That is not true that it’s needed for merit aid at most schools. Check each school. None of the 16 schools my D applied to required it for merit. One required it for certain small merit scholarships, but not for the big ones.
None of the schools my son applied to required it for merit, we double checked, and chose not to fill it out.
Sorry, I missed you said that after what I first read. Well that’s good!
My S has gotten merit aid at schools without filling out any paperwork at all, just an FYI 
@lbf mine too
They want every parent to do the FAFSA so they have that trove of financial data about their students families. More data to make all their various reports and for Institutional Advancement for fund-raising.
Exactly @Dolemite and that’s why I feel like keeping my info private for now.
@itsgettingreal17 “most” was probably the wrong word, but many do require it, so it’s important for anyone reading to check…
Good point @dolemite I hadn’t thought f that but still not gonna happen
@RightCoaster – if these are places you are waiting to hear from, go ahead and email back and say that you’re not seeking financial aid! No shame in that, and it may just help a little.
@RightCoaster - I would have him reply to the email by saying that my parents say we do not qualify for financial aid so they will not fill out the fafsa.
@thermom and @dolemite congratulations on the Smith early write!!
@LoveTheBard good luck with the Robertson and congratulations on all your D’s great news.
@BigPapiofthree - MOSAIC is Vandy’s accepted students program. They they seem to invite a cross section of scholarship recipients and URMs – ostensibly to try to get them to commit. It’s probably by invitation (there wasn’t an application to fill out) and I’d imagine that they don’t invite people that applied ED since they’re already committed. Probably can’t hurt to ask though…
Congratulations to @thermom , @Dolemite @Mom2aphysicsgeek and @LoveTheBard and others I might have missed.
D has been sick and still swimming and getting ready for her last high school champaionship meet. This morning I had to send her in for morning practice, as I need that car afterwards. She lost her voice and she has an interview tomorrow. Bless my dear girl for still saying “thank you for the ride” when I dropped her off.
I just sent her some pointers on gaining her voice back from google. Oh, those kids work so hard!! Any remedies you may have on gaining voice back?!
@SincererLove last night we too held our swimming state championship meet. It was definitely bittersweet watching DS17 swim his last high school race. Thankfully he is over his bout of extreme GI sickness which luckily hit him just prior to beginning the postseason competitions. Unfortunately I don’t have any great remedies (other than rest and time) to suggest for your daughter.
FAFSA insight:
http://time.com/money/collection-post/4162476/3-reasons-to-fill-out-the-fafsa-no-matter-how-rich-you-are/
@SincererLove Aw, that sucks, as for getting voice back - rest! Tea with honey usually helps a little.
@dfbdfb Thanks for the Questionable Content reference, now I have another online distraction!
3 on the list is the reason why @rightcoaster should have his son reply to the non-generic emails.
To @fishnlines29 point, BU is one of those schools that seemed to indicate they wanted the FAFSA filled out for merit scholarships. Visually, the presentation would have one believe you need to fill it out to get merit aid. At the end of the presentation, they verbally said you didn’t have to fill out the FAFSA to get merit aid. Then the person followed that statement by saying that the family who does not file the FAFSA should be certain they can afford BU at full pay and merit should not be a consideration before the student applies. They are trying to protect their yield.
@paveyourpath I still don’t buy that not filling out the FAFSA is going to have a negative impact on Admissions. They may imply that just to get you to do it because they want that data. What percentage of kids get merit at BU? Small. And what are the stats of those kids? High. Do those kids have other options? Yes. By default kids that get merit at BU are a yield risk anyway. In this day and age being full pay is a boost at about every school except for the tippy-top that have so many full pay candidates they don’t care. Even at need-blind schools seeing that the FAFSA wasn’t filed can be an asset because they know you are full pay in the back of their minds.
@paveyourpath Yes, we felt the pressure to fill it out at BU and were required to fill it out for NYU.
@Dolemite what about Grants? I don’t think D would have gotten the offer she got at one school - it included grants and scholarships. I think to be considered for federal grants, you need to fill it out. Her stats were a lot higher for this school so they wanted her, but I think if we hadn’t filled out the FAFSA, she would have only been awarded the scholarship.
@Fishnlines29 If you qualify for Federal Grants then you aren’t full pay and should be filling out the FAFSA. If it’s ‘Grants’ that a school gives you then it’s need-based and again you aren’t full pay. Grants also might be a synonym for Scholarships at some schools so it could be Merit.