Applying for Aid: Some Reqs for Some Schools Forum

[lzyovrachievr]

So I was looking through TLS to find the basic info required for submitting the financial aid parts of your applications, and the normal advice was to check the school's policies. (Yea, that is what you should do, but) I compiled some of the basic first steps listed on the websites of some T14s and GW to provide a starting point. Sorry, I only went through the info for the schools I applied to, but good citizens can supply further information on other schools, and I'll try to update if desired. The schools' FAFSA codes are listed after their names. Some schools' policies were more open and simplified than others.

Columbia: E00488
Therefore, grant applications are reviewed only after a student has been admitted. If you are interested in grant assistance, you must be sure to complete your application as early as possible so it can be evaluated soon after you have been admitted. Students admitted under the Early Decision Plan are reminded that they should not expect to be notified of their financial aid package before the end of March, at the earliest. We strongly recommend that applicants file the required forms no later than March 1, even if they have not yet received an offer of admission.
http://www.law.columbia.edu/jd_applican ... ns/tuition

Cornell: 002711
The Financial Aid Deadline for 2010-2011 is March 15th. Applying for financial aid can be a relatively painless two-part process. It is important to start early and compile all the information required before attempting to file forms.
To begin you will need:
• Parent 2009 complete tax return (both sets if parents separated)
• Student 2009 complete tax return
• Listing of student and parent assets
To receive a loan, please:
• Complete the Cornell Law School Financial Aid Application
• File a FAFSA using school code 002711
• Send tax return to the Financial Aid Office
To be considered for institutional grants you must do the following:
• Complete the Cornell Law School Financial Aid Application
• File a FAFSA using school code 002711
• File a Need Access Report
• Submit a complete parent tax return
• Submit a complete student tax return
Make sure that you:
• Provide parent information. Applications missing parent information will not be reviewed for grant.
• Provide information for both parents in cases of divorce or separation.
• Submit business returns if relevant.
• Submit complete and signed tax returns with all schedules and W-2 forms.
• Apply no later than March 15. Applications received after this date will be placed on hold. Start your application several days before as it takes 2-3 days to process.
http://www.lawschool.cornell.edu/admiss ... or_aid.cfm

Duke: E00167
To apply for a scholarship, admitted students should complete the Scholarship Application Form included in the admission packet and located on the admitted students website. This form will allow you to choose whether you would like apply for a scholarship based on merit or on merit and financial need.
Students seeking federal loan assistance must complete The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). To minimize delays, students are encouraged to complete the FAFSA online as soon after January 1 as possible. The priority filing date is March 15. Please include Duke Law School’s Title IV code (E00167) on this form to ensure that the School will receive a copy.
http://www.law.duke.edu/admis/financial/index

George Washington: E00196
If you wish to be considered for a need-based grant, you need only submit:
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible after Jan 1, 2011. The Law School's FAFSA code is E00196.
Please note: Because you are going to be a graduate student, the FAFSA instructions indicate that only your data (and your spouse's data if married) is required on the form in order for you to apply for federal aid. However, GW uses the FAFSA to determine eligibility for need-based grants, so GW's instructions override FAFSA's.
If you were born on or after January 1, 1982, your parents must complete the parental information section of the FAFSA. Demand for financial aid necessitates the allocating of precious resources by looking at the finances of the whole family.
http://www.law.gwu.edu/Admissions/finan ... fault.aspx

Georgetown: G21075
If you're an incoming JD student, complete the following applications for financial aid by March 1 (April 1 for incoming transfer students) or, if you are admitted after this date, within two weeks of your admission. If you haven’t filed your taxes before applying for aid, estimate your information as accurately as possible to avoid later changes to your award offer.
Step 1: Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
Step 2: Georgetown Law Financial Aid Application (Yellow Form)
• This is the application used specifically by Georgetown Law, which provides us with more detailed information about who you are and the financial aid that you are requesting.
• The Yellow Form is available to admitted students through the Admitted Students website. The Admissions Office will provide you with log-in information after you are admitted.
Step 3: Need Access or CSS Profile Application
• Required only of full-time JD students who are applying for need-based grant aid.
• Complete the Need Access or the CSS Profile application. Please be advised that you need to complete only one of the two applications!

Harvard: E00471
For admitted students there is no deadline to complete this step, but the sooner you complete your file by submitting all of your required documents, the sooner you will have your preliminary HLS financial aid award offer from us. Throughout the spring we generally have a two week (10 business days) turnaround time from the point your last document is received to the point you will receive your award notification.
If you are applying for financial aid, do not complete any of these forms until you first review the application procedures in the Apply for Aid section of this website AND begin Step 1 by submitting our main online institutional financial aid form on "MyHLS Financial Aid" (see login box in the lower right navigation bar). 
After successfully submitting the online HLS financial aid application, close your Internet browser completely. Then , you can immediately log back in and you will find that a "Documents" tab has now been enabled. On this tab, you will now be able to view your personalized list of required documents as well as links to either the documents themselves or web pages that describe what is required from you to successfully complete each document. 
Depending on your circumstances, there may be numerous required documents that you will need to collect and submit to complete your application. Some documents will be actual paper forms, such as tax documents, while others will be web forms that you can submit electronically. The Document Descriptions section contains details about the types of required documents you might see in your customized list. 
http://www.law.harvard.edu/current/sfs/forms/index.html

New York University: 002785
Admitted JD students click HERE to complete the Need Access application.
Click HERE to complete the FAFSA. NYU's school code 002785.
Admitted Students may begin submission of the NYU School of Law Financial Aid Application (mid-February).
Award Notification begins in late March.
FAFSA and institutional financial aid application priority filing deadline for incoming JD students.
http://www.law.nyu.edu/financialaid/imp ... /index.htm

Stanford: E00341
Financial aid applicants should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Need Access application soon after January 1. The FAFSA is a service of the U.S. Department of Education and is free to all applicants. Please note that the Title IV School Code for Stanford Law School is E00341. The completion of both applications is required by March 16 in order to receive an aid package prior to the May 1st admissions response deadline.
http://www.law.stanford.edu/program/tui ... ancial_aid

University of Chicago: E00377
Applicants who would like their financial need to be taken into account for scholarships must complete the Need Access candidate and parent questionnaire (and if applicable the spouse questionnaire). The Need Access form should be completed at the Need Access Website and is due February 1. Students must complete the parental questionnaire even if your parents will not be contributing financially to your law school education. Need Access reports received after February 1 will be considered for need-based scholarship aid only if funds remain available.
The Student Loan Administration processes and disburses all Law School student loans. To apply for loans, students must submit the FAFSA and the University of Chicago Graduate Loan and Work Study Application. The priority deadline for submitting these materials is May 15. Questions regarding your loan paperwork and status should be directed to SLA.
http://www.law.uchicago.edu/prospective ... /howtofund

University of Michigan: E00506
To determine if you might qualify for need-based grants, we have a simple online questionnaire for admitted students on the Admitted Students website. Click on Mail & Money and Financial Aid Instructions to access the questionnaire. If it appears that you may be eligible for need-based grants after completing the questionnaire, we will direct you to complete additional financial aid information on the 2011–2012 Need Access form. This tool assists in determining resources available to a student. Parent information is not required to apply for aid.
Request that a copy of the FAFSA report be released to the University of Michigan Law School, code # E00506. (Note that the rest of the University of Michigan uses a different number.) Late February start awards.
--LinkRemoved--

University of Virginia: 003745
You must file a FAFSA form if you are requesting need-based financial aid from federal or institutional sources. The FAFSA should be submitted directly to the federal processor online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. All admitted students seeking financial aid must complete the University Application for Financial Aid (UFAA). Please Note: Regardless of the FAFSA instructions, unmarried applicants and admitted students who are age 26 and under must submit parental financial information to be considered for scholarship aid with a need component.
Entering Students: March 1
On the FAFSA form, our college name should be listed only as: University of Virginia, Title IV Code: 003745
http://www.law.virginia.edu/html/prospe ... /apply.htm

Yale: 001426
The financial need of U.S. citizens and permanent residents is determined on the basis of data provided on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Financial aid awards are made for one year at a time and are recalculated each year based on a Need Access report and prevailing Yale Law School financial aid policies.
Please have a Need Access analysis and FAFSA data sent to Yale Law School by March 15, 2011; late submissions will cause financial aid offers to be delayed and may not be eligible for some types of aid.
http://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/howtoapplyforaid.htm

Of these, schools that use Need Access:
Columbia
Cornell
GULC
Harvard
Michigan
UChi
Stanford
Yale

Those that do not:
Duke
GW
NYU
UVA

[005618502]

Wait... UVA says to submit the parental info as well as yours for need based aid. So what is Need Access?

Great post btw, very informative

[lzyovrachievr]

So what is Need Access?

http://www.needaccess.org/index.htm

I've really just started researching for the most part.
It's "a financial aid application offered by Access Group that gathers information from students to determine their eligibility for institutional financial aid." I'm pretty sure this form requires parental information, unlike FAFSA for graduate students (though GW requires you to provide this on the FAFSA). It's used for institutional grants, etc, as opposed to federal.

Someone can feel free to correct me if any of that is wrong.

[glewz]

Tagging

[005618502]

So what is Need Access?

http://www.needaccess.org/index.htm

I've really just started researching for the most part.
It's "a financial aid application offered by Access Group that gathers information from students to determine their eligibility for institutional financial aid." I'm pretty sure this form requires parental information, unlike FAFSA for graduate students (though GW requires you to provide this on the FAFSA). It's used for institutional grants, etc, as opposed to federal.

Someone can feel free to correct me if any of that is wrong.

In the UVA section (sorry to focus on this, i am interested) it says that they ask for your parents information. Say my parents make very little, and i make very little, will i be considered for aid? Because from what i have heard is that outside HYSC schools dont give need based money outside of scholarships.

EDIT: It says to be considered for scholarship aid that has a need base.... so that means it is still merit based as well i am guessing?

[lzyovrachievr]

In the UVA section (sorry to focus on this, i am interested) it says that they ask for your parents information. Say my parents make very little, and i make very little, will i be considered for aid? Because from what i have heard is that outside HYSC schools dont give need based money outside of scholarships.

EDIT: It says to be considered for scholarship aid that has a need base.... so that means it is still merit based as well i am guessing?

Sounds like you're asking if you don't have money, will you be considered financially needy? I'd say so. And all schools give need-based aid as far as I know. (Scholarships are not based on need. Grants are.) Depending on how much your need is determined to be, they may supplement the loans they think you should have with an institutional grant. All of this information above is almost solely about need-based aid; I only included merit information if they require you to submit something else to be considered for merit scholarships.

About your follow-up about scholarship aid with a need base- if it has a 'need base,' then I'd guess it's not merit based. But I'm just interpreting the sentences you're giving me. If you want to make sure you've got it right, call their financial aid office and ask all your questions. From what I hear, unless you're a total douchebag, this would never reflect badly on you.