<p>So I am, not to be snotty, in a pretty good financial situation. My mom makes around $85,000 and my dad somewhere around there. They have money saved for my and my brother's colleges (he's younger). Don't know about their assets but our house is worth maybe $400K? So, the big question is should I even bother applying for fin aid? The thing is, my parents technically CAN pay for our colleges. But its not like were rolling in money- if i can get aid why not? I just don't know if I really have a chance of getting aid. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>With $170K in income you won’t get any FA. You can apply through FAFSA anyway to get a Stafford loan which would be unsubsidized and in your own name. Alternatively you could try to find some merit aid for your stats. Here is one place to look. <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/848226-important-links-automatic-guaranteed-merit-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>NatalieMaeve - </p>
<p>Do sit down with your parents, and discuss this issue. Find out a bit more about their plans for helping you pay for your education. They may be expecting that you take out the maximum Stafford Loan each year, that you work full-time every summer and part-time during the school year, that you set aside X% of any money you get as graduation presents for college expenses, that you apply for every merit-based scholarship that you qualify for, etc. They also might be willing to pay full costs at College A, but not at College B, or they might be willing to pay as long as you keep a certain GPA. You don’t need to know all of the gory details of their finances, just how much they are willing to chip in each year, and what the terms are for that contribution.</p>
<p>Right. They said they’ll contribute what is needed. They think I should work but won’t hold it against me if my classes and everything get to be too much and I simply can’t. They don’t expect me to take out loans. Well, I suppose its probably not worth it to apply. They just expect me to apply for merit aid mostly.</p>
<p>The paperwork involved in filing the FAFSA is not difficult. I understand that the CSS Profile is a bit more complicated. Do find out what the policies are at each of the colleges/universities that you apply to because some will require that you file the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile in order to be considered for merit-based aid. They do that so that students who also qualify for need-based aid get it as part of their total package.</p>
<p>Do find out what the policies are at each of the colleges/universities that you apply to because some will require that you file the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile in order to be considered for merit-based aid.</p>
<p>Examples, please, for true merit aid - not preferential packaging of need-based aid. </p>
<p>This assertion surfaces from time to time, but it seems to be largely mythology. In other threads, nobody seems to be able to identify schools where this is actually true. To date, we’ve managed to come up with less than five examples.</p>
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<p>Hey OP, make sure that your parents understand exactly how much might be needed. Depending on the school, that might be $55k a year or more, and that amount will go up slightly each year that you’re in school. If your parents say that yes, they can afford that, great. If not, you’ll know you should be looking for schools that cost less, or that would offer you merit aid.</p>
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Does this seem oxymoronic?</p>
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<p>Perhaps because colleges, almost universally, will include a sentence “strongly encouraging” potential scholarship recipients to file the appropriate FA forms. Many students don’t get awarded scholarships or lose their merit aid early on and they would then be beyond the priority deadline for filing.</p>
<p>Erin’s Dad came up with one of the very few examples in another thread. He gets credit for actually contributing a rare factoid, so we can ignore the little jab. 
Of course, since he participated in those other threads, he’s aware that this is largely mythology.</p>
<p>MisterK…Boston University requires the Profile and FAFSA for incoming students for ALL merit awards (and need based ones). I’m speaking from the experienced parent seat. DS got a performance award (music) that had NOTHING to do with need…nothing at all. It was based on the strength of his audition.</p>
<p>Our family contribution was in excess of the cost of attendance. If need had been a component of his award, he would NOT have received a penny.</p>
<p>UMaine requires FAFSA completion to be considered for their merit awards which are true merit. No FAFSA, no consideration</p>
<p>Scripps required the Profile for merit in 2008</p>
<p>Fordham U requires FAFSA for merit award.</p>
<p>Also, for son, FAFSA wasn’t apparently required, but a “supplemental award” magically appeared after we submitted one. Could have been related to “need”, but our EFC was about the same as cost of attendance for each of our two in private universities.</p>
<p>Yes, there are a few such places. Every time we have this conversation, people mention examples. BU is interesting, and so is Fordham. I confirmed Fordham. I believe BU was mentioned before, but no need to confirm because thumper has total credibility!</p>
<p>However, U Maine does not appear to be an example of this unusual class. Their website says that FAFSA is optional, and “leads to consideration *for the need-based *scholarships.” Then it moves to the merit section, listed separately, with no such requirement - and it does give a long list of requirements. </p>
<p>*All students who file a FAFSA are automatically considered for need-based scholarships awarded by the Office of Student Financial Aid. To be considered for a University of Maine Selective Scholarship, you must fill out the Selective Scholarship Application (PDF).</p>
<h2>*</h2>
<p>Same thing with Scripps. I can’t find any requirement to submit the FAFSA for merit, and this seems to suggest otherwise:
*
Scripps College will consider all first-year applicants for Trustee and Presidential scholarships. To be considered for the James E. Scripps and New Generation/Leonetti scholarships, applicants must submit all admission application materials by November 15 and check the merit-based scholarship box on the Common Application, regardless of admission plan (Early Decision or Regular Decision).Finalists for the James E. Scripps and New Generation scholarships are announced in early January and are brought to campus in early February at the College’s expense for final interviews; all scholarship recipients are notified by April 1.</p>
<h2>While the College awards scholarships based solely on merit, applicants can apply for additional need-based financial aid. Please visit the Financial Aid page to learn more.*</h2>
<p>Again, a few of these odd birds do exist - but very, very few. Of course, check carefully with any school that you’re interested in.</p>
<p>Two other points:
- Many people like to believe that their kids “won a scholarship”, whereas in fact they received FA or targeted FA, and the universities probably want to foster this feeling. Certainly there are a lot of confused parents out there; we’ve all heard the story of the parent bragging about “the full scholarship to HYP… that my kid won”.
- Many of the admissions workers will flatly state that “you must fill out the FAFSA or profile for all aid/scholarships”, even though that’s not the case - they simply don’t know the rule, and are quoting the standard. When you ask further, you get the real info.</p>
<p>You could be right. And until this year, I ALWAYS said don’t bother with the FAFSA.</p>