Class of 2016 decisions thread

MiamiDAP
Thu, 26 Jan 2012 08:24:40 +0000

"MiamiDAP, are you saying that your daughter qualified for more merit because she submitted the FAFSA? "
-I believe, yes. We actually received letter from Miami stating that to qualify for full range of Merit scholarships, we are strongly advised to file FASFA. FASFA does not take much time, we have filed every year with awesome results. D. got close to 10 Merit awards that covered her full tuition+. In addtion, starting with March of freshman year, D. applied for Returning student Merit awards. They are not automatic, studennts with good academic standing (college GPA 3.8+) can apply every eyear by March 15. Additional rewards were also substantial.
Departmental Merit awards are normally allocated to seniors and a bit for juniors. They are usually automatic or student might be notified by department to apply. As far as I remember. I believe that D. had some in her senior year, although her department is arguably one of the most competitive because of good number of pre-meds, who have to maintain very high college GPA to apply to Med. School. As far as I know, Summa Cum Laude cut off was incredibly high in D’s major, much higher than in other majors.
These could hyave all changed. D. has graduated last May. However, as FASFA definitely does not hurt anything, I still strongly advise to file. We are still doing it every year, just in case, although we are paying full price for D’s Med. School.
We are very far from qualifying for any need based. Not only because of income but also because of no debt and no other dependents.