our D stated so on the common app. Our theory was we didn’t need the FA or admission folks knowing how much our income was because in the end we felt holding back that particular card would give us more bargaining power if we should need it. We told our D we were willing to go to 30k, but the truth is we could probably have gone to 35k or maybe even 40k with some significant lifestyle changes - I’m talking selling a car for starters. No way an FA officer was going to bring us down lower if they saw our income. As it happens, our D got plenty of merit aid to bring us well under budget.so we never did any negotiating.
None of the schools our D applied to (or even considered) required the FA form be filled out for merit aid. .
@halfemptypockets , so you are saying your daughter did NOT submit the CSS to any schools and got merit aid anyway?
@Lindagaf, there is not a single answer to your question. You should search for “merit” on the websites of the colleges to which your child will be applying. If any specific college doesn’t make it clear, then call the admissions or financial aid office to ask. That is the only way to be sure you have correct information for each of the institutions your D is considering.
@Lindagaf - Most of her schools were FAFSA only. She applied to two CSS schools. At one of them, she received no merit at all, but we knew that one was a financial reach going in - the school only offers 15 merit scholarships total each year. At the other, she received a full tuition scholarship.
Thanks all, I am going to call the financial office of every college she is applying to today. I find this incredibly confusing. My husband especially thinks these colleges have no need to see all this information because there is no way will be offered any aid,other than merit.
Good luck, @Lindagaf. It worked out great for us. Our D ended up with lots of affordable choices, In fact, only the one CSS was not within budget. 3 of her schools were excellent fits for her major wise, socially, etc. She ended up going back and forth between 2 of them and needed an accepted students’ day to make up her mind. I hope you end up similarly.
One advantage I can see to filling out the FAFSA is that it would have been obvious to anyone looking at the list of schools to which she was applying that we were shooting for merit. Stats wise, she was well above the typical candidate at all her schools - I could see where a lower ranked school might be wondering if she was seriously considering them or just applying for the heck of it. As it happens, they were happy to have her apply and welcomed her with open arms (and huge reductions off sticker). 
For our D we put down applying for aid solely so she could get a Direct Loan if needed, then were told by the college at the beginning of the school year we had to fill out the CSS Profile for her merit aid. I really don’t think they are going to penalize you if you put “no” on applying for aid and they want to award merit.
My D is applying to 12 colleges, only one of whihc doesn not ask for the CSS profile. I think that we might as well just fill it out, as my husband is doing out tax return soon and we will have the info handy. But, if we say we are NOT applying for f.a. on the common app, is it then aokayntomstill send in the CSS? I like @halfemptypockets idea of using that as a “playing card.”
Yes, check with each school what FA forms if any are required for merit.
I’ve heard some schools also require you to apply for aid as a freshman to be able to get aid in later years.
So if your financial situation would change or you would have more than one child in college at one time in later years you would not get aid even if you could qualify.
This is one of those things you hear so often, just like you hear some schools require the FA form for merit. I’m sure there are some, but we never ran across any in my D’s list of schools. Best not to burn bridges - it pays to find out what each school’s policy is.
Of those that I know about, Bryn Mawr is the most restrictive:
*If I do not apply for financial aid as a freshman, may I apply in subsequent years?
Answer:
1.You must apply for aid from the College as a freshman to be considered for institutional grant assistance during any of your four years at the College. You may apply and will be considered for Federal aid, including the Federal Direct Stafford Loan Program, every year whether or not you applied for institutional aid as a freshman.
2.To be considered for aid from the College as a freshman your response to the Financial Aid Intent question on the Common Application must be “Yes.”*
Smith and Colby less so:
*Traditional U.S. Applicants
Students from the United States who do not apply for financial aid by the published financial aid deadlines will be required to complete 64 credits earned at Smith before they are eligible to apply for institutional financial aid. This means that a student would be eligible to receive only federal, state, and outside aid for her first two years at Smith; no Smith grant aid would be available before that period.*
http://www.smith.edu/sfs/aid_policy.php
Students who do not apply for financial aid prior to admission will not be considered for College grant assistance until their junior year, unless their family financial circumstances change unexpectedly.
Are you self employed and just now are doing your 2014 taxes? If not…what tax return are you doing “soon”?
The tax and income information you need to complete the 2016-2017 Profile…which is the one you would be completing for students beginning college in fall 2016 will require the income and tax information for 2015. You will need to estimate what your incime and taxes paid will be for the 2015 tax year.
If you are self employed…it will be pride to to get your actual 2015 taxes completed ASAP, and not file for the usual October extension. Financial aid application deadlines are in the first part of 2016…not October. Any aid package you receive using a “will file” status will be an estimate until you actually file those taxes.
ETA…I believe Skidmore has a similar policy as posted above regarding applying for aid in subsequent years.
Yes, my husband is self employed and already has an extension.
Thanks for,the info about various colleges potentially not,offering FA in other years. I need to look at the financial sections of each college more thoroughly.
Many regular taxpayers (i.e., not self-employed) use the automatic six month extension to file, for whatever reason.
Similar to Smith, with the important distinction that Skidmore’s policy applies to students who did not receive aid as a freshman, as opposed to those who did not apply for aid as a freshman:
*What happens if I did not initially receive financial aid from Skidmore College as a freshman, but later find out I need to apply?
Those students admitted without Skidmore College grant assistance are normally first eligible to receive such aid, if need is demonstrated, in their junior year.*
As noted above, folks do apply for tax extensions…especially the self employed.
But I would caution you…this is not what you should do,when your kiddo is an incoming freshman. You need to try to get your taxes done much earlier this coming spring…in other words…get your ducks lined up.
For all schools, you will need to complete the FAFSA, and you will need to link to the IRS data retrieval tool once your taxes are completed. Until that is done, I don’t believe any financial aid, including the direct loan, will be given to your student. You really need to find out about this…maybe I’m wrong…but I don’t think so.
@thumper1 , hindsight is great, but this is our first kid in college. We dont have that knowledge yet. We will file the CSS and see what happens.