I’m an international student planning to apply for financial aid /at Ivy league universities/.
If I understand correctly, I should submit my CSS profile the day I submit my CommonApp information…? Also, do I have to mail my parents’ tax returns to the universities a few days prior to submitting my profiles’ information so that they arrive on the same day as the online data? Furthermore, since I have to also submit a legally translated copy of my parents’ tax returns, should the entire information (such as: explanation regarding the completion of the documents; categories which are left blank since they do not apply to my family’s finances) be translated or could the parts mentioned in the brackets be ommitted in the translated document since they are basically irrelevant? Finally, regarding the mailing process, I found the following information on some of the colleges’ websites: “Please include the student’s name and date of birth or SID on each page.” Does this mean that I should literally write the data in question down on each page since the documents will be the original and signed copies? Also, is there anything else apart from the tax returns that I should include in the envelope such as personal information? Thank you!
First…you have some misinformation.
You can actually file your Profile beginning in October…which probably is BEFORE you complete your common application. When you sub,it the 2017-2018 Profile, you will be using information about incime and taxes from the 2015 tax year. Your assets will be reported as of the day you submit your Profile.
You should submit your Profile online.
You do NOT mail tax returns to the college unless they specifically ask for that as a required submission to apply for financial aid. So check your colleges’ websites…and see what they require. In other words…do your colleges ASK for mailed tax returns?
If you do mail anything to the college…YES…put your whole name, birthdate, and student ID number on everything. EVERY page. Yes, that means you need to,wrote it on every single page.
Ok, so it doesn’t matter when I send my CSS details as long as it’s prior to November 1 since I’m applying as EA…
Yes, the colleges I am looking at do require international students to send in tax returns along with the translated copies. Do the spaces that have been left blank in the tax returns have to be translated as well? Do I have to note anywhere on the mailing envelope that I’m an EA applicant?
Are you talking about translating questions your parents did not need to answer? Yes…do it all. The SCHOOL will,decide if that is infomation they want.
Re: deadlines…you need to check your colleges for THEIR deadlines for financial aid submissions. They vary wildly. Just allow enough time to get them done without missing the deadline dates!
Yes, at least half of the questions have been left blank since they do not apply to our family’s finances and besides there is a lot of explanatory notes regarding the completion of the documents (which, I suppose, the colleges don’t need) The companies which translate such documents here have informed us that they usually do not translate the questions that have been left blank. That’s why I’m asking whether I should ask them delibarately to translate the blank bits after all.
Contact the college financial aid office to ask if they want the questions left unanswered to be translated. That way you will get the definitive answer that no one here on this forum will be able to give you.