Congrats to D and your family!!! 
@thumper1 I had emailed the FA office after receiving the paperwork stating that i do not feel comfortable answering the extensive business questions and that my accountant was unable to take care of it in the tight timeframe, asking for an extension of when the award was given. They responded, great no problem. However, her admittance did contain a “tentative” award and it was far less than expected. She was admitted as a Jan, and this really is awful for FA candidates because no aid counts for the first semester abroad at their affilliate program which costs about 25k all in. (It is not mandatory to do the affiliate program, you can stay home and take classes at your community college - but D wants to have a real college experience.) In addition your EFC is a set yearly number, then they meet the balance of need from second semester expenses only. So you get a far smaller payout from the school. I need to have them run full semester numbers to know what the ‘real’ award is and see if we can swing it.
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It seems as though the review of this financial aid package won’t happen unless and until you provide the college with the documentation they requested.
They are looking for info from your 2016 tax year…why would that take a long time to get at the ready?
@thumper1 The business farm supplement asks for detailed info for both 2016 and 2017. They want beginning and end of year value for both years for things like accumulated depreciation of business assets, inventory, book value, fair market value, accounts payable, and an itemized list of all business expenses over $1,000 for the two years… we don’t even keep track of some of this stuff. I though this was for people who own big businesses, not little work out of your home things. Its a ton of work and will cost me a lot to get this filled out.
@thumper1 and we have two small businesses!
Any business is subject to these questions…not just big businesses.
It’s your choice to send this info…or not…but if the school has asked for it, they might not disburse a nickel of need based aid until it’s received.
This could be the case for any college…so just be prepared.
If you have this business…I think you should be keeping track of all of these business items…regardless of the size.
In addition, those owning farms have sometimes found this does not work to their advantage when it comes to need based financial aid…as the value of the farm IS considered.
@BelknapPoint your thoughts?
@thumper1 I am not saying I will not provide the info, I am saying I need more time to gather it. I had no idea this form existed, and had I known I would have gathered all the info in a timely fashion.
You will get it done.
Are you saying you never have done a business farm supplement for your taxes?
You will get there! I just hop you can do so in time to have the financial aid packages in hand before the May 1 matriculation choice date.
You might want to contact other colleges on your kiddo’s list to see if they need it as well.
And make sure your kiddo is checking her student portal…and her spam folder for these requests!
Good luck…you will get there!
Did your D apply EDII? What is your deadline to decide?Will the school ultimately be affordable throughout the course of 4 years?
Congratulations that she was accepted, but I think this proves that the FA office works separately from admissions. Admitted without FA
@twoinanddone Not sure how this proves anything. She was admitted with a tentative award, because i reached out and told them Id be fine with a delay. The tentative award is for second semester only so they knew she was admitted as a Jan. It’s a need blind school. I’m confused.
@thumper1 Nope, never did that form. Accountant does our business taxes. The accountant can do it within the next week or so. That’s plenty of time to see if 4 years are affordable and to compare offers in RD. Once it’s done for one school it’s the same for any others we need to submit to.
If your daughter was picked up during ED2, you will not get to compare offers unless she has some rolling admissions or she applied EA simultaneously .
For ED, they will send you a package and then you will decide if it is affordable.
If it is you must withdraw any applications you already have out there. You will not have the luxury to see what could have been.
If you feel it is not affordable, you will be released from ED. When the RD decisions come in , you don’t have the benefit of hindsight in saying ED 2 school was the best offer.
This will all happen before RD acceptances come out mid/end of march.
This is an ED2 acceptance. What to need to find out…will the financial aid change as a result of these forms? And I mean change UP!
Ask the school what will change in terms of this tentative award. If they just need the info…but the award isn’t going to increase…it sounds unaffordable…and maybe it’s time to move on.
@thumper1 I assume the award will change once they have all the relevant paperwork, it does say tentative in large letters across the top. I assume it will go up. I really have no idea where they got their figures. For instance I got a letter from the fafsa people saying our Fafsa award is $3700+. The school listed $700. So it sounds like a work in progress!
@sybbie719 Since she got a Jan admittance she is released from the ED commitment, sorry if I did not make that clear. She is able to compare this school with RD offers.
So your SAR stated that you are eligible for $3700 in PELL, but the school says you are only eligible for $700. This is why they need your financials so that you can get an accurate package. There may be mistakes on your FAFSA, which the school is required to correct. This will explain the difference in the PELL.
Are you eligible for any state aid from your home state (if the school is in your home state).
It is possible that you could get an increased Pell Grant as noted in @sybbie719 example.
However, if this is a Profile school, it is also possible that your institutional aid could be reduced because of the values of your farm and other business. Because these are small businesses, they are not reflected on the FAFSA.
But you won’t know until all of the information is submitted.
@thumper1 alas my businesses ain’t worth much! but thanks for the clarification.