So, I assumed that one should file FAFSA for siblings and CSS at the same time. However, I am not clear on the best way to answer the questions about the younger sibling college cost on CSS. For one thing, we are not going to make a decision on which college she’s going to attend until we get the final financial aid offers. Do we put in the first choice and estimate the cost of attendance for her based on the scholarship she’s already been awarded? My concern is that the first choice is a pretty expensive private college. I don’t want to make an impression that we expect more financial aid from the oldest daughter’s college so that the younger one can go to the more expensive school. Or do we put in the information about the college from which we don’t expect any more financial aid, so the cost is more or less set at this point? I assume, it is not binding? Or is it OK to file FAFSA first and wait with CSS? However, I don’t want to wait too long with completing financial aid application for the oldest one, since we do rely heavily on financial aid for her and last year we did not get the award information until well into July, even though we filed in December. Any thoughts or experiences on that are greatly appreciated!
First…returning students often don’t get their financial aid awards until summer…regardless of when they file.
Just don’t miss any deadlines.
WRT the cost question…just choose a realistic number. I’m not sure that question plays into the calculations anyway. Could you put the question number on the Profile here?
@BelknapPoint your thoughts.
I agree. If you really need to file Profile but the college costs for the younger sibling are not yet known with any certainty, make your best estimate using a realistic number.
@thumper1 The questions on the profile are under Dependent Education Expenses and they are
Name of the college or university attending
Total cost to attend this school
Total educational expenses paid or expected to be paid by student’s parent(s)
Type of college
Generally yes, as long as all applicable deadlines are met.
What’s the deadline for filing Profile for the older sibling?