New to the Financial Aid Process

[niederbomb]

1. Do schools match only merit aid or need-based aid also? Is there any use submitting the FAFSA and Need Access to schools I would not attend?

2. How does the matching process work for schools that are different in rank? For example, could I use $77K at Vanderbilt to get $50K or so out of MVP, or is the disparity between the schools too great?

3. With a parental income of 60K-80K with 5 kids at home, will I get any need-based aid, assuming I would otherwise qualify? (I haven't lived at home in 6 years and never get anything from my parents, so this parental thing is total bullshit, but whatever).