<p>Hi--just thought I'd start a place to address the piece of the college admissions process a lot of us (with kids--HS class '09) are facing--the money/scholarship adventure.</p>
<p>I just printed out the FASFA worksheet and am trying to extract our 07 tax return from our family files (somewhere) so I can fill out the online form. </p>
<p>I just wondered -- I know we can submit after Jan 1, but curious if there is any disadvantage the longer we wait? Like, I know I pushed son to apply to colleges as soon as admissions opened, because that gave him a certain advantage. Not sure how stressed I should be that we haven't yet filled out form? I figure if you wait too long there might be less chance of money, but not sure when that point is.</p>
<p>Also--not sure if anyone else has the step-parent/bio parent issue? I know this has been addressed before, but I can't recall the answer. Do you fill out w/step-parent info, if they live w/step-parent 100% of time?</p>
<p>I'm sure a lot of us are trying to get our kids to fill out those scholarship apps, too! Son has application burn-out (from all the admission essays) and it's like hauling a giant rock up a hill to get him to write anything. I'm thinking of framing it all in terms of-- "maybe you'll have $$ to buy a car if you get scholarships!" -- I've been told this could work w/teen boys.</p>
<p>Check to see if your schools have a deadline for filing for FAFSA and the CSS Profile. (Isn't that what we tell the kids all the time!) My recollection was that the FAFSA didn't take into account the non-custodial parent income, which made FAFSA only schools a better deal financial aid-wise for some family situations.</p>
<p>FAFSA is looking for 2008 info. I did a quick run through the 2008 taxes using TurboTax and H's end of year check stub. I'm not going to actually file until I get all of the official tax docs in the mail. Then I can revise the FAFSA as needed.</p>
<p>Not sure why we're doing this...according to FAFSA, our EFC could cover any school on the planet! I wish we were that rich...But I suppose in these unsettled times, things could change in a heartbeat and we wanted something on file.</p>
<p>I updated family investments, did a draft of 2008 taxes, filed the FAFSA and the CSS Profile all in 4 days. Woo-hoo!</p>
<p>Some states have deadlines for state aid I know. Usually it's mid March if I can recall. </p>
<p>As for the step-parent issue, if the custodial parent is remarried and they file a joint return you have to include it. If you have shared custody it's more wise to put the parent who makes less money down.</p>
<p>Amen on the application burn-out. Essays are gertting worse as time goes by. I don't blame them, I would be tired too!
Would also like to know if sooner is better regarding FAFSA.</p>
<p>You can file the FAFSA with estimated numbers for 2008. Some schools require that you file your FAFSA by 2/1. It's possible that not all of your tax forms will come in by the the end of January.</p>
<p>The first thing is to check the deadlines by which your list of colleges wants the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile, and the deadlines for state aid. The FAFSA site should tell you about the latter. On my D's list, the college due dates varied from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15.</p>
<p>Re: stepparent/divorced parent issues, here's what I have learned. Or think I have learned! Others can correct me if I've got anything wrong.</p>
<p>FAFSA
o Is filled out by the custodial parent only, reflecting all income/assets for THAT parent's household.
o If joint custody, the custodial parent is considered the one with whom the child spends the most time.
o If time is divided evenly, the custodial parent is considered the one who has contributed the most to the child's support in the previous year.
o All of the above has NOTHING to do with who claimed the kid on their taxes.
o If the custodial parent has remarried, the stepmother or stepfather's income/assets is included on the FAFSA also. </p>
<p>So for example, if Mom is the custodial parent and she's remarried, Mom is filling out the FAFSA with her and stepdad's info. Biodad's info is not included at all, except that if Mom is receiving child support from Biodad she'll probably have to declare that somewhere on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>CSS PROFILE
o The student registers on Collegeboard.com (if they aren't already) and signs up for the Profile.
o The custodial parent fills out the Profile with his or her household info (including any stepparent income/assets).
o The non-custodial parent gets sent a link to access the Noncustodial CSS Profile, so that he or she can fill out all the same info on the non-custodial household. Custodial and non-custodial parents do not have to see one another's information.</p>
<p>Thanks for those insights. Jan 15th! Yikes! I thought I was setting artificially early deadlines by trying to fill things out in early Jan. Maybe not!</p>
<p>I noticed the FASFA has room for 10 schools. Son has applied to 20 plus (I know). I guess he puts his top schools in the 10 slots? Wonder about the others?</p>
<p>lunitari--interesting info. I'm assuming that if non-custodial parent is non-contactable (a word?) then you just put that info into the CSS profile?</p>
<p>Think of Financial Aid and Scholarships as a pie. If you are early you may get a whole slice, if you are at the end of the line there may be many people and little pie, and the slices may therefore be smaller.
As far as FAFSA- our experience was that colleges will accept last year's numbers and then when you have actually filed your taxes they want a signed copy.
Try the Financial Aid Forum for explicit instructions on adding schools to the FAFSA, it is easy but must be done correctly, after submitting the original batch of schools.</p>
<p>2 ways to deal with the order of schools: Some people think that schools should be listed in alphabetical order so that a school does not feel that they are or are not your child's first choice. There seems to be some differing ideas as to whether colleges can see the list of schools that your son has applied to. I believe that some people list in order of the due date for these forms. </p>
<p>As far as filing forms, I have read on these boards that FA is offered somewhat as a first come/first serve, so by filing early you are reserving your place in line for FA. You make corrections to the forms after you file your taxes, so I believe that you may use estimated numbers to hold your place.</p>
<p>Reminder, apply now if you have not done so for a pin number for yourself and one one for your son.</p>
<p>I noticed the FASFA has room for 10 schools. Son has applied to 20 plus (I know). I guess he puts his top schools in the 10 slots? Wonder about the others?"
You submit the FAFSA to the first 10 schools, then log back in and change the schools, then resubmit to the next 10 schools. BE SURE to make a copy of each completed submittal, so you have proof that the application was submitted to each school.</p>
<p>Just a heads up for those with FA questions:</p>
<p>The Financial Aid forum on this website addresses all these questions and more. There are many posts with step by step instructions on adding/deleting more than 10 schools for FAFSA submittal. There is huge discussions on PROFILE issues, non-custodial parent issues, fee waivers for the Profile, colleges that accept the profile but will accept their own FA app in lieu of CSS Profile to save on CSS Profile fees and provide more specific answers to their respective schools (ie Colby, Princeton, Penn there are others), where to send the documents needed for CSS and on and on....</p>
<p>There are also some posters on the FA forum who have been doing this for YEARS and are extremely helpful and very, very insightful. From FA to scholarships.</p>
<p>Thanks for that input! Appreciate it! Just applied for FASFA PIN. Trying to do it a little bit at at time (like everything else). I've been over at the Fin Aid forum and looks like I'll be spending a lot more time there! Thanks again! :-)</p>