<p>Could someone tell me EXACTLY I need to do for financial aid because I am beginning to confuse myself:</p>
<p>1) Fill out CSS Profile. I have done this and sent it through College Board, however, I have a non-custodial parent who is unknown so do I make up their information or do I just leave it blank? Also, it has all of these little notes telling me to send in my mom's W-2s and 1040s when they're done. So will I send copies of those forms into Tulane when my mom gets them back from her accountant? What is the deadline for that to be done?</p>
<p>2) FAFSA. I realize that this cannot be filled out until after the 1st of the year. But when I do complete it, do I use 2007 tax forms or do I have to wait for 2008? </p>
<p>3) What is the PRIORITY deadline? What does that even mean? Is it guaranteed financial aid?</p>
<p>4) My mom worked like four jobs and has now cut back to two. Where would I denote the loss in income? I showed it on the CSS Profile so is that good?</p>
<p>Thanks for any and every piece of help/advice! I know some of these questions have answers that are probably right on the Tulane website, but my mom really (God bless her!) is very little help and I'm trying to figure all of this out on my own. I just am feeling extremely overwhelmed and don't know what to do!</p>
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<li><p>Non-custodial parent unknown - I suggest you contact the Tulane financial aid office and ask how you should handle this. </p></li>
<li><p>CSS Profile - If you have filled this out already you must have used estimated 2008 figures. After your mother does her taxes you need to print a copy of the CSS Profile and manually make corrections and send the corrected copy to the financial aid office at Tulane.</p></li>
<li><p>FASFA Assuming you already applied for a PIN you can fill this out on Jan. 1st using estimated 2008 figures and check of the box that says will file. When the taxes are done, you can go back in and change the numbers (much easier than the profile)</p></li>
<li><p>Priority deadline - The date that you must apply for financial aid in order to be considered for all sources of aid. After that deadline you basically get whatever is left, regardless of need. </p></li>
<li><p>Tax forms etc. Once your mother has her taxes done you must send a copy to the financial aid office (your taxes must be sent as well) This includes all W-2's and 1099's as well. I'm not sure if these are due by the priority deadline, but last year I made sure that I did my taxes earlier and I did have them in to Tulane by Feb.</p></li>
<li><p>4 jobs now 2 - When you recieve your financial aid award you can "appeal" and document that your mother will be making less money in 2009. I'm not sure how this goes for a voluntary cut in hours/jobs, but we appealed because my husband had lost his job, and anticipated less income in 2008, and our package was adjusted accordingly (however, his spring aid will not be released until we send in this years taxes to verify that our actual 2008 income was approximately what we anticipated it would be.) Once you get your aid package you will need to act quickly on the appeal so that an adjusted package is prepared before you have to make your final decision (we were notified within a week of our appeal) So, I suggest that you collect any information that you may need ahead of time.</p></li>
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