Common App asks "Do you wish to apply for financial aid?" What to put with high EFC?

[33mom33]

@1Lotus

Interesting and I hope others will chime in. I think I may have heard (probably this site) that if wanting merit aid to check the box because it is a form of financial aid. Previously, I only thought of needs-based aid as financial aid. I think I had D put “yes” to questions about financial aid and we will not qualify for needs-based aid, but definitely want to be considered for any merit.

On the advice of some other posters here, I directly contacted every school on the list my kid applied to and asked the FA department some version of the following:

1. Do you require a FAFSA/css profile for merit aid consideration?
2. What does it mean if my kid checks the box saying “I do NOT plan to apply for need-based financial aid” but then submits a FAFSA later?
3. If you are need-aware for admissions, does filing a FAFSA/css profile that shows an EFC higher than the cost of attendance signal to admissions to simply view the applicant as having no financial need, and considers them to be full pay?
4. If my family does not qualify for any need-based aid in year one or two, but might in subsequent years due to a sibling enrolling, do you require that a FAFSA/css profile was submitted at the time of application as a freshman?

I received a slightly different answer from every school!

The “I have heard…” responses you get here or elsewhere could be wrong, or right, or somewhere in between.

Of the ten schools I contacted, all responded that they do NOT require the FAFSA to be considered for merit (but I know this is not true for all schools). But then the rest of their responses differed quite a bit. A few said that for an applicant who checks the box stating “do not plan to apply for need-based financial aid” but then submits a FAFSA later, they view that exactly the same as “unchecking the box.” A few of the need-aware schools were semi-vague about this but said something along the lines of “checking the box to indicate plans to apply for need-based aid could potentially affect admissions decisions.” One school responded that their financial aid awards are set for all 4 years, barring catastrophic circumstances. Another need-aware school requires that a student have completed a certain number of credits before they can apply for need-based aid later, if they didn’t apply at the time of admission.

And yet another school responded that even if we won’t qualify for need-based aid, it can’t hurt to file a FAFSA, and added that it would be easier to apply for aid in subsequent years if we did submit one initially. That particular FA director suggested to just wait until after admissions decisions.

All this to say, there doesn’t appear to be one answer that is the same for all schools, so don’t hesitate to ask them.