And for future reference- do NOT go by what friends/siblings have gotten or didn’t get. You may be a public school teacher with a spouse who is a police officer- and your neighbor may be in exactly the same jobs, and your local newspaper publishes a “who makes what” story so you know EXACTLY how much money your neighbor makes.
No. Your neighbor owns an inherited IRA from a great-aunt and gets a mandatory distribution from that asset every year. Your neighbor spends thousands of dollars a year on a treatment for an auto-immune disorder that nobody knows about, but which got “professional judgement” from the Adcoms. You have a money market account worth 12K for your emergency fund-- your neighbors emergency fund is $80, or 120K or non-existent.
Do your own financial aid application if you want to be in a strong negotiating position-- if you have a need, some of the schools on your list may be inclined to listen. If you don’t have a need, this might not be the year to be able to negotiate. And every family’s circumstances are different, you cannot extrapolate. Not everyone is transparent about an inheritance- even if it didn’t change the lifestyle one iota, it can sure change the asset picture. Someone co-owns a beach cottage with three siblings? Their 1/4 share of this “investment property” can sure change their financial aid application!