Does the amount of family income matter?

[omega]

Hi, everyone. I have one question about the amount of fund that i can put in the application page. Do you guys think this really matters in application process ? If i put more than i have, will the comittee not consider my financial assistance that i request ? on the other hand, if i put less than what i have, will they reject my application simply because they won't offer not enough financial assistance or they just assume that i can not afford it ? I need to make a huge amount of loans if i go to graduate school without financial offer. Just curious about this. Thanks for all the opinions.

[DrFaustus666]

I can only speak for one university, the University of Maryland.

UM keeps funding and admissions decisions completely separate.

That is, first you have to be admitted. Then they decide if, and how much, funding they will offer you. But I think it's based on merit, not need.

In other words, I think they don't really care how much money you have or don't have, they only care how qualified you are, for BOTH decisions.

That's how I understand U of MD to work; I always assumed that most U.S. universities work that way, though I could be completely wrong.

John