<p>My mom won't be getting her tax information until the end of January, but I'm not sure if that's going to hurt me. I was admitted to Brown ED and the deadline says March 1st... I keep hearing about students saying, "Rush it! You'll get more money!" but I'm not sure how that works. I don't qualify for the Pell Grant or Gates Millennium, if that has anything to do with it.</p>
<p>Could someone let me know if submitting my FAFSA in early February would be a detriment? I already received a scholarship estimate from the university, so I can't see how this would hurt me.. right? </p>
<p>You should already have done your FAFSA no matter if you are eligible for grants. Institutional aid is also determined on a first come basis. Filing the FAFSA “saves” your spot in the disbursement “line.” You can always make changes later but you need to go ahead and file. Use either last year’s tax return or your mom’s final paystub from this year. It would only be a close estimate but it can always be changed.</p>
<p>popcharlie as long as you meet Brown’s priority deadline, you should be FINE.
If you want to make absolutely certain, call Brown’s Financial Aid office and ask them.</p>
<p>Not sure where all this “first come, first served” stuff comes from - perhaps for states that have very limited state aid or very large state schools??? But for private schools like Brown, as long as you meet their deadline for FA applications your application for aid received the day before (or the day of) the deadline will get the same consideration as one they received weeks earlier. (But if you MISS the deadline that could be a whole 'nother story…)</p>
<p>First come, first served is true for the majority of schools, For schools like Brown, though, you are safe to stick to their priority deadlines. It is the schools that have limited funds to award that are the ones where you need to file early if you are going to be eligible for significant need based aid.</p>
<p>When it is apparent you will only qualify for loans, there is no hurry … you can wait. But do submit by the priority filing date even if you just get loans, so that if you are selected for verification it will be complete in time for the loans to disburse prior to the beginning of the term.</p>
<p>Make sure to print off a copy of the FAFSA and the CSS Profile as you get them done. Then as Parent finishes taxes you can easily see if you need to update the FAFSA – also, it helps to have a copy for repeating the process next year. Make yourself notes too (as in “pay rent before reporting how much cash I have”).</p>