If you don't apply for financial aid do you still get merit aid offers?

[Anonymous]

I'm wondering

1) whether schools think there is no point in offering merit aid to those who didn't indicate they need aid at all or

2) whether the merit aid is specifically an inducement to come to that school regardless of financial ability to attend and other aid given.

Is this tracked anywhere?

[Anonymous]

I suppose it depends on the school, but my relative didn't apply for or need anything at all and got a full scholarship offer from a school that really wanted a particular talent the student had.

[Anonymous]

Every school is different. Some schools require FAFSA for them to consider merit. Some don't. You need to check each school merit scholarship web page.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the quick responses.

Sounds like a total crapshoot and we should go ahead and fill out FAFSA regardless of need, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the quick responses.

Sounds like a total crapshoot and we should go ahead and fill out FAFSA regardless of need, right?

if you don't qualify for FA, I'd check each school's merit scholarship policy before completing the form. But, yes, the general rule of thumb is to complete FAFSA

[Anonymous]

"Sounds like a total crapshoot and we should go ahead and fill out FAFSA regardless of need, right?"

It depends on the selectivity of the schools you are applying to.

Once you get down to below about 50 or 60 on USNWR the vast majority do merit without needing a FAFSA.

They kind of have to because if #70 does merit without a FAFSA but #69 wants a FAFSA more people apply to #70 and the competition for even slightly higher stat students is fierce.

[Anonymous]

Yes. But it varies with the school.

The state schools my son applied to did not distinguish between financial and merit. You have to do the FAFSA even if you are dripping in money. My kid got merit from 3 of them and all of the schools sent a formal financial aid letter.

Looks very sad with simply the unsubsidized staffords and ginormous parent plus.

One of the two privates distinguished between financial and merit. I box for merit, and not for financial. They called to confirm I meant to do that, which was nice. My kid got a big merit aid amount.

The other private screwed up everything (early action v regular, honors application), including aid. Fortunately he had decided not to go there.

[Anonymous]

Also, check their SAT rule. Some schools which are test optional for admission, require SAT for merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the quick responses.

Sounds like a total crapshoot and we should go ahead and fill out FAFSA regardless of need, right?

Not a crap shoot.

1. If they really want your kid, and your kid is above average, they will offer you a discount. The better your kid, the better your odds.

2. Whether the FAFSA is required for merit is an administrative decision each school makes. You can't know the rules so just do the form.

3. Privates may require that other form. Do that, too.

[Anonymous]

Pay close attention of admission deadlines for students who want to be considered for merit $$. All schools vary, but it will be noted on their website's merit section.

[Anonymous]

We did not fill out FAFSA and several schools offered my daughter a great deal of merit money. It was because of her high GPA, I am assuming, but of course the school where she is going is very competitive and everyone is a strong student so no merit offer there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did not fill out FAFSA and several schools offered my daughter a great deal of merit money. It was because of her high GPA, I am assuming, but of course the school where she is going is very competitive and everyone is a strong student so no merit offer there.

+1. We checked with each of the 9 schools where DC applied and none of them required a Fafsa/CSS for merit. There comes a point (for us it was more than $400k in income and assets of several million in addition to retirement funds plus home equity) where it just seemed ridiculous to file a FAFSA and CSS. DC received merit aid, or really a discount, regardless. Some merit aid, like at Georgia Tech, is based on financial need. We weren't going to get that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did not fill out FAFSA and several schools offered my daughter a great deal of merit money. It was because of her high GPA, I am assuming, but of course the school where she is going is very competitive and everyone is a strong student so no merit offer there.

+1

We didn’t file the FAFSA and DC got merit aid almost everywhere he applied.

[Anonymous]

we filed the FAFSA because the financial aid officer at DC's university said he wouldn't even talk to me about merit scholarships until I had done so. So we did. We didn't get anything but we did get the minimum $5,500 loan. So we reapply every year for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

we filed the FAFSA because the financial aid officer at DC's university said he wouldn't even talk to me about merit scholarships until I had done so. So we did. We didn't get anything but we did get the minimum $5,500 loan. So we reapply every year for the same reason.