<p>I think I know the answer to this one (yes), but I am hoping TSocash will weigh in. The blog post from last year indicated that students who applied for need-based aid received more merit aid than those who didn't apply for need-based. I know we won't qualify for need-based, but D is a good candidate for merit (NMSF, 4.0 UW, great recommendations, 7 varsity letters, etc). So should we apply for financial aid even though we don't qualify?</p>
<p>Our family did not qualify for any need-based aid for either d. In order to apply for need-based aid unless situation has changed you need to complete the FAFSA as well as any additional financial reports each school you are applying to requires-such as the CSS profile. They have simplified FAFSA since older d applied to college… but still it is time-consuming to gather all the information and fill out the paperwork online which is sent to whatever school you apply to whether you want them to receive the information or not. It is really a personal decision. We did both times because assumed we needed to first time around and second time thought a possibility because would have two in private college at the same time…</p>
<p>Yep, I’ve had 2 in college before and have a good idea what our EFC will be. Rochester has stated before that kids who applied for financial aid got more merit aid than those who didn’t. It just seems odd to me to send the forms when we don’t qualify.</p>
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<p>Can you tell me where you found this?
Would this be true for ED also ?</p>
<p>It is from last year - (no idea about ED)</p>
<p>“Regardless of need, completing the FAFSA correlated on average with $1,700 more in merit aid. Completing both the FAFSA and CSS PROFILE yielded on average $2,500 more in merit aid.”</p>
<p>[“What</a> kind of scholarship can I get?” - Admissions and Aid | University of Rochester](<a href=“http://blog.enrollment.rochester.edu/blog/admissions-and-aid/what-kind-of-scholarship-can-i-get]"What”>http://blog.enrollment.rochester.edu/blog/admissions-and-aid/what-kind-of-scholarship-can-i-get)</p>
<p>I just wish I knew if this also holds true for those who don’t show need (at least according to FAFSA and CSS!)</p>
<p>Nice find. </p>
<p>It makes me wonder. My D1 attends her first choice which is a selective quirky private university that has been undergoing some drastic changes of late. Despite having a much stronger academic profile than the others, and despite turning down one of the prize HYPSM schools to go there, she was the only one of the those attending from her high school to not get a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Furthermore, we are relentlessly hounded by the development office for even more money than full tuition despite my telling them to teach D1 how to be rich and you’ll get the donations from her just like our alma maters get regular giving from us. Full-tuition is my upper limit. </p>
<p>Now it could be that she wasn’t given a merit scholarship because she was clearly such a perfect fit for the school that they didn’t need to offer the bait and wanted to attract another type of student who may not have otherwise been attracted there. But it could be that by not even applying for financial aid, we signaled that money was not a factor. </p>
<p>Still I agree that it seems odd to fill out the forms, and I’m not sure if we will. Part of me thinks that it’s really not merit aid after all if they “progressively tax” it, and for us it will get “taxed” a lot, so why even bother. If it’s really given to the “needy”, then do I really need it.</p>
<p>We did not do FAFSA or CSS for any school since we knew we wouldn’t qualify. My son is at UR and was offered merit money but interestingly, it was about the same amount of money every school offered him. Like there must be some secret template they use based on scores, GPA and no forms.</p>
<p>Would have been nice if filling out the forms would have gotten him more money but I tend to think “Regardless of need” is just an opening statement, not a guarantee of more aid.</p>
<p>Lakemom- Would you mind sharing some stats on your son? Scores, amount, etc?</p>
<p>Ahhh no, I don’t feel comfortable posting that stuff on the web. You can PM me if you want. </p>
<p>This page may help though get an idea</p>
<p><a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/estimator/merit.aspx[/url]”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/estimator/merit.aspx</a></p>
<p>This is the original page that link came from
[University</a> of Rochester : Financial Aid](<a href=“http://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/undergrads/scholarships.shtm]University”>http://enrollment.rochester.edu/financial/undergrads/scholarships.shtm)</p>
<p>It is all rather mysterious - my S at RIT knew how much scholarship he would receive based on his test scores and class rank. Most of the schools on D’s list don’t offer large merit, which is part of the strong appeal of Rochester. ClassicRockerDad, I sent you a PM about that quirky, selective school.</p>
<p>mamabear, nice resurrection of our dean’s blog post! I would recommend giving our Financial Aid Office a call if you haven’t already. Perhaps they can clarify whether or not it would be worth it for your family to submit the financial forms… I’m sure that this could be a case by case scenario type of situation.</p>
<p>We applied for need-based aid even though we thought we wouldn’t qualify. We didn’t (d got merit aid, though), but we did get the unsubsidized Stafford loan through Rochester. Because Rochester is a direct lender, it made the process much easier than if we had to shop around for a lender for the unsubsidized Stafford.</p>