Do You Understand Financial Aid?
On November 1st, the majority of early action and early decision college applications are due. For the next two weeks I will share college application tips to help the whole process run smoothly. (Read previous advice about logistics, the common application form, the honors and activities sections, supplements, AI, campus visits, interviews, and the core essay.)
Saying that college is expensive is a colossal understatement. It’s also an understatement to say that the college financial aid process is confusing. As you put together your final school list and start to submit your applications, here are a few realities that are critical to understand:
- The difference between merit-based scholarships and need based financial aid.
Colleges offer merit-based scholarships to students who are strong in their pool, and who they think will contribute to their communities. Sometimes these scholarships are tied to GPA’s and/or test scores, and sometimes they are given to students who have impressive community service records, athletic, artistic or musical accomplishments, or who demonstrate a passion for a particular subject. Need based financial aid is awarded based on the school’s assessment of what your family can afford to pay, and can take the form of scholarships, grants, work-study, or loans. (Often a combination of all 4.)
- What “full demonstrated need” really means, and how to calculate yours.
Every school in the US should have a calculator on their financial aid page, which will prompt you to enter information about your family’s finances, and then approximates what they think you can afford to pay. (Aka “full demonstrated need.”) This number might vary a bit from school to school, so it’s worth taking the time to see if each of your target schools thinks that you will qualify for need-based financial aid, and if so, how much. This information will allow you to make an informed decision about where to apply and about whether or not to apply for aid, which is an important strategic consideration, because …
- Some schools penalize you for applying for need based aid.
Did you know that the majority of colleges penalize you for applying for need-based financial aid? Some schools are “need blind” (only approximately 115, in the US), which means that the admissions committees at those colleges won’t even know whether or not you have applied for financial aid. For all other schools, which operate under a “need aware” review policy, it’s harder to get in if you apply for financial aid. (“Full-pay” applicants have an advantage at these schools.)
- Private schools can actually be less expensive than public schools.
Here’s another strategy tip – private schools, which are more likely to offer merit aid, can actually be less expensive than public schools. (And out of state tuition at popular flagship universities like Michigan, UVA, and UCLA is as high as most private schools.) So, don’t rule out private schools based purely on sticker price.
- It takes longer than you think to apply for need-based aid.
You might have heard about all of the glitches with the FAFSA last year, which is one of the two most commonly required forms. (The other is the CSS, and a few schools have come up with their own system, largely in response to the debacle last year.) Even when everything is working perfectly, however, applying for financial aid is a process. Don’t leave it to the last minute, and be aware of the deadlines. (It’s not uncommon for financial aid forms to be due on the application deadline, and as we know, November 1st is right around the corner.) Consideration for merit aid usually doesn’t require the FAFSA or the CSS, but it might require essays, and applicants often have to submit in the earliest rounds to be eligible for scholarships, so please triple check.
Next Friday, more college application tips – Final Review.
