Hi, my child is currently applying EA to a college with CSS profile. My question is in RD, can we change the amount we want to pay for different school? Thank you
No. You file one CSS profile and list the names of all the colleges he is applying to. Importantly, what YOU WANT to pay for a school is not considered. You fill out the form correctly, provide whatever documentation is requested, and THE SCHOOL decides what you will pay.
From what I understand, however your can change the info you provided to a later school. I filled the Profile out for DS’s EA school this weekend using 2014 data, but when we do RD schools I will have more up to date tax info available and will send schools the Profile with updated data. I only sent the Profile to the one school this time around.
They do ask what you can pay… but they don’t really consider it. They have their formulas, and they tell you what they expect you to pay. If you want an idea ahead of time, try the net price calculators.
Yes, you can update your information. But what you “want” to pay is irrelevant.
I was able to update once last year. I used estimates for the EA schools and submitted, then before I sent it to regular decision schools I updated it with actual tax information then sent it to those schools. Once it is sent you can’t update.
I think there is a difference between updating…which you cannot do online with the Profile…and completing it at a later date to send to different RD schools.
You can complete it to send to RD schools later in the process, with the current information, I believe.
You can update the CSS profile online, but the updated profile will only be sent to the newly added Colleges after the previous version.
Are you all saying that if you do the CSS for EA, which we have to do, you do not have to update it later with actual 2015 tax info?
Different schools have different policies regarding updating the Profile. You need to check EACH college for their procedure.
- Some use IDOC. Your documents and supporting info...like your tax returns, are sent to IDOC, and they send to the schools.
- Some just verify your income information when you complete the FAFSA and link to the IRS data retrieval tool after the taxes for 2015 are completed.
- Some ask for supporting documents to be sent directly to the schools, but I think this is becoming less common.
We had to send a list of updates to the CSS Profile to each school to change something. I highly recommend not making a lot of changes between schools even if you can (maybe updates before the RD round if you have more info and can), and keeping copies of what you send to each school. You can’t update it electronically later. It is utterly archaic. This is one teason I warn students applying to lots of schools that they can be setting their parents up for a ton of work with the FA application process.
Every college has different due dates, different requirements for what forms and documentation they want, and different ways they want the documents sent. I would suggest starting a spreadsheet to track. And this iDOC process to send in docs that quite s few colleges use – sounds very electronic and modern, doesn’t it? NOT.
The good news is that after the first year, you only have to do it for one school. But watch that, too – some schools have different (less) requirements for subsequent years, or they just change from year to year.
The op is asking if you can say you would pay x dollars for Harvard but a different amount for a different school. I would doubt that is allowed. It is one submission. If you change it, the update goes to all the schools.
Sorry if this is changing the topic, but if you know your situation will be changing dramatically from 2015 to 2016, would a normal investment advisor be able to advise you about the best way to handle it? Would anyone talk to their school directly? Just wondering for next year. The issue is an inheritance and we don’t know the amount yet but we just want to do the best within the rules.
Thank you all! We are just doing CSS for our EA school, and now I understand that we can change the iinformation fo RD schools. Thank you!
Updates you make when you add a school to send profile to do NOT go to schools you’ve already submitted. The fafsa, yes. Profile, no. Just double checked cb site.