Financial aid has to deal with certain processing of info like FAFSa and PROFile info immediately. They have to get it into their Star em. Otherwise, when acceptances are finalized, they’d have a ridiculous amount of work to do. They have to be ready to go on a tight schedule when they get thevaccepted student list, if there are limited funds to distribute.
So, yes, they’ll start in some things right away. Just asking if you are applying for fin aid generally means nothing.
Fact of the matter is that with some schools , you really can’t tell.