<p>I was wondering if it is appropriate to tell a prospective college that my daughter has applied to, (she only had 1 college she is interested in) that she won’t be waiting for grants, loans, etc.</p>
<p>We can afford to pay her 1st 2 years tuition, room and board up front and was wondering if they would take that as an insult? It is a private school.</p>
<p>I’m hoping/expecting that she will get accepted on her qualifications, but extra insurance never hurts. They are also a business after all.</p>
<p>Since they ask on the application whether or not she’s applying for financial aid, you don’t need to call them as well; it seems desperate. If she’s not qualified, it won’t matter, and if she is, they already know anyways.</p>
<p>Heh, heh, Musicamusica has hit it just right.</p>
<p>First of all, most schools are need blind in admissions. They don’t care. And those that do care, the need aware ones just look to see if you are applying for financial aid or not, and then how they procede is up to the individual school.</p>
<p>I don’t quite believe in need blind. If you don’t need FA it is a hook, and it would be for 4 years. What you may be able to get a break on is if you would pay for 4 years of tuition upfront. They’ll not increase the tuition for 4 years if you’ll pay upfront. It is a good deal because college cost inflation has been higher than what you could get on re-investment. A friend of mine did it right before the market crashed. She said it was the best investment.</p>
<p>Yes, but I do not think this ability is any kind of a bargaining chip with the college (any more than just being “full pay” is, which is the situation that the OP is in). Heck, the college has not even set tuition for the next year, they would not know how much to ask for. I do not think it would do any good to communicate this to the school.</p>
<p>You only discuss tuition after your kid is admitted. I know schools will let you pay for 4 years upfront at today’s rate, this way you avoid any tuition increases.</p>
<p>What about year’s 3 and 4 though? Some schools won’t give you aid if you don’t apply fresh/soph year–or you fall in line behind everyone else and there just isn’t much left to go around then.</p>
<p>If you don’t qualify the first year for FA the first year, why would applying for FA help you out later on? It’s not like they are going to hold some money aside just in case if you should lose your job. By applying for FA, you may let the school know that you could barely afford the school. Why share your financial information when you could get nothing in return?</p>
<p>OP,
How would you anticipate telling the college this information? </p>
<p>I think it is quite possible that not needing FA at any given private college may help you (I also think it can help at some publics). However, as others pointed out, the colleges will presumably know this from the fact that your D did not check the FA box. </p>
<p>I’m not so sure that telling them (would you call admissions on the phone?) that you can pay 2 years up front will add any value to the knowledge that you don’t need FA. I could see how it might possibly look negative, in the sense that it could be interpreted to mean that you might not have money to pay tuition after sophomore year.</p>
<p>It all depends on the school. Being able to pay the posted tuition for four years is not that unusual at some schools. At others, it is.</p>
<p>Other than checking the “no” box asking whether you will be applying for a discount, I don’t think I’d bring it up. You might embarrass yourself.</p>
<p>This seems like a post-admission discussion to me as well. </p>
<p>Also, would want to understand pre-payment terms: time abroad at different school’s program, transfer, medical leave, withdrawal, academic suspension, etc and how each would be handled. The no-need “bump” at admission (if there is one), is the absence of intent to apply for aid as stated on app. </p>
<p>oldfort–technically they would be given “aid” in the form of student loans. They can decline those loans but they are still in the “system” for applying. It’s something that is talked about here all the time. Most people will tell you, even if you are full pay, to apply for FA even knowing you are not getting any.</p>
<p>Besides which, outside scholarships often require the FAFSA, even though their income levels are much higher. It’s just prudent.</p>
<p>What does it mean to be in the system? I don’t really care what most people tell me, especially when it doesn’t make sense. Again, do you think a school would hold some money aside for you because you applied for FA when you don’t qualify? Are they suppose to read into the crystal ball to know that you may need it some where down the road? My kid got a full tuition ride without having to submit any financial information.</p>
<p>oldfort–most schools award aid on a first come, first serve basis. Those that got aid last year are first in line for aid this year. Those that did not, are at the end of the line. Since funds are not unlimited, after matching awards from previous years go to students that already got aid, what is left over for those new in line is limited. It’s really not that hard to understand. Merit aid is NOT the same as financial aid.</p>
<p>Oldfort, your kid got a merit award. And congrats to her and you! </p>
<p>There are some schools, the ones that are need aware in admission who do have the policiy that if you do not apply for financial aid that first year, you are not eligible to get it later without a sit out period or change of circumstances or whatever other stipulation they give. They do this so that people don’t game the system and apply as full pay, and then it turns out they do need aid later on. These schools tend to guarantee to meet full need. What some will do is request your financial info and taxes for your entry year as well as the year you ask for aid and see if circumstances have changed. I know one family that went through this–they qualified for no aid and so did not bother to apply for it freshman year, but a couple of years later had two in college ahd did qualify. The school did verify that the student did not try to gain admissions by not applying for aid her freshman year. </p>
<p>Though you may believe that all schools are need aware, and there are arguments to support this, there are definietly some schools that are more need aware than others in admissions.</p>
<p>As for the OP, my feeling is that it would be difficult to point out that you are full pay to the admissions office without it looking gauche. They will know, if they care, since the apps tend to ask if you are applying for aid. Also, it seems to me that those who work in admissions hate being constrained by ability to pay in picking the students and many tend to have a bit of a bias against full pays, especially any that seem to flaunt that fact. Most of those who work in that office are not paid even close to what a private college costs in a year. They are not exactly cheerleaders for the more well to do. It’s when college policy forces them to be need aware that they are, out of necessity.</p>
Exactly. If you didn’t qualify for aid, just because you applied didn’t mean you are ahead of the line. I feel like we talking about insurance again.</p>
So you are telling me that without filing for FA a school wouldn’t know there was a change of circumstances? What about just looking at someone tax return from one year to another? Last year someone made 200K, next year 50K. Yes, maybe someone lost his/her job. Last year someone made 50K, didn’t file for FA, this year still makes 50K, but filing for FA. Ahh, trying to game the system. Not so hard.</p>
<p>SteveMA…need based aid is awarded annually based on the financial aid applications for the upcoming year. I don’t believe new applicants are at a disadvantage as long as they submit on time. For schools that meet full need for ALL students, all the students need to do is meet the deadline for applying. They do not award aid on a first come basis. </p>
<p>For schools that do NOT meet full need, there are some limited funding
FEDERALLY funded need based programs…Perkins loan, federal work study, SEOG if the school has it. But remember these schools don’t meet full need anyway…and they usually don’t. </p>
<p>But the take away is…need based aid is reviewed and awarded annually. It is not based on what was given the previous year. Every year is a new year.</p>