<p>OK looks like my first deadline is Jan 19th.</p>
<p>So for those who have done this one before. With this deadline I will need to just estimate my taxes for 06 since I won't even have my w2s back. I assume this is SOP and then I send the real tax forms directly tot he college and they adjust the aid package depending on how far off I was in my estimates. Is this correct? It also looks like it is the student who registers and not the parent. Correct? I like giving them some ownership in this frankly. How long does it take to fill this out if you have the data all ready to go?</p>
<p>For FASA I see the same process but do both the parent and the Student need a PIN here? How Many schools can you send the FAFSA to at once? It looks like there may be a 6 school limit?</p>
<p>Man I have never had my taxes ready this early :)</p>
<p>both student and parent need a PIN because they both need to "sign" FAFSA & PIN acts as your signature
When you fill out FAFSA- wait till the information is processed- then you can do it again with 6 additional schools
( we never needed to do this)
Put your 1st choice schools first, as they will receive FAFSA first.</p>
<p>For PROFILE- you will have to estimate- either use last years 1040 or your year end check stub will have relevant info.
FAFSA can always be corrected later- attempt to get accurate numbers, but priority is to meet the deadline.</p>
<p>Colleges will not only adjust your aid package when they receive verification of your numbers, but they also can adjust your EFC thru FAFSA online- so be prepared to be surprised. I have had colleges adjust FAFSA both to our benefit and not.</p>
<p>Re: Profile and amending it...this cannot be done online. Once you submit it for one school, that is what you are submitting...period. BUT you do have to update the information once your taxes are done. You will need to contact the colleges to find out what they want you to do. We had an early (November) Profile deadline last year. ALL of DD's schools asked that we print out our submitted Profile and handwrite the changes on that. We did this using red ink so that they would easily be able to find the changes. We then were asked to mail these changes directly to the colleges. Only one college requested tax documents (completed returns, etc) and they participated in IDOC so that is where we sent the tax "stuff". If your figures change, you usually cannot simply send your tax returns to the college and expect them to make the changes on the forms. YOU have to do that in most cases. For the FAFSA, it's easy...go online and amend. The Profile is a headache...but that's another thread.</p>
<p>And yes...the colleges will not finalize your finaid award until the forms are amended once your taxes are filed. You will want to do this ASAP after February 1.</p>
<p>One additional note re: FAFSA...make sure you save the PINs from year to year. You will be reusing the same PINs for that student every year that you file FAFSA. I actually wrote it down on several pieces of paper and placed them in various locations throughout the house (I have a tendency to put things in a "safe place" and then forget where that is :D !)</p>
<p>We wrote our PINS on the financial aid folder. It's SO much easier to do the profile and FAFSA the second and third time around. I've managed to do both forms using actual tax forms - The secret is scheduling a whole day to deal with the mess, right after you received W-2's etc. (January 31st?) Then it is just a loooong day that starts with filling out and filing income tax forms, then FAFSA, then PROFILE. Luckily we have relatively simple tax situations - I feel for those of you who are self-employed and/or have business taxes to deal with!!!!</p>
<p>Well I am much relieved now that it is year 2 to see that the deadline for finaid stuff at my d's college is mid-April.... no more rushing about before we even have the basic info. And only one school to worry about..... though they have a form of their own that is kind of tricky.... might be worthwhile for me to get started fairly early.</p>