<p>I'VE read in many college admissions/application advice books (for example the "fiske guide to getting in to the right college"--a GREAT one by the way if you are trying to find the right college that best fits your needs) that when applying to some top colleges, checking off the box that says "yes, i will be applying for need based aid" can marginally affect your chances of getting in and also your chances at getting merit aid.</p>
<p>My dad makes around 140k a year and is a single parent, and several EFC calculators have told me that i will not qualify for any need based grants, and hardly any loans. so even if i did apply for need based aid, i know at this point i wouldn't get any.</p>
<p>do you think that i will be better off NOT checking the box that says i will be applying for need based aid? will it decrease my chances at merit aid/getting accepted if i do check the box? will i still be able to applying for need based aid even if i don't check the box?</p>
<p>i am applying to Tulane University SCEA if that helps.</p>
<p>Yes, it could affect your chances of getting accepted at those schools that are need aware for admissions. That is exactly what being “need aware” means, that the admissions office will take into account that you need financial aid. Ask each school on your list outright,if they are need blind in admissions. If they hedge or say no, then you know.</p>
<p>Though it really isn’t the whole story, which is why some schools hedge at the answer. Most of them don’t just look at the box where you have checked “applying for financial aid” and put you in the NEED pile. But some do.</p>
<p>What most do, is take the top applicants or as many as they can, until the money runs dry, and then start taking need into account. Also, how much need can be an issue. Needing $50K is a whole other story from needing $5K, for example. </p>
<p>Things are changing so fast in the college scene thatyou have to ask to find out what the situation is with school right now. </p>
<p>Also be aware that there are schools that will not consider you for aid in future years if you don’t apply for it the first year, That is usually a tip off that it is a need aware school. THey don’t want kids getting in as full pay and then hitting them up for money later. A true need blind school won’t care because all that happens in such cases is YOU lose out on the first year of aid if you had qualified and it made no difference in you acceptance considerations. But a need aware school might have accepted you as a full pay and when you come up needy, it affects their planning.</p>
<p>I don’t know how Tulane does their admisisons, and I suggest you ask, but the merit awards are dispensed with no regard to income in the past. I know a number of kids who were offered them, generous amounts and they had no need, plus some who did have need. Merit awards, unless stated otherwise, do not take need into account. It’s to get whoever the school wants most to come there.</p>
<ul>
<li>check to see if any college requires the Fafsa and/or CSS in order to be considered for merit.</li>
<li>understand that finaid is not based on income alone- presumably you ran the NPCs with accurate info.</li>
<li>though it’s true kids applying for aid from a need-aware school may run into a snag, I suspect a high EFC family is a different situation, to begin with. You do not need a huge amount of financial support from the school. You won’t cost them as much as a low income kid.
-Stafford unsubsidized loans are not based on financial need.</li>
</ul>
<p>What we don’t know is whether any college looks at an applicant’s financial aid app, to see how much support it would take- or just the check box. Ask, if needed.</p>
<p>as far as im aware, tulane is need blind, and they do EA, so their admissions is non binding. also, it has been rumored to me that they tend to be generous in their merit aid. lastly, i am applying EA, do they would not have my FAFSA at this point.</p>
<p>so does your verdict still remain the same?</p>
<p>*Most merit scholarships - various partial tuition scholarships ranging from $7,500 to $27,000 per year - require no special application and are awarded by the admission office based on the strength of the admission application within the context of the given year’s applicant pool. The majority of merit scholarships are renewable for 4 years…</p>
<p>… there are two merit scholarships that require supplemental materials and have special application procedures: the Deans’ Honors Scholarship and the Community Service Scholarship.*</p>
<p>A few pages discuss this, here’s one: [Tulane</a> Admission: Scholarships & Aid](<a href=“http://admission.tulane.edu/aid/]Tulane”>http://admission.tulane.edu/aid/) It does not look like you need the Fafsa for non-need-based aid, so I guess you would not check the box. But, you can clarify directly with the school. Most schools have decent FA folks who will explain- if the phone answerer isn’t helpful, ask to speak with someone in authority.</p>
<p>Btw, usually early applications use a projected Fafsa.</p>
<p>Even if you don’t check the need aid box you can apply for a Stafford loan, at any school.</p>
<p>Tulane awards the merit money strictly on who admissions wants most. Financial aid separately does the need packages, so that you can get both merit and financial aid but then it is integrated so that you lose the all of the financial aid if that amount is less than the merit award. If your financial aid award is more than the merit amount, it is reduced so that you have both with the merit dollars, replacing as much of the aid amount as it can. You say Tulane is need blind on admissions, which is something I have not verified.</p>