<p>I searched this question before posting it, since I thought it must be a common question. Is there any general rule of thumb on whether financial aid offices only review a fin. aid application after admissions has given the ok on acceptance-or do they review every single app that comes in? thanks</p>
<p>~25,000 applications to some of the top 5 schools. Let's say 60% apply for financial aid (as most schools say 50% receives aid, and let's assume 10% get rejected from fin aid)...that's 15,000 applications!</p>
<p>Do you really think a financial aid office with a staff of say like 25, most of whom are not need analysis officers, actually have enough time to process all apps?</p>
<p>Ofcourse not. They only process the ones that have been admitted. Now if you call they won't tell you if your app is processed or not, because that could give away the admission decision.</p>
<p>not true as it depends on the school. the majority of colleges are need aware or need sensitive in which FA offices would review a number of packages as students would be admitted based on how much $$ they need from the school. </p>
<p>Yes, a school can review your financial aid information, the financial aid office can request additional information from you but it does not mean that you will ultimately be admitted.</p>
<p>they are also responsible for doing random verification on the information they receive so any one's appliction can be picked for audit.</p>
<p>Nearly every school in which my daughter applied, have asked for additional information from their financial aid office. I seriously doubt she's getting 12 acceptance letters, epsecially from the reach schools.</p>
<p>I stand corrected. ONLY the schools that are need-blind do not assign packages to everyone.</p>
<p>They will ask for additional information though. Think about it, if they didn't that could again give away the admission decision. Someone could intentionally not file CSS and see if the college will get back to them to see if he/she is still considered for admission.</p>
<p>The fact that they are asking for additional info does not mean the will actually go over it and assign you a package of loans, work-study, scholarships, etc.</p>
<p>I know that at our institution, we request verification documents prior to students being admitted. Actual award packages are not sent until after the student has been admitted to the school...as award packages include merit based scholarships...and we do not have all of the necessary information prior to admission to accurately forecast the students final GPA.</p>
<p>NikkiiL, how do you handle the 2006 tax returns? If an applicant's parents do not complete it until 4/15, is it a problem to get it after that?</p>
<p>If your student is a freshman, it really is vital to get your information in on time even if it means submitting your taxes early this year. Even at schools with deep pockets, there are financial aid budgets and money is disbursed on a first come first served basis which means if you have not turned in all of your information, your student may end up with less money (or maybe not being admitted to a school that is need sensitive/need aware if the school can't meet the financial need) than had the information be turned in sooner.</p>
<p>Since may 1 is the common response date, you are also giving your self a short time to make a decision as the school willnot give you a final aid package until all of your information is submitted (especially a copy of your signed tax forms with the W-2s).</p>
<p>I would recommend that you file and submit your information ASAP.</p>
<p>It is my understanding that schools that are not need blind (that would be most of them) do review finaid applications. BUT they only put together finaid packages for their accepted students. Why would they waste their time putting together a package for a student who is NOT accepted?</p>
<p>We require them to file their returns as early as necessary to get their FA packages in line. Honestly, if a parent/student want to delay filing until April 15th, then they run the risk of getting reduced packages. Just because the federal deadline for filing taxes is April 17th this year...there is no mandate to wait until the deadline. And, having been a professional tax preparer for many many years, there really isn't a justifiable reason for one to wait until the tax deadline.</p>
<p>Nikki's advice is the first thing I mention to friends with incoming freshmen...and I've posted it here to. The year your child is going to be a college freshman is NOT the year to wait until April 15 to file your returns. For those of you with HS juniors...take note. Next year, plan to file your income taxes as soon as possible after February 1. This means....plan ahead. You can file your FAFSA as a "will file" (meaning you "will file" federal tax returns) any time after Jan. 1. BUT your financial aid award, if the school will even give you one with an estimate, will not be finalized until you file your taxes and correct the FAFSA and indicate that you have filed your taxes. The reality is that finaid packages are mailed often WITH the acceptance letters that are mailed either April 1 or prior to that time. If you wait until April 15 to do taxes, you most definitely put your student at the bottom of many schools' food chain when it comes to awarding finaid. AND if the school gives you an estimate award based on your estimated FAFSA (and Profile if needed), you may be very surprised when your final finaid award changes. One school DD applied to reduced her finaid by thousands of dollars (others didn't reduce it at all). For families who are comparing offers... you want to compare FINAL offers, not estimated one.</p>
<p>i have a question relating to this. one need-blind university i applied to reviewed some of my materials relating to my non-custodial parent waiver and decided they would indeed waive my non-custodial parent. i was just informed of this.
is this a good sign for my admissions status? or is there absolutely no relevance?</p>
<p>This seems to be an old thread!</p>