<p>FYI, you should always apply for financial aid if you need financial aid. Your guidance counselor has no authoritative way of knowing whether or not you will get any, and seeing how NU is need-blind, it was frankly irresponsible of him/her to tell you that.</p>
<p>Applying for financial aid costs very little (I think the CSS profile is $30) and you could end up getting some loans and work study if nothing else. Work study is a great asset – you can put it on your resume, it gives you stuff to do when you have downtime, and it can help out with personal expenses.</p>