<p>Hi
My family and I are about fill out CSS profile. i have a question, I know the CSS profile covers financial stuff, but does it ask anywhere for GPA, RANK, ACT/SAT SCORES, or anything academic at all, including classes taken?
Thanks</p>
<p>^School’s application would ask for those information.</p>
<p>The Profile is a financial aid application that will help schools determine your eligibility for NEED BASED financial aid. It does not ask for your academic stats at all.</p>
<p>Why are you asking? All of those academic stats will be on your application for admission.</p>
<p>@4kidsdad yes, I know the school applications asks for my grades, along with activties, and essays, etc, but I my dad hired a CPA who said that my academics/grades would also be going on the CSS profile. I thought that was not true, so I became wary of the CPA.</p>
<p>@thumper1 that’s what I thought, but again (look to my previous post), someone said that they ask for standarized test scores etc to determine merit aid. However, I thought merit aid was still through the college application and they automatically give you that. I never thought that a financial profile (like CSS or fafsa) actually considers academics. </p>
<p>The Profile has nothing to do with merit aid. It is an application that gathers information to help colleges determine institutional NEED based aid.</p>
<p>Where did you read that the Profile has anything to do with MERIT aid? Your dad’s CPA is wrong…</p>
<p>All of your stats will be on your admissions application. But do check you colleges…some schools have separate MERIT SCHOLARSHIP applications. If your schools require them…you have to do those as well.</p>
<p>@thumper1 so basically, my commonapp application, or whatever the college used for me to apply, will determine my merit award (along with addtional materials like essays, etc). MY CSS profile &fafsa ONLY (notice caps) talk about finances, etc.???</p>
<p>@thumper1 If I do understand you correctly, the CSS profile and FAFSA will only ask questions pertaining to $, not academics.
If my statement above is correct, then I should tell my dad to fire this CPA. </p>
<p>Your dad should use his CPA for CPA work…not for college financial aid application advising…that is my opinion.</p>
<p>He is probably a fine CPA…but the vast majority of CPAs don’t really know about college finances. </p>
<p>One could ask this CPA when he last saw the questions on the Profile.</p>
<p>@thumper1 sorry, I don’t think I clarified. This cpa actually does the financial aspects (eg, helping with fafsa/css etc.)</p>
<p>The CPA should be able to help you figure out which line on your taxes goes in which line of the Profile. Your FAFSA for 2015-2016 isnt available to complete and file until January 1, 2015…so if he is helping you with that NOW he is way off!</p>
<p>Schools determine how they want to allocate their money. They do it the way they want to do it and it can differ widely from school to school. Some schools offer ZERO in merit awards. Harvard and the other ivies fall into this category along with schools like Amherst, Tufts, MIT. For these schools, full need as defined by their formulas is met regardless of test scores, grades and other attributes and accomplishments that are listed on your application. </p>
<p>But many schools do award merit awards, and grades, Test scores along with other attributes the school wants come into play. Need may or may not enter into the picture for merit awards. Some awards have no need stipulation, and so even a Trump could get those scholarships. Others may have varying degrees of need taken into account.</p>
<p>Often, merit money is given out by the Admissions office, regardless of need, to “buy” the students a school most wants. Financial aid has its own department and they often have little to do with admissions. With Financial aid, NEED is the big deal. </p>
<p>FAFSA and PROFILE are financial aid applications. You can read through the questions yourself. They do not ask about academics, but about finances. If you are applying early to any schools, 2014 income is estimated on PROFILE,assets as of the date you fill it out are given, and PROFILE is submitted, often by the middle of Novemeber, or even earlier. After the first of the year, the FAFSA will be released, and one tries to use actual 2014 income numbers for that. FAFSA income figures are often checked against the IRS filing for the year. With IRS verification now available, such checking has become easier to do. They do not ask for academic or other info that does not pertain to income and assets.</p>
<p>As for telling your Dad to fire his CPA, that’s awfully quick. Perhaps you should print out the forms and have your dad give them to the CPA and let the CPA know that academic info is not asked. It’s not unusual that a CPA who is outstanding in other tax areas is not well versed in the various financial aid forms and rules. </p>
<p>There are schools that do mix merit and need, have admissions and fin aid in the same office. All of this is up to each school. So how you will be awarded money, whether it’s for merit or need, can be different from school to school.</p>
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<p>Some scholarships(merit aid) at some schools will have a separate app in addition to the admissions app. You need to check the scholarship web pages at each school to see if there are any scholarships that require an additional app.</p>