<p>We're not going to qualify for any need based aid. However, we'll certainly need to take out some federal loans that we will cover. I understand that FASFA has to be done to get those.</p>
<p>Is there any reason to get stressed out now about all these emails we're getting from schools about getting your financial aid in now? In other words, if all we would be applying for would be the federal loan programs can we wait to March/April and we know where she is going to school to get those going?</p>
<p>I believe the FASFA has to be in before that. Husband does all of the paperwork and I know he is trying to get our taxes done this weekend so that he can update (we have another one in college now) the FASFA. Is it Feb 15?</p>
<p>I think you need to follow the same guidelines even though you will be hoping to see the federal loan info.</p>
<p>ActingDad, I’ve been through this four times (it’s only due early the year before you apply.) You can do an estimated FAFSA. Just extrapolate from last year’s returns or fill in the number straight from last year. Then, after you file your real taxes, just go back in and correct it. We don’t even have all our W2s and 1099s by January 31 and some of those finaid applications are due Feb 1. But it’s easy to amend a FAFSA. I would not advise you to risk missing out on a merit award because your application was late. (A number of schools require FAFSA even for merit awards.)</p>
<p>Some schools are Feb. 1 and some schools are Feb. 15. They have these deadlines so that everyone can be considered at the same time. Although, the FAFSA is the primary tool for need based aid, some schools factor the FAFSA into determining merit awards as well (example, if you don’t qualify for need-based then a school may decide to give you a bit more merit). This is certainly not the case every where, but there are schools that do DO this. You would want your FAFSA in while the merit pot is hot. If you wait too late, there many not be any merit $ left. That would be the only reason to get it in by the school’s published due date. Some schools will state this is their preferred due date, but they still accept FAFSA afterwords the date. You will also want to check and see if schools require the CSS Profile, because I believe they have the same deadlines as FAFSA. There are a number of MT/Acting programs on this board that do require the CSS.</p>
<p>If you are absolutely certain that you are not going to be qualifying for any aid and that there are no merit awards that require FAFSA in the works, then, no, you don’t have to fill out FAFSA. The money isn’t coming from any of the schools anyway. You don’t have to file until the very last minute, June, in fact, to get the loans for that school year just ending. Last year, I filed FAFSA about this time of the year to get the loans needed. By paying the first term out of pocket and taking out the loan second term, the interest did not start accruing until the money was received, so saved about 3% that way. The way Stafford loans for the students work is that you can only get half of what you request first term with the other half set aside for the second, but you can get the full amount for the second term. Yeah, crazy, isn’t it? But if your EFC is even slightly below the COA of the school, things like work study and maybe some grant or other may come into play, and that money can run out early. But if you are taking out only unsub loans, then you can wait until you need the money as long as it’s by the end of the school year.</p>
<p>Thanks. I guess the real question for me to investigate is whether any of the schools on my daughter’s list require FAFSA in the works to be considered for merit aid. </p>
<p>And thanks for the tip about timing on loans.</p>
<p>Acting dad. I know cmu requires fasfa and CSS. And I talked to them two weeks ago and they said both applications must be based on your 2012 return. The representative said “we won’t even look at numbers from 2011”. And I’m pretty sure their deadline is feb 15.</p>
<p>FAFSA is very simple, especially if you estimate. Later you can go in and update with the IRS retrieval tool that plugs in all your numbers from submitted tax forms. Nothing to it, even for me. CSS is another story. We were always told the sooner the better. My son did his own on New Year’s Eve.</p>
<p>LOL!!! Husband makes off like FASFA is worse than doing the taxes! The truth comes out!</p>
<p>Kidding aside, I know he always prefers to do it once the taxes are done because our D’s first school (Wesleyan) didn’t want the estimated (year before’s taxes) either. He just wants to do it once.</p>
<p>We did just put in last year’s FASFA for S’s ED application, and they gave him his financial aid package based on that, but they say they may re-do once this year’s FASFA goes in.</p>
<p>ActingDad, Now you are in the club of those of us who know that FAFSA is not hard… please don’t spread the word to our significant others! (But CSS is awful, and last year a few schools had me doing other paperwork, as well. I’ve repressed the memory and can’t remember the name (something that had to be mailed to the College Board in Princeton.) The CSS, btw, is expensive. Unlike FAFSA, whose first initial stands for “free.”</p>
<p>You guys have made me feel like a huge dummy…I dread the FAFSA and find it to be a nightmare. Part of the problem is tracking down documents–I’m not the Keeper of the Files, but my husband is not the most organized, so we’re a bad combo. I’m afraid ours won’t really go in till after Unifieds. Wish there was somebody I could get to do it for me! Argh…</p>
<p>It is more important to get it in early the first year. Once your chunk of the pie has been determined, you are part of their calculations. Aid can change depending on circumstances (yours and theirs), but if your child is doing well, he or she will be an enrolled student who the school will want to keep.</p>
<p>Every school has a different “priority” deadline for FAFSA. Most of my son’s are March 1. From what I understand, they wait until after that day to start figuring everyone’s financial aid. (Schools with ED and EA may have different systems). And, you can still submit FAFSA after the deadline - it just might mean smaller institutional aid. If you qualify for Pells and Staffords, I think you can still get those even if you submit late.</p>