Thanks Thumpert, obviously the kid is the one applying and getting admitted but I had thought for sure that the parent’s had to fill out some forms or something in the admission process making it a joint effort. We do things kind of backwards at my house where dad decides what he’s willing to pay for and the kids pick from that list. The states have not been very convincing but I didn’t want to rule them out completely without a little more specific checking. I got the NPC to work for Ohio State and the numbers were attractive but when I ran it by my son last night he wasn’t interested.
I’m probably a little brain dead along with being backward but I found it difficult and time consuming to comb through a bunch of web sites that don’t always make it easy to find what I’m looking for. Somewhere in the thread linked to by WISdad23 is a list of links directly to the relevant pages which is a big help. I really never used an NPC until yesterday because they ask for pages of complicated personal information but I figured out how to get around all that and get the results I was looking for so thanks for encouraging me.
That’s where we started but we weren’t making progress. I think we would all have to admit that it can be challenging to figure out exactly how much each different school is likely to cost. I think it’s unfair to put the kid in the situation where they base their choice on how much financial aid they think they can expect and if it doesn’t work out like they though they’re stuck.
Your name is not attached to it, so it’s not personal. You can run it with various scenarios. And not so complicated if you have the basic numbers in front of you. Just curious, how would you “get around all that”?
Nope. That’s true for private K-12, but not college. Indeed, you’re not even legally entitled to your child’s educational information once he’s 18, and the college won’t give it to you unless your son signs a waiver.
The only “form” for a parent to “fill out” would be if your child is applying early decision your signature on the early decision agreement, stating that you understand that the applicant is obligated to attend if admitted.
That would be part of the financial aid process, not the admissions process. They are two different things, and applying for financial aid is not a requirement.
There may be a residency disclosure from parents to say you are OOS and will remain OOS for tuition purposes for all of UG time at that campus, but that would be after an offer of admission was made to the child.
Got it. I seem to have them conflated in my mind. Admissions is another subject. My whole line of questioning is regarding financial aid. At least I got the forum right I think. Any reference to admissions was a mistake on my part.
I don’t think you are way off, user4321. I was heavily involved in my kids’ search for colleges. I did the driving to visit, I made suggestions of schools they (we) could afford, did ALL the financial aid, taxes, residency documents. I solved a few problems at both schools when they really wouldn’t listen to my kids yet one call from me got things taken care of. I have one who is 22 and I’m still helping her through the forms and FA and moving classes around to meet graduation requirements.
Some kids aren’t as capable of doing the entire process at age 16 as others may be. Mine weren’t and I enjoyed helping them. Since one was 17 when she went off to college, there were other forms I needed to sign, including medical forms and NCAA forms. They used their established bank accounts but otherwise I would have had to sign for new accounts, and there are leases to sign if they don’t live in the dorms.
Not exactly as independent as some would suggest. Since paying for college is such a big part of it, the parents HAVE to be involved.
The parents need to provide financial info via the FAFSA if they want to be considered for Pell grants or federal student loans. Also, some schools ask for this information for merit scholarships as well.
Many more selective schools also require the CSS Profile form, which goes into more detail on assets than the FAFSA.
Each school will use this information to feed their unique calculations - so the FAFSA will give you an expected family contribution of what the feds think you can pay, but it will be different at every school based off their calculations.
You’ll also need to submit your tax returns.
As stated above, this is all related to financial aid. Admissions and financial aid are completely separate departments at most schools.
Thanks InigoMontoya for your help regarding financial aid. Is there any general guideline regarding how much time people spend completing the FAFSA and CSS Profile form? How many minutes/hours/days should I budget to get these completed?
@user4321 It’s going to depend on how complicated your tax situation is. I was able to polish off both documents fairly quickly - took me several hours the first time, then once I knew the information required it was just an hour or two. I would recommend going through the documents first and collecting your information before you begin.
Our tax situation is quite simple - married parents, both employed by corporations, no significant investments other than retirement accounts and college accounts.
Step parents, owning a business, owning a farm, having rental properties, family members with disabilities - those can make it more challenging to complete the forms. The items that took me a little longer were things like getting the $$ amount in the 529 grandparents held for the child.
Being the analyst that I am, I had a spreadsheet of every school my kids planned on applying to, indicating what financial documents were required and the deadlines for each. You may not have to worry about CSS depending on the selected schools. And people who don’t qualify for PELL grants and don’t need federal loans often don’t fill out the FAFSA at all.
One of my kid’s schools required the FAFSA every year to prove she wasn’t eligible for PELL - if she had been, that would have gone to the school, in effect reimbursing the school for part of her merit aid. My son we completed the FAFSA first year, then not any subsequent year since we didn’t need federal loans and his school didn’t require any documentation to maintain merit aid.
It used to take me about 30 minutes to do 2 FAFSAs, but I have a very uncomplicated financial life; kids’ schools didn’t require CSS.
The first time doing the forms can take a while just because you have gather tax forms and bank statements and make sure you get everything in the right spots.