I recently got an email asking me about a number on my CSS profile because I accidentally put the wrong number in the wrong spot on the form. The email was from a financial aid counselor. I always had the impression that financial aid was reviewed after a person was admitted to a school, as I couldn’t imagine them going through 50k financial aid forms when more than half of those students would be rejected anyways. This is a school I applied to regular decision and I’m not expected to hear an admissions decision until the end of March. The online portal still does not say I have been accepted. I guess I’m just confused as to whether it’s normal to have gotten this email during the application reviewing process, or if it’s maybe an indication I got into the school? Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Nor can I imagine them going through X thousand FA apps of admits in the short period between an acceptance going out and the FA notice. Many colleges send the calculated FA info with the admit notice. All because they get started early.
Most of what they do initially is automated. Final tweaking could happen later, once Admissions tells them who they’re choosing.
This inquiry does not mean an admit is coming. They’ll determine most of that in early to mid-March, if you’re looking at a late March notification date.
The communication you received simply relates to assuring that the financial aid form submitted was correct. What most likely happened is that the computer identified an error or your form and the financial aid department sought to correct it, a very common practice by colleges after the forms are submitted, which has nothing to do with whether you have or have not been admitted.
Colleges review financial aid applications all through the process. They aren’t going to have their financial aid staff sit on their hands from January-March, and then be expected to issue financial aid determinations all at once in April.
They don’t have to finalize the awards until they know whether a student has been accepted or not – but it sure helps if they have made sure that all required documentation is on hand.
Also, for schools with need-aware admission policies, the admissions decision may be based in part on what the financial aid department has determined in terms of level of need.