<p>Can someone please explain how the CSS profile works?
I see a portion asking for my Parents' Income & Benefits for 2010, but isnt that not released until January 1st? Why are my ED and EA schools saying it was due by Nov 15 on the website?</p>
<p>For ED the school wants to give you a preliminary financial aid award and they need financial information from you to do that. For the CSS Profile, you’ll give them firm numbers where you have them, and estimated year-end numbers where you don’t have them.</p>
<p>They’ll base your preliminary award on those figures. If, after they year is concluded, it turns out those estimates were inaccurate, you’ll give the updated numbers to the school and they will adjust your aid award accordingly.</p>
<p>But if you need aid to attend, you need to know how much you’re likely to get so that if you’re accepted to the school, you’ll be able to determine whether or not you can even afford to go there. Since you need to confirm an ED acceptance within weeks of getting it, you can’t hold off until you get a finalized aid award in the spring.</p>
<p>Did you apply ED somewhere and not submit the CSS Profile by their deadline? If so, you need to call them immediately if you need financial aid from the school in order to attend. You may be out of luck, but sometimes you’ll find FA offices that can scramble to work something up for you.</p>
<p>So basically you are saying my parents have to make “educated guesses” for the 2010 and 2011 part?</p>
<p>Yes. A preliminary aid offer will be made based on the estimated information given. Of course actual aid will be based on the real 2010 numbers.</p>
<p>Will the school look at how much financial aid we will need for our daughter to attend their school, and then defer her because we can’t pay a huge portion of their yearly tuition? She was just deferred EA at a school in Boston.</p>
<p>Depends. If the school is need blind it does not take into account financial need when making admission decisions (doesn’t mean they will meet need, just that it is not part of the admissions decisions). If the school is need aware then they will take your need into account when making admissions decisions. Most schools say somewhere whether they are need blind or need aware.</p>
<p>CrimeInParis, it depends on the college. Some are “need-blind” which means they don’t take financial need into consideration when making admissions decisions. Others are “need aware” or “need sensitive” and then it may effect admissions decisions.</p>
<p>That is not to say it will automatically turn into a rejection or deferral. Even at need-aware schools, they’ll admit very desirable students with high need because they’d like that student attend.</p>