Parent of the HS Junior here. By now I pretty much know all the steps that student has to take in this game of admission: GPA, tests, EC, essay, etc. What I do not know and what is extremely important since we might be a full pay family if DD will get to her top choices are the steps in financial aspect of this game. I know that I have to run NPC from different schools and have to file FAFSA /CSS profile in Jan 2016. Anything else I need to do, any other deadline to meet?
Your help is appreciated. Thank you.
You usually do not have to file fafsa/css unless you are seekng aid. If you are, though, all the college put the financial aid deadlines on their website. Often the CSS form is due earlier. Here are some tips to be aware of.
http://www.finaid.org/fafsa/maximize.phtml
Also, get you tax filed soon.
Agree that some schools want the profile earlier. Some schools with EA end up asking for TWO years of tax forms… 
We found that in general, keeping a spreadsheet of all the dates for FA items for tracking was necessary.
So is this a general practice to file FAFSA / CSS only if one expects to received need base FA? Do you need to file it if a student hopes to get merit aid but not plan to take any loans?
Apparently some require fafsa for need aid, I don’t know which ones, I don’t think it is common.
^ I believe @BrownParent meant for merit aid. As far as I know it is uncommon and the school will let you know if you have to file (usually not too early). I was required to fill the CSS Profile for my older D’s NMF scholarship but only the freshman year since we weren’t getting any other $.
The first thing to do is to determine what you can afford to pay for college. Then you might look at some lists of colleges and decide how much you are willing to pay for some colleges, but not others, if you feel that way. I then suggest running some NPCs on some schools you think are good contenders and find out what the colleges are going to be expecting you to pay. There is no sense in having your student apply to a bunch of schools that are going to expect you to pay more than you can afford or what you are willing to pay. Knowing this up front before your student gets expectations is important. You might also want to run some NPCs of some full need met schools, like Swarthmore, Dartmouth, Cornell, and see what they will say they expect you to pay. Also run an EFC estimator as that is usually the least amount you will get away with paying before getting federal and other aid.
Start getting your student and yourself familiar with the web sites of the schools that are likelies and see what kind of merit and financial aid they offer. Look on commondata.com and see what the stats are for these schools in terms of giving out money.
Make sure you get some schools on board that are affordable and likely to take your student instead of cherry picking lists of long shot possibilities that are often more fun to do.