<p>I’m submitting the FAFSA because I want aid from the fed/state government. I didn’t check off any financial aid boxes on my applications, but do I also need to submit the CSS if I’m APPLYING for aid from the government only and not from a college?</p>
<p>only if your school requires it</p>
<p>Who did you submit the FAFSA to? The school will administer any Federal aid that you are eligible for - PELL or Stafford Loans. You don’t get aid from the government directly to you.</p>
<p>You also will need to alert the schools that you are applying to that you are applying for financial aid, if you did not indicate that on your application to the university.</p>
<p>^ So I should send an email to the schools saying that I’ll be applying for aid from the government but not from the school itself? </p>
<p>So far, I’ve submitted the FAFSA to all the Ivies + Stanford. I plan on submitting to NYU, Vanderbilt, Wash U, JHU, Barnard, Wellesley.</p>
<p>If the school requires css profile to apply for aid & I believe all of the above schools do, you will need to fill it out.</p>
<p>If all you want is Stafford loans, I am pretty sure you are allowed to say “no” to applying for financial aid on your application. All aid packages go through the school, so you can’t just apply for government aid without involving the school. And they may not give you a package at all if they require the CSS profile and you don’t fill it out. You’ll need to call the school and explain your situation and see if they need you to fill in the Profile even if you plan to decline everything but the federal loans (assuming that is what you want to do).</p>
<p>I stand corrected- Yale does have a procedure for you to only apply for unsubsidized Stafford loans- however you would need to check at each school for their application.</p>