@brownpoodle Yes, that is correct. FAFSA is for Federal Loans, CSS Profile/IDOC for institutional need-based financial aid. If you daughter/son indicated on their application that she/he planned on applying for financial aid, I would suggest to close the loop with the Office of Financial Aid to let them know that plans have changed and no financial aid applications will be forthcoming.
Generally, I would like to caution however - we have seen quite a few families who did not expect to receive institutional financial aid and, after submitting CSS Profile/IDOC, were very positively surprised by previously unexpected need-based financial aid from Notre Dame. I should also mention that for a number of departmental Notre Dame scholarships, i.e. for summer programs and/or research, it is a pre-condition to have financial information with the Office of Financial Aid on file. It just makes things go more smoothly.
It is true that a not unimportant segment of ND undergraduate students attend the university based on full pay, whether or not they have financial information on file is a separate question. Full pay represents one source, generates parts of the funding for Notre Dame’s institutional aid, and therefore is highly welcome :-*
@hpcsa thanks. I think I he said he was not applying for FA anywhere. I’m not sure if fafsa/css is needed for merit by the colleges he applied to. It’s all a bit confusing!
@PopUpZone1921 Excellent! In order to correctly benchmark and compare your son’s Notre Dame Net Costs of Attendance (NCOA) against FAFSA schools like Purdue or Miami Ohio, you basically do not have much option other than to complete the process for CSS Profile schools, the likes of the University of Notre Dame. Otherwise you would not be in a position to compare apples with apples after all admission decisions have came in, and it could well turn out that a Public OOS NCOA may ultimately come in well above NCOA of Notre Dame and other CSS Profile schools. Without completing the process in parallel, both with FAFSA and CSS Profile schools, you would not be able to find an answer to this important question. Just my 2 cents worth…
@brownpoodle Yes, I agree. As mentioned earlier, I am always surprised by how little attention important financial aid considerations are receiving on Notre Dame CC discussion threats, as opposed to other colleges on this website. I believe in some cases the applying students simply do not understand/do not really care much about this important aspect of their Notre Dame college careers, until it is too late and the parents end up holding the bag… Just joking
Does anyone know if there is a parents weekend at ND? I looked at the website and it seems there is a “junior parents weekend” but not anything for the rest of the school?
Also, I believe the merit finalist decisions are coming out soon. Last year they were released on President’s Day. Good luck to those waiting!
hello! ND has parents weekend in February of junior year only. If the student is abroad that semester they may attend senior year. we just returned tonight from class of 2020 JPW. This is our third time, truly a great weekend getting to know our child’s other home!
They don’t really do “parent’s weekend” at ND, @WineLover, largely because I think the town can’t handle it. For me, I’ve always gone Once a year for a football game - those are fun because you get to meet the friends of your kids, and maybe their parents. Everyone is incredibly welcoming at the tailgate. We didn’t do parents weekend junior year because D was in London for the semester.
@Beeruiri Will your student and you be looking at ND’s Financial Aid Notification (FAN), available in March for REA admits,in isolation or will you be able to benchmark with other colleges/universities where your student has been admitted and she/he is considering to possibly attend?
Isolation. If we can’t make up the cost for my son to attend ND it’s off to Texas A&M with the majority of his classmates as we are unwilling to borrow. ND is my son’s first choice but the total cost of A&M is basically the cost to buy a fair condition 10 year-old used car.
@Beeruiru Thanks. The reason I asked was that in many cases a dollar for dollar net cost comparison between finalist colleges is being needed in order to have the full financial picture. Depending on personal circumstances, a net cost comparison between Notre Dame, other Private Universities, OOS Publics and the State Flagship can yield surprising results, if and when available. In our case, only once the Regular Decision FAN’s came out were we able to compare final costs for our student with quite surprising results. Looking at Notre Dame’s FAN in isolation did not help us much at the time. In any case, best of luck to you and your student!
Just to add some additional context: Notre Dame’s total yield rate is around 60%, i.e. last admission cycle 2,070 of 3,608 admitted students enrolled (yield rate, due to various factors, is quite a few percentage points higher for REA admits). Of the admitted students who ultimately decide not to enroll, Don Bishop suggested some time ago that approx. 20% end up at other private peer universities and the remaining 20% at their respective State Flagships. These are obviously all round, yet possible helpful, numbers.
HPCSA, thank you for your inquiry. We have run the numbers with various school cost projection calculators and with our combined family income, ND appears to be the best in terms of Need Based Financial Aid - the difference being our ability to list the number of his other siblings in parochial school and the total tuition we currently pay to send them there. So far the only other scholarship my son has been able to obtain is $500 . Oh well, as Catholics we continue to pray that the Good Lord might help us find a way for my son to attend ND.
Its not much but if your husband belongs to the Knights of Columbus they have a small scholarship $1,500 with a March 1 deadline. You might want to follow up with your local ND alumni association, they might offer small scholarships.
Also for those interested in staying at the Morris Inn for Junior Parents Weekend 2020, they opened reservation up today at 4PM.
FarmerMom, thanks so much for your response. Unfortunately I do not belong to the KofC, but we are praying that my son might win one of the other scholarships which my son is in the running for. Unfortunately, they are highly competitive including the National Merit, DAR Good Citizen, Elks MVS, several local awards and…yes, the ND Merit Scholarships. Our problem is that as a family we make a decent living but after paying for Catholic School for my other sons, insurance, feeding 3 teenage boys, tithing, etc. we have barely enough money for a summer vacation. Oh well, as dedicated Catholics our family is definitely willing to forgo vacations to send my son to ND. Matt. 6:26-34; As my deceased father used to say: “What me worry? God will provide”. I can tell you I have been saying the rosary more in the last 3 months than I have in 10 years!
@WineLover - I would recommend “Welcome Weekend” which is part of the move in. It is a great introduction for parents including a meeting with your student’s Hall Rector.
@usma87 Can you expand on your post a little bit and give more information about what this weekend looks like, please? We have a room reserved for that weekend so I’m very curious how it unfolds. Thanks so much!
. Oh well, as Catholics we continue to pray that the Good Lord might help us find a way for my son to attend ND.