3 Biggest Mistakes Families Make in the College Planning Process (Part 3 of 3)

Proper college planning takes time and commitment, but the outcome of that hard work is a larger return on investment and money saved throughout the process.

Mistake #3:Not filling out the FAFSA.

Reason #1: If you don’t fill out the FAFSA, you’ll leave money on the table. 

It does NOT matter if you think you make too much money. Both need-based aid and merit-based scholarships are attached to this paperwork. If you don’t fill out the financial aid paperwork, you are leaving money on the table. 

Sure, you might make too much money where your student won’t be eligible for need-based aid, but what about that merit-based aid? The aid that your student has worked so hard for? 

Fill out the FAFSA and you won’t be sitting there wondering whether or not you left money on the table. It’s as simple as that. 

Reason #2: There are strategies, both financial and non-financial, for filling out the FAFSA that can make a significant difference. 

For example, did you know that there is a section on the FAFSA where you can list all the colleges you want the FAFSA to be sent to? There is space for you to list a total of 10 colleges. And guess what.. all schools listed on the FAFSA will receive the FAFSA and be able to see all of the other schools that are listed. Here’s the twist: you don’t actually have to have applied to all of the colleges you list. 

How could that be beneficial for you? 

Consider this:

Let’s say your student has a list of 6 colleges he or she plans on applying to. Let’s say this list includes 4 public universities and 2 private colleges. 

There is space on the FAFSA to list 10 colleges, which means you can add an additional 4 colleges (even if your student is not planning on applying to them). 

Here’s the really cool part: Private colleges will compete for students by offering additional aid.

If private college #1 see that private college #2 is listed on the FAFSA (even if the student did not apply to private college #2), private college #1 might throw some additional money your way to get your student to go there. It is important that you select colleges that do compete with each other. Competition is key.

Here’s a quick example. Remember the competing colleges I mentioned in the mistake #1 post? Loyola and DePaul often compete for the same group of students. If your student is planning on applying to DePaul, it would be beneficial to put Loyola down on the FAFSA list, too.

Keep in mind that it is extremely rare for a public university to compete with other public/state schools for students by offering additional money. They just don’t have the resources or the need to. They will very likely fill their quota either way. 

This is one of many tactics we recommend to our families in order to get the most out of the FAFSA process. 

Pretty cool, right? 

Reason #3: If you end up having a high Expected Family Contribution (EFC) but your student is applying to a private college, there is a chance that the EFC will still be lower than the Cost of Attendance for that private college. That means your student could receive additional assistance in the form of scholarships & grants in order to meet the need, even if there is not a huge need. 

The moral of the story is that you won’t know if you don’t try. Don’t risk it. Fill out the forms. We beg you. 

This is the last post in our series titled the “3 Biggest Mistakes Families Make in the College Planning Process.” Be sure to check out mistake #1 and mistake #2 if you missed them. These are three of the most commonly made and most costly mistakes in the college planning process. 

Be sure to follow our blog at www.CollegeStrategy.org to keep up to date on college planning strategies and learn more about the process!