<p>My daughter is transferring schools and Barnard is her number one choice. Problem is, I just got a letter from Barnard saying that they were missing my daughter's W-2s. It went on to say...</p>
<p>"The deadline for completion of your application for aid was April 1st. At this stage, we are unable to guarantee a financial aid award. If funds become available, we will consider all remaining complete applications. It is important, then, that you submit the information requested above immediately."</p>
<p>Since my daughter didn't submit a tax return, I missed the fact that they needed her W-2s. I sent everything else before the deadline. Anyway, I immediately faxed her W-2s and followed it up with an email. I also plan on calling tomorrow to check on the status of her financial aid application.</p>
<p>I'm just hoping that I didn't screw things up for my daughter if she's accepted, because without financial aid, there's no way she'll be able to attend. Aargh. I feel terrible just thinking about it. Could such a small thing as missing W-2s really put her aid in jeopardy (especially when this finanical data is in her FAFSA and CSS Profile)?</p>
<p>Anybody out there have a similar situation? If so, what was the outcome? Thanks for your help and any suggestions.</p>
<p>Ok, I'm starting to freak out here. I went through the Barnard materials and found the part where they asked for the W-2s. I can't believe I didn't see this! My daughter was counting on me to take care of the financial end and I feel as if I've let her down big time. God help me if she gets in without any aid.</p>
<p>It looks like some intense groveling to the financial aid office is on the agenda for tomorrow.</p>
<p>pcaz, I know how you feel. I did a booboo, also. My son applied to more than six schools. I read on this board somewhere that one way to handle that, since you can only send the FAFSA to six schools at once, is to make copies to send to the other schools, so that is what I did. Busy with other things, I promptly forgot about it. Until I started wondering why he wasn't getting a financial aid offer from a particular school. I called them and discovered that the copy was NOT sufficient. (Of course, they hadn't bothered to let me know.) I quickly went online and changed my school list, sending FAFSA to that school and two others that I had sent copies to. I felt just awful! Especially since two of those schools were on my son's final four list after acceptances. </p>
<p>Fortunately it seems to be working out. He already had a merit grant from one of the schools, and as soon as the FAFSA was in, they gave me an estimate of need-based aid. The other school, it turned out, doesn't even look at FAFSA's until around May I, so it didn't matter there (I don't think.). There were also other schools where he might have received merit aid had he applied earlier, but I didn't know that either. He may very well have lost some aid due to my confusion, but things seem to be working out all right anyway. Schools do usually seem to be understanding and try to help.</p>
<p>I think that in the end everything will work out because it in not unusaual for a school to contact the applicant regarding missing or incomplete financial aid forms. Your Daughter being a transfer student the adcoms are probably just getting into the nitty gritty of the application process that happens latter than RD. </p>
<p>I understand where the school is coming from because there the funds are limited and if they didn't try to have cone control over having and sticking to a deadline the process would be really messy, However, Barnard is pretty good about granting need based aid so if she is accpted and eligible for aid, they will come through.</p>
<p>I just got off the phone with the Barnard FA office and they said even though the W-2s were received past the due date, it wouldn't affect the evaluation of her file. As you can imagine, I breathed a HUGE sigh of relief.</p>
<p>They told me that her FA application is complete and that it will now be reviewed by the financial aid committee.</p>
<p>SMmom, unfortunately I don't think she could defer her matriculation since they offer no aid at all to spring entrants.</p>
<p>Susantm, it is an awful feeling to know that you made a potentially costly mistake, isn't it? I'm usually pretty organized and was surprised to learn something had fallen through the cracks. But everything seems okay, so I'll count my blessings. Good luck to you and your son on getting the aid you need!</p>
<p>Sybbie, yes, I totally understand where the school is coming from. That's why I've always tried to get the financial aid forms in early. Barnard did mention on the phone that funds for transfers are limited; I hadn't realized that before. </p>
<p>Do you think it's a good sign that the financial aid committee is reviewing her file? Or do they do that for all transfer applicants? It may be wishful thinking, but I'd like to take it as a good omen.</p>
<p>pcaz - I have been silently watching your thread and aching for you. Sleepless night, I know. Glad the FA office was fine with the situation. Unfortunately, I don't have the answer to your qx re their review, but I hope it's a good sign.</p>
<p>Pcaz, it happens all of the time. There is no telling how it will affect the aid distribution, but we all do make mistakes, oversights, and sometimes things just don't happen even if you send things out exactly as you should. In the admissions process, we did have some problems of things not being received that should have been received by colleges as we definitely sent them. With financial aid, it is tricky because regardless of what the reason is for the office having incomplete data, it is just a fact of life that first come is first served. You can be at a disadvantage just because you file is picked up by the FA officer later than other kids' even if you get your stuff in on time since once awards are made, the larder becomes depleted. However, in my experience, it does not seem like things like this affect the awards. Can't really tell, but it seems like those schools that tend to be tight on aid are tight for the latecomers as well as the early birds, and vice versa. Since there is nothing you can do about the situation now, try to take your mind off of it. The "wolulda, coulda, shouldas" can drive you nuts. I know I have to shove all of that out of my head so much as I deal with issues that are on the table and don't have that baggage. You just have to cut loose when there is nothing more you can do, even if you made a mistake in the process. Blaming yourself just makes you less effective for other upcoming events. Hope everything works out.</p>
<p>Jamimom, that's good advice. I try not to play the blame game in general, but the thought of my D losing out because of my error was too much. Now that I've talked with Barnard, though, I'm feeling much better and have stopped kicking myself. Mistakes happen, and fortunately, this one was easily correctable.</p>