Fafsa opens today
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Anonymous
But do you really have to fill this out for Merit Aid? I thought no? |
Anonymous
Varies on the school. And there's no list that states which school wants what - so you have to check each school individually regarding whether they require FAFSA/CSS for merit aid. |
Anonymous
| Do we fill out after acceptance or application? Or can we start filling it out now? |
Anonymous
| FAFSA can be completed before submitting college apps. But you do need to list on the FAFSA the names of the colleges you want to receive your financial info. |
Anonymous
PP here.. yes, we have that list. Thank you! |
Anonymous
You can start now. Some schools specify a deadline (sometimes a month or two after the student's application deadline) but there's no reason to wait. If the FAFSA is there when the school accepts your kid, you might possibly get the final financial aid offer earlier than you would have. |
Anonymous
Dp, but obviously helpful to determining whether one needs to file FAFSA at all. |
Anonymous
Many schools require it. George Mason wouldn't even talk to me (and we had a relative workign there as a professor) about merit until I filed the FAFSA. |
Anonymous
You file the FAFSA to obtain the $5500 unsubsidized federal loan which we took out each year (it increases in amount each year) for all our children. We are a donut hole family so received no merit offers and our EFC was 100% but we are stretched financially taking care of elderly grandparents and SN kids. So, the unsubsidized loans were helpful and also gave the kids some skin in the game because THEY sign the paperwork ("What!? I'm responsible for this?". They came away each with roughly $20K to $26K in federal loans and we financed everything else but had to refinance our home to cover it all. And yes before you nasty naysayers start in, we did start college trusts (pre 529s) at birth and funded them but had to raid them for SN schools. The trust funds were also affected by two stock market crashes. Then we had to take care of three elderly grandparents, two cases of alzheimers who needed 24 hour care (two still alive in their 90s!) and the list goes on. And no we aren't affluent. I don't have a new kitchen, take lavish vacations and my passport expired 15 years ago. I say all of this because someone ignorant always comes on these posts and tries to lecture parents about how they should have saved more and not bought a nice house, driven nice cars (oh mine is 18 years old!), and taken lavish vacations or want a new kitchen (I have no idea why they say that, but they do). Not all of us can afford private institutions at $81K+ a year. Mine went instate. I thank the Virginia system every day for the opportunities it gave my children. |
Anonymous
Not all schools. Friend's DC is at Grinnell. She told me they did not complete FAFSA and her DC still received merit. |
Anonymous
PP, first, GL you are true "sandwich generation" parent. Your parents/ILs are fortunate to have you. Second, being a donut hole family has no bearing on merit aid. There are full pay students who receive it as well as kids receiving state and federal aid. Merit aid tends to be more available at private schools, but not exclusively. I grew up in Michigan and am also thankful for those opportunities. |
Anonymous
| For those full pay and filling out FAFSA, in the commonapp, do we select yes or no for the question "Do you intend to pursue need-based financial aid?" ? |
Anonymous
| DC already got an acceptance in September with over $20k in merit aid. The Fafsa hadn’t even come out yet. |
Anonymous
Too much. |
Anonymous
We do that and kid takes the unsubsidized loan. Some skin in the game and.. who knows, If Biden or Dems win again, there might be more broad based loan forgiveness and I don't want my DC to miss out. |