<p>The FAFSA's fine in this case, because it doesn't ask for the thing that was incorrect.</p>
<p>My parents had no idea that the land we live on had appreciated in value, so we put the purchase price as the current market value. We just got a letter saying the new amount, and as it's significantly higher, we're going to have to fix the Profile in some way.</p>
<p>How long do we wait to try to correct it (meaning, how long does it take to get to the schools)? Does it have to be done by letter? Email?</p>
<p>I'll just use this thread to throw out another quick question:</p>
<p>If I made mistakes on the Profile, should I correct them immediately and then also submit a correction for when my parents have their official tax returns? Or should I just wait until we have the numbers to fix the estimates to fix the mistakes also?</p>
<p>For those of us in the remedial program, I want to clarify: Some of the schools had mid-January deadlines for the Profile. Having not yet received all of our W-2's, we cannot even begin to do 2004 taxes yet. As a result, our numbers for the Profile were estimates, several of which are probably quite a bit off. </p>
<p>Do I understand correctly that once we have completed 2004 taxes, we should send hard copy/paper corrections to each school? (I find this somewhat confusing siince these same schools want the initial Profile in online format only!) Thanks!</p>
<p>If you filed the Profile for a school, EA in November and the other schools have February due dates, woud you redo the profile from scratch or resend the old one?</p>
<p>jamimom - Wait... clarify this for me: We're going to have to send in corrections to our CSS PROFILE anyway when we send in our income reports (assuming there was a big difference in our estimates)? So is it pointless to send in corrections now?</p>
<p>Also, what if I sent in the CSS PROFILE for one college for an early action deadline. Now I have two other colleges that require the PROFILE that I have not yet sent in, but we had a lot of mistakes on our PROFILE that we need to change. Should we send each school our PROFILE online anyway, and then send them the hardcopy corrections, or should we just send the corrections?</p>
<p>Yup... sorry for the overdose of questions. Just wanted to make sure I'm doing this right. =)</p>
<p>Collegebound, it is crazy, but you cannot correct Profile so it does have to be sent as is with the mistakes or changes given hardcopy. They give you one shot at this to have the info sent directly to colleges. And, yes, when you do your returns and have some real numbers, you do have to send them to each college, hard copy along with the returns or whatever forms a specific college requests.</p>
<p>i have a question related to the fafsa..... I was a college freshman living with my parents for the 2004-2005 school year, and filed my fafsa with their income included in it. in the summer of 2005 i will be getting married, and living next year with my wife on my own with no financial dependency on my parents. should i file the fafsa now in january with my parents income included or should i file it now in january leaving my parents income out of it? or should i wait until june when i actually get married to file the fafsa? I'm lost and not sure what to do....thanks. -matt-</p>
<p>My understanding was that the CSS is supposed to be an estimate, just as the college's offer of aid was an estimate (preliminary offer?). You then filed the FAFSA when the W-2's are available. The FAFSA would serve as either the confirmation of the Profile or a correction based on actual income. Is this incorrect?</p>
<p>How about this? You have filed the CSS Profile EA, you print the hard copy and correct it........can you simply forward that corrected copy to the regualr timeline schools and circumvent the $18 each?</p>
<p>My d is getting married this June, and this situation came up. The FAFSA reflects the previous year's situation, not the current year. Even when you update the estimates, you are updating it to last year, 2004, not to what you expect 2005 to be. When you get married, you can let the school know, and give them changes in your financial situation , but it is unlikely it will make any difference until the next year. The same situation occures when you move into a state. It takes a year before the change takes effect for state tuition rates, for example, because most states base your residency on where the prior year returnes were filed. </p>
<p>However, do talk to your school's financial aid office about this. They may well have a different take. But I do know that federal aid is based on the prior year numbers--a parent losing a job, dying, etc does not generate additional federal aid. A college with private funds may help out on the situation, however, at their discretion.</p>
<p>Jamimom, it sounds as if the letter we just sent to all six finaid offices telling them that my son's social security income stops before he enters college will have no effect on their thinking about his need-based aid, then. Do you think that's true? I certainly hope not! His loss of income will be total, and he really needs the aid.</p>
<p>"How about this? You have filed the CSS Profile EA, you print the hard copy and correct it........can you simply forward that corrected copy to the regualr timeline schools and circumvent the $18 each?</p>
<p>somemom: This is what I had in mind too. One of my schools required Profile by 1/15, I just did it on line and paid the $18. The rest of the schools don't require till Feb, some in Mar so I did not include them, hoping my parents returns will be done by then. Hopefully we can just correct the hard copy. Trying to avoid additional fees if we can!</p>
<p>Somemom and Fastlane:<br>
I called 4 of the 8 schools to which my kid applied and asked whether I could send in hard copy of CSS Profile since I didn't want all of that financial data going across the Internet. Every single one said that they will NOT accept hard copy for the initial submission. I don't know whether the other schools would have responded differently because I figured I already was stuck doing the online version. Yet apparently (or so I understand from this thread) the corrections are done as hardcopy. The only rationale I can figure out is that College Board controls enough of the application "market" that they can dictate to a certain extent what Adcoms may or may not do -- and clearly College Board wants the $18 per application.</p>
<p>Just as federal income tax is based on what you make the previous year, federal methodology uses that prior year income. Most of us are using 2003 info that we are tweaking or changing to reflect 2004, how on earth can you verify what happened in 2005 until the next year, when it is time to give out the aid for the next year in college. You don't know if you are going to be married until you are. Things do happen. You could get an investment windfall that year, or an inheritance, anything. It would be a full time job tracking and redoing for everyone who is resubmitting as things occur in the year. But it is worthwhile to let the colleges know as many have a private stash they can hit if something drastic occurs and more aid is needed. By the same token some school want to know on the spot if you get some more income that year, and some do adjust immediately. With their own funds, the colleges have more flexibilty.</p>
<p>"Every single one said that they will NOT accept hard copy for the initial submission."</p>
<p>Boxmaker: Thanks for letting me know. I should of known there would be no way to get out of paying the CollegeBoard people $18 per app!!</p>
<p>But in your case, its not even about the money; you just don't want to put your personal info online. A lot of people feel that way, including my parents. I don't think its fair that they will only accept the Profile electronically. There must be someway to fight that. Afterall, even though most colleges tell you they prefer applications submitted online, they do give you the option to print and mail them. The Fafsa gives the same option. Its a matter of persoanl choice and privacy. Maybe someone on these boards can give more information about this.</p>