<p>So I am applying ED (which is a binding option) to Whitman College. I've finished my app and the CSS and submitted it. I used LAST years tax figures on the CSS.
But they want me to submit a FAFSA by January 5th.</p>
<p>Would I use last years figures on that as well?
My parents are self employeed, they don't recieve W-2 forms so I told my dad we should be able to ACCURATELY fill out that fafsa by January 5th with the real numbers and he got into an argument with me. He insists that I will just have to estimate numbers and adjust them in late febuary when he does his tax returns. Is that even possible on the fafsa? I thought that they ask for specific numbers from certain lines on your tax return forms.</p>
<p>like "Fill out your parents adjusted gross income, like 31a of the 1040 form."?
I thought that's how it was.</p>
<p>You can file FAFSA using estimates…you’ll select the “Will File” option for tax return status. It will process and you’ll be able to see your SAR and the school will be able to download the information. When your dad actually files, you’ll log in and update your FAFSA to actual figures and change the filing status. It will reprocess and you’ll get an amended SAR and the school will also receive the updated info.</p>
<p>It would be a very good idea if your dad is prepared to do a good estimate, using last year’s figures may or may not yield a financial aid package that you can rely on.</p>
<p>Your dad is right. You will complete the FAFSA right after Jan 1 when it becomes available. You will do it with a “will file” status meaning that you will be filing your 2010 taxes but have not yet done so. USE THE BEST POSSIBLE ESTIMATES for the 2010 figures when you do that estimated FAFSA. Then…ASAP get those 2010 taxes done. Go back into the FAFSA, and amend the FAFSA changing only the fields that reflect the numbers on your 2010 tax return. Change your filing status to “taxes completed” and resubmit.</p>
<p>You want your estimates to be very close to the real thing. Any ED financial aid award you receive with a “will file” status will be an estimated financial aid award. And YES the amounts can change if your actual income rises (or falls) in reality. The finalized reward will only be sent when you have completed your FAFSA to reflect the actual 2010 numbers.</p>
<p>Reed also requires the CSS Profile so I hope you are completing that NOW. It is available for filing. Does Reed have an early priority deadline for the Profile for ED applicants? Check their website and see.</p>
<p>The problem I guess is that my dad won’t do the REAL tax returns asap, he’ll do them in late febuary like he always does because he’s stubborn and higher education is a forgein concept to him. And last year our income fell due to unsusal circumstances, so this year the income will go up about $20,000 which is a significant jump. But I have no way to estimate the numbers since last years are so far off our norm!</p>
<p>The above is from the Whitman College website. They require the Profile as well. Check to see if they have a priority deadline for ED students.</p>
<p>Get that FAFSA submitted before Jan 5…then do the update ASAP. If it’s not until the end of February well…that’s when it will be done. BUT do be aware…if you get accepted ED, you will get a financial aid package with or shortly after your ED acceptance. You will be required to make a decision about enrolling at Whitman when you receive this package…no waiting. What will your family do IF your final financial aid package is significantly less than your estimated one (from your estimated Profile and FAFSA)? Are they prepared to pick up the difference if your award goes down…which it could if your income goes UP? </p>
<p>The year you are a freshman is NOT the year to do your taxes as late as possible. This is the year to do them as EARLY as possible. </p>
<p>Either that, or ask your dad for VERY good estimates. It’s NOVEMBER, he should be able to give you pretty good numbers based on the first ten months of the year and projections for the last two.</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you, thank you!! This site is saving my life =)
All that info really helps. I already did the CSS, I just used last years numbers because there was nothing else I COULD do. I’ll try to estimate a little higher on the fafsa.</p>
<p>My dad is no help and my mom doesnt know a thing! My dad refuses to help with estimates or filing earlier but atleast he’s giving me easy access to his last years tax returns and this years once he’s done. I’ll take that and make the best lemonade I can, so to speak, with my limited ingredients.</p>
<p>I would think the bigger issue is whether your family has discussed whether they’re happy to pay whatever your EFC is as you’ve applied ED. Often the number is much higher than family’s expect. Maybe you could run some calculators with current best guess to make sure applying ED is a good idea before it’s too late to switch.</p>
<p>I would think the bigger issue is whether your family has discussed whether they’re happy to pay whatever your EFC is as you’ve applied ED. Often the number is much higher than family’s expect.</p>
<p>Excellent point!</p>
<p>Being self-employed can create a shockingly high “family contribution.” How much are your parents willing to pay? Have they told you? What will happen if the “family contribution” is a lot higher than your parents are willing to pay?</p>
<p>because he’s stubborn and higher education is a foreign concept to him.</p>
<p>This does not bode well for him paying. How much will he pay?</p>
<p>I also need to add this…in the past…some kids whose parents are self-employed PM’d me because once their parents saw how detailed the info was that they needed to provide, the parents refused to fill out the forms because they had not been completely honest in the way that they file their business taxes. These parents were afraid that these forms might trigger some kind of investigation.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that this is the case with your dad, but be sure to ask him if he’s ready for a full exam of his business finances.</p>
<p>**
how prepared are you with financial safeties???**</p>
<p>Well…what did you put on the Profile? Those numbers should have been your BEST estimates for the 2010 tax year. Couldn’t you just take that information and use it on your estimated FAFSA?</p>
<p>Hi - I am finding it refreshing to be doing all this financial planning for next year way ahead of schedule, and doing my taxes this year will be a breeze because I have had to fill out all these forms for my daughter’s ED application. I even did some retirement calculations, just to make sure I would not be homeless by the age of 70 (joking) if I decreased my 401K deductions.<br>
Doing taxes, especially for a business is a real pain for most folks. See if you can offer to help your dad with something in return, to get them done sooner. (detailing his car? cooking his favorite dinner?)
When I was applying for financial aid, I did all the paperwork, and actually helped prepare my parents tax returns a few of the years. I realize that most families are not like this, but it’s a thought.
Anyway, see if your dad can give you some good estimates for the FAFSA.<br>
You may want to call Whitman and see if you can amend your CSS if you just used 2009 numbers and they are significantly different from the FAFSA.<br>
The other posters have made a good point that your award could be substantially lower since they were unable to supply good estimates on the CSS - so make sure your parents understand this!
Please ignore the post about possible fraudulent tax returns. I don’t think the college board is forwarding information to the IRS! The school will see the tax returns, and the numbers on the returns must match the final FAFSA. If the IRS does an audit, they will be going to source documents and not the CSS profile or FAFSA. (I have been audited, and worked developing accounting software for 15 years).</p>
<p>If your estimates turn out to be accurate, the final financial aid award should be close to the estimate you would get with your (possible) ED acceptance; your family has to decide if the estimate is enough to support attendance or not. If not, you say thanks but no thanks, and apply elsewhere at RD time.</p>
<p>If it looks like the estimated aid would be enough, then you have to think about what happens if the family income goes up or down, which can send the aid down or up, respectively. One factor I’ve seen gives a change of forty cents of aid for every opposite one dollar change of income; perhaps Whitman can give you their factor.</p>
<p>If Whitman gives you an ED financial aid offer, you’d probably have something like two to four weeks to decide if you want to accept the offer.</p>
<p>Please, I welcome corrections from other posters! :)</p>
<p>*Please ignore the post about possible fraudulent tax returns. I don’t think the college board is forwarding information to the IRS! *</p>
<p>No one is saying that Collegeboard is forwarding fraudulent info the the IRS. </p>
<p>However, school financial aid officers might be obligated to report fraud. Financial aid officers have to follow certain federal rules…and they may be obligated to report fraud.</p>
<p>And again I say…this student has completed an estimated Profile…hopefully with EXCELLENT estimates. I suggest he/she use these same excellent estimates on the estimated FASFA at the beginning of January, then update ASAP when the taxes are completed (with HOPEFULLY accurate numbers that are close to the estimates).</p>
<p>I’ll try to best to update you guys with answers to your questions, i didn’t realize people were ACTUALLY helpful on here! and cared! I’m overjoyed.</p>
<p>My EFC was zero when I did the fafsaforcaster because of my parents rock bottom income LAST YEAR. however, that was not a typical income year. they expect it to go up but not more than $20,000 which is good for me!
My dad has agreed to pay whatever it is that he must, I have a college savings account and it’s got enough for us to cover a decent EFC amount.</p>
<p>I used last year’s tax numbers on the CSS. I will just use that for the fafsa and then update accordingly, even though my income will go up, meaning my financial aid will go down. But my parents will just have to make that amount up for me.</p>
<p>skhaer, I’m so impressed that you’re handling these tricky financial forms yourself. In the long run you’ll benefit from having to be so independent, even tho it can’t be much fun right now. I hope Whitman can see from something in your application what a self sufficient applicant you are. My kids had my CPA husband to handle all these forms which even make my eyes glaze over!</p>
<p>I am also impressed.<br>
If you use the efc calculator on the college board site, click through to the details section. See how much of your savings will be included in the EFC - for our family the student savings add 20% to the EFC. (this may be different depending on income level, etc.). Parental assets are assessed at a much lower rate (5.6%? after an allowance)
So the general advice I have heard from various financial aid consultants is for you to pay for any of your current expenses out of your savings rather than your parents’, such as car insurance, car payments, and gas for your car, application fees, clothes, and whatever. This can’t come from a 529 plan (and should not, as that is counted as a parent asset).
One school that I talked to uses whichever EFC is higher - institutional or federal, so it’s wise to look at both formulas. Also this school used a fixed amount for minimum of how much a student is expected to pay from summer earnings, etc. i.e. $1900 for a rising freshman - so schools may come up with different numbers than the formulas depending on their policies.
Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Thank you both for your help! it is quite the struggle but college has always been the most important thing to me, and I’ve never let my parents get in the way of that. I don’t blame my dad, he just doesnt understand higher education.</p>
<p>Our income is going to increase by $20,000 for the 2010 year, so 20,000 MORE THAN 2009. </p>
<p>The savings account is overseas because my grandparents started it when I was born and my parents picked it up after my grandfather passed away, so that won’t factor into the EFC, it’s still in my grandma’s name :)</p>
<p>I’m really trying for the Gates Millenium which would take care of my financial aid worries. But either way, I’m still trying to get this stuff in order! I think I’ve figured it out now. Thanks everyone!!</p>
I’m overjoyed.</p>