You really don't have to slice seed or aerate, although aerating would run the risk of burying all the weed seeds that are up top and waiting to germinate. Of the two, I'd slice seed if you absolutely insisted you had to do something.

Me? I threw the seed down. It grew just fine. Grass seed doesn't need to be buried, it has a spiky tip for a reason and buries itself. It'll also sprout just fine atop the soil.

Yes, you should put down the compost layer if you can. Anything from a dusting to a quarter inch will help. More than that is not recommended as it smothers the seed.

For thatch, amounts up to 1/4" can be ignored, the seed will drop right through. From a quarter to half an inch, it depends. If it's loose and can shift easily, you can ignore it. For amounts of greater than half an inch, or for very solid and interlocked thatch, it's wise to dethatch that section of the lawn using a dethatcher and rake it off before seeding to expose the soil.

Thatches that thick are actually fairly rare. I don't develop it on the second-thatchiest grass (Kentucky bluegrass, hybrid).

Don't bother with the fertilizer at seeding time, it's a complete waste. The seed has no roots to use the fertilizer, which is nitrogen. It won't have the developed roots to use it for at least a month, really about six weeks, by which time the nitrogen is gone. Hang onto the stuff for October first then put it down at half the bag rate. Then do it again on October 15th at half the bag rate (if you accidentally went high on October 1, just use the rest. If low on October 1, just use half the bag rate and round it out by putting down whatever remains a week or two later).

At that point, the grasses will be ready to use the nitrogen to store carbohydrates for winter.

If you absolutely feel you must, use an organic feeding at seed-down, which will gently feed the lawn as it develops. Milorganite, or any other organic, is fine, and will release very slowly starting about 3 weeks into the process. You can still drop the 32-0-4 at half rate on October 1.

Got it Thanks. So after the grass/weed dies and just lays down, even after scalping, I can just throw the seed down? No need to remove the dead grass/weeds before to give it a good seed to soil contact?

If you scalped it as closely as you could, which should be within a quarter to half an inch? Nope, you can leave it. On the average lawn, the seed will be fine.

What’s the mowing procedure after overseeding? I’ll be over seeding this fall. I won’t be aerating but my yard is fescue so there’s pretty much no thatch

Z T, post this as a new question, if you would. We're about to get 300 questions identical to this. :-)