<p>*marybee333 - And the kid’s answer (to whatever question they’re asked) will almost certainly be something along the lines of, “Gee, I don’t know, but I’ll make sure and ask my folks as soon as they get back from that really expensive trip to the Bahamas!” *</p>
<p>Nah…more likely…“My parents will get back to you after they return from the Cayman Islands. I can’t call them now because they’re currently setting up a new bank acct over there.”</p>
<p>I was verified for a profile and it wasn’t too bad either. They just asked for W2s, copies of taxes, bank and brokerage statements and house info. No cars, clothing or personal property. Luckily I had printed copies of the bank and brokerage statements from the internet the day I did the profile, because they flucuate. For the house we just sent what it is valued at for taxes.</p>
<p>We were selected for a FAFSA verification several years ago at my son’s school but it was basically just sending a copy of our income tax return. Since I had been honest in completing everything, there was nothing to worry about. </p>
<p>I will just be as honest as possible in completing this CSS profile too but I’m going to give some ballpark estimates on some of the financial details. Fortunately (or unfortunately as the case may be) most of our answers are 0 - 0 trust funds, 0 other property/farms/land, 0 funds being held by someone else, 0 funds available from relatives, etc.!</p>
<p>I don’t get questioning why they ask for the student’s cell phone number. The fafsa and the profile are the student’s forms. Yes, parent’s usually do much or all of the work but it is the student’s form. I assume it’s not a required question, there must still be at least some student’s who don’t have their own cell phone. And many families no longer have a ‘home’ phone having gotten rid of the landline, each person having their own cell.</p>
<p>I don’t know any students these days with no cell phone. I’m sure that they do. But I do know a lot of families who don’t have a landline anymore. My old student directories are useless in trying to contact some moms that I knew from day of yore when older kids are in school, because those landlines are for the most part done. </p>
<p>I wanted to contact the mom of a friend of my son. Had to call my son , who called his friend, who had to look it up his cell phone because it was on auto dial for “mom” and he had no idea what the number was either. </p>
<p>For my oldest, his old school directories were, for the most part good, for the home phone numbers through college. Not so anymore. People change cell numbers a lot more than they did land line numbers.</p>
<p>I don’t think there is anything ominous about asking for the student phone number. In theory, all of this is done by the student, so of course a contact number for him is going to be needed, and it is his cell most all of the time, since family land lines have gone the way of the public phone booths. The whole idea is that the colleges will be contacting your student, not you for any questions about the application admissions process. That is the whole idea, though a myth, especially when it comes to the intricacies of the financial aid app.</p>
<p>You’re sure that they do what, exist or all have cell phones? I don’t know any 17/18 years olds without cells either. Then again, I don’t know many really poor families, nor do I know any really over-protective parents who may not trust their kids to have a cell. Perhaps some very conservative religious families or whatever. There are also probably some very remote rural locations where cells are useless. I do imagine there are some w/o their own cell phone.</p>
<p>I don’t know any 17/18 year olds without cell phones, Annoyingdad. Except for when they get held up at the train station and relieved of their cell phones which happens regularly in the NYC arena (yes, I meant the “n” to be in there). I agree that there are some out there, so if a family is in that situation, there will be a N/A for cell phone number for the student, just as there is for home phone number for most students/families these days.</p>
<p>Okay, fair enough . . . I’ll relent on the student cell phone question since, in theory anyway, the student is the one completing these forms.</p>
<p>Reminds of when one of my older kids was disqualified for financial aid many years ago after he told a private college financial aid office that he was “expecting” a sizable inheritance! He finished undergrad (and grad school!) long before that inheritance ever materialized . . . but he did it at a state school! Hell will freeze over and thaw again before I ever let another kid fill out a financial aid form without significant parental oversight!</p>
<p>Jokahugo, yeah, I’ll agree the CSS is a pain, no doubt. I’ve completed it for two schools my son kid EA at, but I have a few more to complete by Feb. I don’t think either of the schools we submitted to asked about cars but I can’t really remember. I plan so just give a “best-guess” for that type of thing. I’ll print out internet account statements for any accounts we have, etc.</p>
<p>I’m sure they can ask to verify mortgage info, so obviously not something to “guesstimate” as it’s right there on your monthly mortgage statement. </p>
<p>Actually, I wish the FAFSA was more in depth. I think the way it works now leaves openings for families with very similar REAL financial situations to receive very different aid, federal and/or institutional. Isn’t there an income limit where any family below that amount (about $50k I think) doesn’t even have to disclose assets, etc.? What if they are wealthy but maybe just retired or stopped working for a few years? The FAFSA is a process with potential “manipulation” written all over it, IMO.</p>
<p>
</p>
<ol>
<li> If caught, cheaters are likely to get nothing in need-based aid.</li>
<li> Tax forms, which CSS filers must submit, reveal how much taxpayers claimed for mortgage interest deductions.</li>
</ol>
<p>I think a lot of lies on the profile. would be easy to uncover with a credit report pull. </p>
<p>Yes the form is long but if you are on top of your finances it’s not difficult. Why should a college give you thousands of dollars if you don’t know how much you owe on your credit cards?</p>
<p>Ha, ha, Dodgermom, I feel your pain. A friend of mine told her son a dozen times he was not to push the send button on anything until he looked it over. He did. Sent the app to the wrong place and it was lost in cyber space. Try to call a large university looking for an app sent somewhere on the deadline. System wouldn’t let him do another app since he already was in there as having done one. She sat down and cried. Yeah, he was rejected–I guess they got that app after all, and now we all laugh about that day that wasn’t funny at all then.</p>
<p>I Set up an email account for all college things because I did not trust my guys to be on top of any requests or other things that come through as they get so much crap on their email.</p>
<p>I too had my kids set up a college email account junior year of high school, to which I have full access. I do not trust them to keep every deadline.</p>
<p>Setting up an email account specifically for college stuff that is accessible by both parent and child is the best thing we did. We used our child’s full name with middle initial. It looked so much more professional than his normal user name and allowed me to keep tabs on progress. I was so sick of “Oh yeah, I think I got an email about that, but I didn’t read it.”</p>