Great! Thanks for the information. @bfahopeful
There are a number of applications that waive the application fee if you apply via the school website. I remember Pace being one of them.
Just signing in to wish everyone good luck on their journey! My daughter is a senior at Utah and will be graduating in May and getting married in June! These four years pass fast once you get past the hard bits of getting started. I hope everyone gets into the school of their dreams and has as much fun, professional growth and opportunity as my daughter has had.
Been checking this thread daily… Not much chatter. Thinking everyone’s like we are… hunkered down & just trying to get it done. Looking forward to all applications being complete & prescreens filmed. Even with a checklist the details are overwhelming!!
D is gone all day to 10 at night with rehearsals and school. Praying during the days off in October it will be college boot camp…
D and I BOTH feel very overwhelmed. The end of September deadline that we had originally set just isn’t going to happen. She is starting to prioritize, based on schools that are higher on her list; and schools at which she is hoping for an early audition date. Good luck, everyone!
That’s the way to handle it, @owensfolks. Get the early audition date schools and the schools where dates tend to fill up quickly (CCM, CMU, schools like that if they’re on your list) done first. Then worry about the rest. We found that breaking it down and setting a goal for the week (this week we’re going to get X apps in, or X prescreens) made it more manageable and made it feel like we were actually accomplishing something. Trust me, you’ll get through this.
Does everyone usually fill out FAFSA? What are the benefits and the down side? Thanks in advance. I think some of the Scholarship applications state that a student has to fill out FAFSA first. Can anyone comment to help me understand. Thanks!
Yes, pretty much everyone does the FAFSA. I don’t think there’s a downside. We knew we wouldn’t qualify for much assistance, but did it anyway.
Thanks at @CTDramaMom just wasn’t sure. We did not do one for my son. We will do one for our d since her College costs will be higher than my son’s. He went to state school. We don’t know where d will end up. This process is getting exciting and stressful at the same time.
As @CTDramaMom said, better to do it than not. It may turn out you don’t qualify for anything, but better to know that than to not fill it out and find out later you could have received some $. It doesn’t take long to fill out. Also, they have changed the date it is first available to October 1. (It used to be January 1) Go ahead and do it. Do not put it off. Some schools have a limited amount of funds to distribute even to those who qualify, so it could be first come first serve. You can always turn it down later if you decide to go to a different school but it’s next to impossible to get the money if you are late submitting your info or if you don’t submit at all.
Unfortunately for many of us, it yields nothing. But better to err on the side of filling it out just to make sure. You will need to fill it out again each year your S or D is in school, so keep that in mind also.
Thanks! @vvnstar
We did not fill out a FAFSA. There didn’t seem to be any point since we knew we wouldn’t qualify and neither of our kids scholarships were dependent on it being submitted.
You need to do FAFSA to get work/study, too. We got loans and work/study out of it, and both came in handy.
You need to ask each school if they require FAFSA to be considered for merit or talent based scholarships. Some schools do not require this. If you want to be eligible for work study or certain federal based loans or grants then you should fill it out.
We fill out the FAFSA because you never know what may happen. If one of us lost our job, became ill or disabled, or at the worst, died, our financial situation would change drastically. I am the queen of catastrophic thinking, lol.
We did and do FAFSA and while our EFC is high my D still got some sort of aid everywhere (work study, grant, offered loans etc). You don’t have to accept what is offered.
Each school offered something different as it depended on their total cost and if she got any other merit aid, etc.
every little bit helps so we did it. It is not hard to fill out.
With many of the schools COA at over 50-60k it is worth it to see if you qualify. One can’t assume anything is what I found out.
We have high financial need, so we’ve always filled out FAFSA. We have no choice.
A word of warning however.
When you check that box that says you plan on applying for financial aid, you statistically lower your chances of admission to many colleges. Obviously if you need the aid, apply. And absolutely, consider that a lot of scholarships are tied to need & FAFSA. And yes, many people think they won’t qualify, but do.
But be aware that you are lowering your chances by saying you apply for aid. Very few schools are need blind nowadays. It’s one consideration among very many when you decide to apply for aid, but it’s good to be aware.
The countdown has begun. ._.
@connections -good info. Never thought of that We don’t know anyone who didn’t do the fafsa and many make quite a bit of money. Just assumed everyone did it. It never even occurred to me there may be a reason not to do it. Good to know.