Colleges say admission review and FA are totally separate process. They really process 30,000 applicants’ FA applications when they accept 2500 students?
The do preliminary work for most and complete when acceptances are determined
Thank you @thumper1 !! In application portal I’ve been seeing only FAFSA and CSS PROFILE downloaded (at the beginning of Jan) by the college, but I just saw they downloaded all other documents like Tax Return, W2, Schedules and etc yesterday. Is this a positive sign? Or I’m reading too much in??
A fair amount of the aid process surely must be automated. It isn’t as though they have to add up all the figures with pencil and paper
@happymomof1 Thanks a lot for the info!! Just out of curiosity you posted near 30K times… how can that be possible? You’ve been helping people here for many years? I’m new here … just curious 
All the colleges have packaging software to assist in their work. Not too much manual work.
@singingbear as noted…much of the preliminary work is done by computer. It’s not like someone is sitting with a paper and pencil and calculating aid possibilities.
And if a student is NOT going to be accepted…at all…admissions can certainly let financial aid know so that student is no longer in their system.
Thank you so much @thumper1 !!! Based on your comment, this is a positive sign … not necessarily mean ‘accepted’
“Note: Some applicants may be required to submit copies of tax returns and/or additional documentation to the College Board.” - I see this in my portal and yesterday I saw additional docs downloaded. I believe my financial aid keep being processed!
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!
It’s neither positive or negative. The financial aid department’s job is to make sure that all applications are complete – with whatever documentation is needed – so that they can issue an award determination at or near the time that the student is admitted. In the RD round, if a financial aid determination is held up for any reason, that can cut into yield – a student might accept a spot at a different college based on their aid offer without waiting to find out what the college that is slow to complete the process will offer. As others have noted, the process is largely automated. So they really do need to get the simple stuff out of the way. Once admission letters go out, the financial aid staff will have the added burden of needing to discuss aid adjustments or appeals with admitted students or their parents who feel their award falls short.
Well thanks all! Little bit confused … sounds like not unanimously agreed. What @calmom said “The financial aid department’s job is to make sure that all applications are complete” is what I usually hear from colleges. However, personally think why get bothered by unlikely admitted students?? This is the point of @thumper1, I think. Maybe different colleges handle differently??
Because the financial aid office has no idea who admissions is considering or who they have rejected. Just two trains on parallel tracks.
If a college is need-blind and meets full need of all admitted students, then there is no reason the admissions department would be communicating with the financial aid department until decisions are made.
If the college is need-aware for admissions, then there would likely be some communications along the way – but in that case it would be important for the financial aid department to be able to report to admissions on the degree or level of need. So that would mean there would need to be at least a rough estimate of aid eligibility before the admissions decision is made.
I know you are looking for hopeful signs as you await results – but really, getting an inquiry from the financial aid office or noting activity in the portal is not one of them.
I think you overly optimistically read my post. All I meant was…financial aid departments do premiminary work for all student. As @calmom pointed out, it’s their job to do this…and try to make sure applications are complete.
Remember also, the colleges upload things in batches. So just because YOUR kid’s documents were uploaded really means only one thing…the documents were uploaded along with likely thousands of others.
Like i said…don’t count your chickens before they hatch.
Just be patient. It is less than two months before all schools will post all admission decisions and financial aid.
Right now…at least you know the school has received and uploaded all of your documents.
@singingbear - Yes some of us have been here for a while!
I work at a graduate school that only accepts a small number of students each year. I review every FAFSA as it comes in, and I reach out to any applicant whose FAFSA shows an issue. This week, I reached out to an applicant whose FAFSA indicated that he was in default on a Perkins loan. I gave him his available options for resolving the default. I have no idea whether or not he will be admitted, but I consider it part of my job to help our applicants fix issues regardless of whether or not we admit them.
Thanks @kelsmom Maybe my misunderstanding started - the ONLY FA application requirement for this college was FAFSA and CSS Profile. They said “if additional documents needed, we will contact you”. FAFSA and CSS Profile were received by the college Jan 2. Additional docs (Tax Return, W2s and etc) were requested and they were received by college Feb 21. Now is about the time admission and FA offices work closely because admission decision will be announced in a month. So I thought it could be a positive sign. I’m perhaps wrong as many people indicated.
You might be right and you might be wrong.
Patience…it’s not long before you will officially hear!
Please let us know!!
Sounds like there was something on the FAFSA that required them to review the documents - which means that they had to collect to documents. They need to make sure all the ducks are in a row in advance of admissions decisions. That way, accepted applicants are getting a “good” award letter … rather than an estimate that might change after documents are collected and reviewed.