<p>I am very lost regarding financial aid; please help!</p>
<li>When do we accept our gift aid? and HOW?</li>
<li>Once we DO accept it, when do we get it? Where do they place it?</li>
<li>Is it mandatory to report other scholarships we’ve won?</li>
</ol>
<p>We have been wondering that, too. What I was told by housing (ouch -- those fees one has to pay in <em>advance</em>) is that financial aid will become available two weeks before enrollment. Presumably that lets the student & family pay the tuition & the rest of housing, etc.</p>
<p>I'm not sure if the cash is deposited in the student's account (probably -- it's the way that the Privates work), and then debited as the student uses it for classes & housing, or if the $ is given to the family to draw from. I kind of guess the former, not the latter. Protects both the U and the student.</p>
<p>(Financial aid students at private colleges have "student accounts," from which the institution itself draws money as the student uses it.) Generally, incidentals such as books are earned by the student via work-study and/or add'l small loans.</p>