I am able to pay for my tuition but at the same time would like to apply for FAFSA (financial aid). Would financial aid be beneficial or would colleges like the money they are milking off of me? There are two factors, one being the UC system (public schools) and and the other being schools such as USC, NYU, and UPENN (private schools)
UC’s are need blind meaning that your admission decision will not be based on if you need FA or not. We were able to pay for UC tuition, but my son still filled out the FASFA. Made no difference since all he was offered was loans, but some schools may want you file the FASFA for merit scholarship eligibility. No reason not do apply unless the schools are need aware.
If you can afford to pay then you won’t get financial aid, except loans, unless you falsify the FAFSA, which will get you in a lot of trouble including denied for admission.
So you will have to let yourself get milked.
With your GPA
“GPA positive improvement
3.0 --> 3.8 --> 2.9 --> 4.0”
acceptance is questionable to say the least.
I’m in a weird situation. Father quit his job last year resulting on paper for me to be low income and eligible for FAFSA but he now has work again which is the reason for us being able to pay tuition. Given that, would this account as falsifying my FAFSA because it asks for tax reports and such from 2016 which was they year he decided to quit allowing for me to provide the required proof?
For this FAFSA you use the 2015 income information: prior prior year. Or are you a current high school junior?
You will use the 2016 income info and next year they will calculate it again for your second year based on 2017 income. I would anticipate a large difference in what is owed the second year, as I’m sure you might expect, but your first year may be pretty inexpensive based on what you’ve described.
Some schools are need blind and others are not, so the answer to your question is: it depends. Good luck.
Even if your EFC is greater than your CoA you might want to file the FAFSA. It will give you access to student loans if you need them and circumstances change. I know a student that takes out the loans and banks them in case they need them but plans to pay them off at graduation if they manage not to need them.
Some outside scholarship organizations ask on their application form if you filed a FAFSA. By filing FAFSA you indicate to these scholarship organizations you are seeking out all possible funding sources for your education. Not filing a FAFSA indicates to them you don’t need the money.