Do I need to specify EA, ED vs RD on FAFSA & CSS PROFILE

When submitting FAFSA and listing schools to receive the application, does one need to indicate if applying EA, ED vs RD?

Same question for CSS PROFILE?

REASON: My son is applying EA with an Oct 15 deadline to a university that requires both FAFSA & PROFILE.

He is also strongly considering applying ED with a Nov 15 deadline to his top choice school, so he is now trying to determine if he should just list the ED school at the same time he submits for the Oct 15 deadline, or if he could wait to make that decision closer to the Nov 15 deadline.

I know 30-days is splitting hairs, but would it be detrimental to leave the ED school off the list of schools submitted by the Oct 15 EA deadline and then amend the applications to add his ED school prior to the Nov 15 deadline?

Would admissions or FAO at an ED school perceive it as a negative to receive financial aid forms that have been through an amendment?

To save $16 per application he would not submit PROFILE to more than just the two EA and ED schools until after the mid December when he should be hearing back from the ED school.

Thank you,
parentsofsboys

Just submit the forms on time to each school. There is no place to indicate your application type on these forms.

If it were me, I would submit them at least a week before the deadline…earlier if you can. Then check to make sure they have been received.

There is NO need to amend these forms. The colleges cannot see other schools where you have submitted forms…or the dates you have submitted to other colleges. At all. I’m trying to figure out why you think you should submit one school separately from the others. Really, there is no reason to do so.

@kelsmom

@BelknapPoint

If by “amendment” you mean updating financial and personal information on FAFSA and Profile for a subsequent school submission, this should not be done unless a mistake has been discovered in the first go round, in which case corrections would be sent to any school that received a form with bad information.

Absent any corrections of factual information, the same data should be sent to every school. The timing of sending the forms to different schools is up to you; just make sure that all deadlines are met.

We do not anticipate needing to make any changes to financial information, but just would like the flexibility to submit to each school a week or so prior to the applicable decision deadline - whether EA or ED. I’m understanding if son wanted to list and submit to any additional schools after an initial submission of the FAFSA and PROFILE forms, he would need to do so through an “amendment” process so he could add another school to receive the forms. Is this incorrect?

Since the EA deadline is Oct 15 and ED is Nov 15, for him to submit both on the same submission, the ED would be submitted 4 weeks early than necessary, which just eliminates some evaluation time.

I thought CSS/ PROFILE required student to list decision plan.

noted and agreed!

I spoke with someone at the PROFILE section of College Board today - she appeared to be knowledgeable - she indicated my son would need to indicate which decision plan (ED/RD) he was planning to use.

I spoke with someone at FAFSA today as well, who after coming back from talking with a supervisor told me no school would know what other schools son had applied to, but schools would see a “history” if he had “amended” his forms to include additional schools to receive application, but the record would just not specifying what school(s)

You have NO reason to submit these colleges on different dates. The ED school won’t be able to see any submissions to other colleges. The other colleges won’t see the ED school.

I’m still confused why you think you need to do these on separate dates. It does NOT matter. It really doesn’t.

Just complete the FAFSA and Profile adhering to the earliest deadline, and submit to every school your kid is applying to. Really, that is the most efficient way to get this all done. Just do it.

It doesn’t matter if the ED school gets the financial aid application form a month early. The won’t care…at all…as long as it meets the deadline (which it will if you are sending it a month early).

Please…please explain why you feel you need to do these submissions at different times. You don’t.

One of my kids applied to seven colleges and they all had different dates for the FAFSA and Profile. He submitted all of them at one time…all of them.

My son’s concerns about including the ED school with the Oct 15 financial aid form submission deadline is that he does not want to indicate the school as ED on CSS PROFILE until he’s able to receive confirmation from ED school FAO the results of netprice calculator completed via school website (our finances and situation are straight forward) is in the ballpark of what he would expect prior to signing binding ED commitment. W/o that confirmation he would not apply ED

Do you understand that your sons financial aid award at a Profile school is going to be based on the data from the Profile…not the results of the net price calculator?

I will say it again…I can’t think of a reason why your son wouldn’t just submit all his schools at once…

But you don’t seem to want to hear that piece of advice. So do what you want to do. Submit all the EA schools by their earlier deadline. Then go back into the Profile and send to the ED school whenever you feel like it.

Is there some place on CSS PROFILE that you have to indicate you are applying ED? I didn’t know that. I’d just get the FAFSA and PROFILE filed early for all the schools I know I’m applying. Unless, there is a financial constraint , I would just send the fin aid apps to all schools that are even possibles on the list, within what I consider “reason”. That determination is individual.

So from these replies here it sounds like the information I received today from the PROFILE section of College Board - that applicants are asked to indicate if they are applying EA, ED or RD - is incorrect. If this is the case then my son would have no reason not to file the PROFILE to both his EA and ED schools by the EA Oct 15 deadline. If he wants to POSSIBLY save $128 ($16x8 additional RD schools), he can wait until mid December to have his PROFILE sent to any additional schools. By Mid December he would have received a decision from his ED school. If he was not accepted ED, at that point he could submit the PROFILE to his 8 remaining schools RD. Is there a disadvantage to this timing, or is it better to have his full financial aid information available for schools to evaluate prior to end of December?

$128 is small, but I don’t want him to send any more $ to College Board than necessary.

It’s fine to wait to see the outcome of the ED and EA admissions…before sending RD school info. As noted, you might not have to do these…at all.

I will say…check your deadlines carefully for your admissions deadlines…and priority deadlines for financial aid.

If your student is applying for merit aid, keep in mind that those applications are often due early in the admissions round.

And lastly, it sounds like finances are a significant consideration. That being the case, why is he applying ED? If he gets accepted, he will have only that aid and your net cost. If he accepts it, he is done. The thing is…it might not be the best financial aid deal. You will never know because all other applications must be withdrawn if he accepts that ED acceptance.

And if he declines the ED acceptance because you think it is not enough…you may find that his other later schools don’t do any better.

Why not just apply RD, and have (hopefully) multiple offers to compare?

Just a thought.

Unlike FAFSA, Profile is not easily available to review online. You have to create a College Board account, log in, and choose to access the online process. Changes that are made year-to-year are only evident to those who do this. I used to know Profile pretty well, but it’s been several years since I had reason to jump through the hoops to have access. The only way anyone here on CC can be sure what Profile requires now is too gain access through College Board and go through the current version.

Amen to that. Talk about a racket.

Agree with @BelknapPoint . When we completed the Profile there was no way to indicate ED, EA or RD. That could have changed.

But I’m still not clear on why that would affect this student submitting the ED and EA Profile schools at the same time. It doesn’t matter if the ED school gets the Profile early.

I do agree that holding off on the RD schools makes financial sense. If he is accepted with a good financial aid package, you might not need to send those at all.

One other thing to keep in mind…there are some forms of need based aid that have limited funds per college campus. These include SEOG which is typically for lower income families. But it also includes federal work study which can be available to students as long as they have financial need. The early bird catches the worm on these…so if you wait to submit until December, you will be later in the queue for consideration for these awards at some colleges.

thumper1, et al.
I appreciate all the sharing of experience, insights and highlighting more aspects for us to consider. Will discuss with my S and see where it leads. I’ll try to remember to report back to this tread after we complete PROFILE this year to confirm one way or the other regarding requirements to indicate which decision pool an applicant plans to take.

As I indicated earlier one reason he asked about waiting the additional 30-days is for extending the period to evaluate his fit at top (ED) school - he is very close to 100% sure, but COVID has limited in-person interactions and so has hampered the process this year.

I might be the only one who cares about this, but to follow up, I had received accurate information from College Board when I called. RE: PROFILE does ask applicants to indicate which decision pool an applicant plans to take.

see slide # 23 question: “Are you applying to this school Regular Decision, Early Decision, or Early Decision?”

https://collegeaccessfairfax.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CSS-Profile-for-2020-21-c.pdf

So, you indicate which type of admission process you are doing for each school you list.

I still don’t understand why you would wait and submit the ED school at a later date.

The RD schools, I understand because you are hoping those won’t be necessary.

Remember…each college can only see their own school. They can’t see any of the others where you submit the Profile or FAFSA forms.

@parentsofsboys I applied this past application cycle, so unless the financial aid forms changed this year (which is unlikely,) my info should still apply.

The FAFSA doesn’t have any distinction between colleges on your list, but note that some states require their school to be listed on a certain part of your list (1st, one of the top 3 etc.) You should be able to find this information on the US FAFSA Student Aid website.

The CSS Profile doesn’t distinguish between EA vs. RD, but DOES distinguish between Early Decision and RD (likely b/c it affects how the financial aid office downloads documents from the system.) Also note that some schools require students to submit documents via IDOC or through their own application portal (Penn does this,) so make sure to check the financial aid website for the schools your son is applying to.

Regarding when to apply for financial aid, it depends: some schools have a HARD deadline before decisions release while others recommend completing by their posted deadline in-order to have your award finalized by the time decisions will release, although they will still calculate your award (just will take time,) even if you submit your documents after being admitted. Financial Aid websites are a good place to find this information, as they usually will have an FAQ or an admitted student page that says something like “If you haven’t applied for FA yet, submit your documents ASAP!” International applicants are the exception to this, as many need-aware colleges require international students requiring financial aid to note this on their application to take into account during the admissions process.

Hope that helps!