<p>And I thought paying to submit the Profile was bad enough, it turns out that if I want to apply EA to anywhere with the CSS Profile, I would have to fill it out for 2007 and 2008. Which means 2x the work and 2x the costs. That's pitiful. What's the point of filling out financial aid info if we get to wait until May to decide? Do I have it all wrong?</p>
<p>My D applied EA to a couple Profile schools & never had to file the Profile early. I am surprised that schools are asking you to do that. I am not sure why they need it early ... unless it's because they are not need-blind & want to use the info for the basis of their admissions decision. However, I would think you could just wait & file the Profile after the first of the year, since you wouldn't HAVE to file for financial aid ... and you can always decide later to file. You just won't get an early estimate.</p>
<p>ED is a different story. You are applying to be accepted early, and your financial info is needed early as a result. Remember, you do NOT have until May to respond for ED. You are locked in if you are accepted.</p>
<p>An alternate view....my daughter applied to two schools EA. BOTH required that the Profile be sent by their priority filing date (November 1). However, the Profile for the upcoming year will be ready by the beginning or so of October....and the priority submission date for EA for the Profile is usually about November 1. Why would you have to fill out two Profiles? Just wait until THIS year's is ready...which should be any day now.</p>
<p>You need to check the deadline for financial aid for YOUR daughter's school(s). If there is a priority deadline, you don't want to miss it.</p>
<p>By the way...this had nothing to do with being need blind or not...both schools also sent their EA financial aid estimate WELL before the first of April. In fact, it came within weeks of the EA acceptance.</p>
<p>Thumper, I forgot that the Profile is ready so early. That makes sense ... you can wait until it's ready to file & it will work for next year. You'll just have to send your changes in when your taxes are ready. You can't send changes to a central processor the way you do with FAFSA. You have to contact the school(s) once your taxes are ready & find out how they want you to send updates (since you will have filed with estimated info). You won't have to pay for changes, which is nice!</p>
<p>Yeah, my son applied ED last year and just filed once. Thumper is exactly right. Not to worry. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>couple comments.
If you are applying for ED, you should not be dependent on aid to attend, as you should realize that by pledging to attend regardless of what other offers may be, you are putting the ball in their court, so to speak.</p>
<p>We limited the number of schools daughter applied to, because of finances. Which was ironic, as the way to get some good offers to compare for aid, you really need to have several comparable packages to look at.
You think the PROFILE is expensive? Try one semester of college. ;)</p>
<p>Just a note to the OP, there is an option to be released from your ED agreement if the aid is not sufficient. But you no doubt know that since it's printed plainly on the ED agreement itself. Just make sure you understand how the financial aid policies at the school will apply to your individual financial situation. True, you won't be able to compare offers. This is more important in some circumstances than others.</p>
<p>But then, on more careful reading... are you just talking about an EA app only? No issues, there.</p>
<p>IFF you apply ED, you do NOT have until May 1 to decide. Colleges make a good-faith estimate of your financial aid award in December so you can decide whether to accept or reject the ED acceptance; they need an early Profile to prepare the estimates. Some colleges will pay the second profile fee for ED acceptees, however.</p>
<p>bluebayou, although the OP lumped ED and EA together in the post heading, it seems to me the particular comment about deciding in May was related to an EA application. If that's the case, then yes, the OP could decide in May.</p>
<p>By the way, do you know of a school that makes you file the Profile twice? Would be curious to know which one it is.</p>
<p>yep, 'rentof2 was right. I just lumped the ED and EA in the heading. Personally, I'm concerned with EA. Really I think it's just a reason not to apply EA to Boston College or Georgetown. My mom hasn't actually submitted her taxes for 2007 yet, so it looks like only EA to FASFA schools (none for me) and rolling at Michigan. Thanks.</p>
<p>My D applied EA to BC and georgetown last year. My memory is that only BC needed the profile early - Georgetown's deadline was in Feb for EA applicants also.</p>
<p>OP, you are looking at old info for BC. The info online right now is for 2008-9, so you will need to adjust the year. The 2009-10 FAFSA will be due by Nov. 15. Also, I read Georgetown's EA info, and date is the same for EA as it is for RA, as far as I can see (2/1 for both).</p>
<p>Please don't limit yourself. Talk to your mom about taking care of her taxes on time next year (that is, taxes for the current year getting done in January, 2009). You may find that you get more aid at a Profile school than you get at UM. Of course, you may not ... but you'll never know if you don't try. My D is at a Profile school & it costs us much less than we'd be paying at UM instate.</p>