<p>Everyone always says, the earlier the better. However, I signed up for a FAFSA workshop at my school and it's not until the 12th of this month. Will this make a great difference in the money I'll be receiving if I fill it in now compared to if I wait till then?</p>
<p>Check with the filing dates at the colleges that you are interested in applying to. As long as you meet the financial aid deadline you should be good.</p>
<p>The reason that students are advised to apply early as some schools have SEOG funds, Perkins Loans and federal work study. These funds are limited and are usually given on a first come/first served basis to qualifying students.</p>
<p>^ how early is early? should we send a FAFSA guestimate today (if based on fairly accurate numbers) or wait a month to send entirely accurate numbers or some happy medium? how urgent is “early”?</p>
<p>Try to get it in this week. You can revise it later, but should be a pretty good estimate. CSS you can get in after taxes are complete.</p>
<p>^ we have some 2/1 CSS deadlines…</p>