<p>I am wondering because I do go to private school, and my parents earn a decent amount of money.</p>
<p>Would it be better for me to send it at the end of January? (I have some colleges have the FAFSA due Feb 1)</p>
<p>Apparently I heard if I send the FAFSA in early, they will see that I go to private school and my parent's annual income and turn me down immediately. While maybe if I send it in later, they will be able to compare it to other apps.</p>
<p>opinions?</p>
<p>thanks!! :)</p>
<p>bump.
please reply</p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>I am not really sure what you mean by “they will be able to compare it to other apps.” Schools follow very specific calculations based on your financials when they offer you a FA package. That, combined with the amount of money they have in their FA budget, and the number of requests they get. Maybe that’s what you mean. If you file the FAFSA early, you may not actually have all of the numbers that you need. If you and your parents have not filed tax returns, you have to do the FAFSA based on last year’s numbers, and then you will have to go back into it to finalize it. Lastly, schools usually don’t begin to look at the applications until the deadline, because they don’t want to have to go back over work they have already done. So. Don’t miss the deadlines, get all of the info in a timely manner, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>
Where did you hear this? Schools base your financial aid on your parent and student financial information, not by comparing it to anyone else. For FAFSA your income and asset information is put through a precise formula which produces a number called the EFC (Expected Family Contribution). If your EFC is lower than the schools total cost of attendance (COA) you are considered to have financial need and may be offered aid. If your EFC is higher than the COA you have no finanical need and will not be offered need based aid. They will not be comparing you to other apps.</p>
<p>franglish, swimcatsmom, thank you very much for that helpful information!!</p>
<p>I heard about it from a friend and apparently other friends heard about it too, so I wanted to check to see if the information I got was correct.</p>
<p>thanks again! I really appreciate it.</p>