<p>I did my FA according to my ED deadline. however, at that time i did not have my parents' tax return for this year yet.. so i didn't send it.. </p>
<p>today, i called the FA office to see if my FA application is complete and what i'm missing exactly.. the lady who picked up said it's complete.. then i asked her if she still wants my parents' tax return... she then went to check and said "oh, btw, you should give your non custodial parent the NC form, which is on our website and yes, we still need your tax return." after i told her that my dad has already sent the Non custodial parent form, she went to check again and said it is indeed there, so all i need is my parents' tax return..</p>
<p>This led me to question, since she told me that my FA application is complete when it is clearly not (she didn't even know my dad submitted his NC form and that she knew that i still needed my parents' tax return), is it because i have already been rejected so the FA office sees there is no point in me completing the FA anymore, so she told me "your file is complete." even though.....</p>
<p>Hmm, that is strange. I think that they ask the financial aid stuff for everyone because they can't make all the FA decisions between the short period of time between the admissions decisions and the day the FA decisions are mailed out. So they need all the FA stuff from everyone, in case they get in.</p>
<p>this sucks... esp since i'm from Canada too... i hope it doesn't mean we're rejected so they might as well say that our FA is complete since there is no point in us completing it... maybe the person just doesn't know what she is talking about. when did you call? i called around 3EST today...</p>
<p>even though my ssn was messed up, thus screwing up all my fin aid, the only school that called me was georgetown so now i'm all paranoid about my other schools rejecting me and that's why they didn't bother to contact me about the error. hopefully, it is a matter of the two branches having no contact with each other. :)</p>
<p>i've been contacted for mising fin aid stuff..
also for a missing recommendation (completely school's fault) which was later sent in</p>
<p>dunno what to make of the missing fa notification.. and i haven't done anything about it (currently travelling.. in korea ._.)</p>
<p>when is it too late to apply for fin aid? can one work things out with the fin aid office after being admitted and get financial aid, or do the forms absolutely have to be done before decisions??</p>
<p>"can one work things out with the fin aid office after being admitted and get financial aid, or do the forms absolutely have to be done before decisions??"</p>
<p>I hope the plans are flexible and that you can work things out once you get there... conducting the fin aid business through phone/mail/internet is a confusion at times... and with mix-ups like the one ptonwannabe had... I just hope my fin aid stuff is OK. </p>
<p>If something goes wrong with the aid... for example you don't receive a letter they send saying your fin aid is incomplete and that they need your tax return...would they say the fault it yours because you didn't chase them up to find out what else you needed? Basically do we have to email and call and constantly ask them if everything is complete, or can we trust they'll tell us what they need?</p>
<p>well, what really concerned me was the lady seems so indifferent as to whether my FA material was even complete or not. so that led me to believe that i was rejected and no longer need to complete my aid...</p>
<p>then after i asked her if she is sure and if i still have to send in parents' tax return, she checked something else and said i need the NC form, which i told her i've already sent in...</p>
<p>i think they only do the aid for admitted students.... not for everyone, that would be too much work.</p>
<p>so i just called the FA office for the second time in two days.. this time a different lady picked and there are good news and bad news..</p>
<p>good news, she actually told me what is missing and what is not... </p>
<p>bad news, she did admit that FA is ONLY computed for admitted students and there is an "internal process" which they use to know whose financial aid to calculuate.</p>
<p>question: has all of you submitted your parent's tax returns? and if not, have you been contacted regarding missing tax returns? that is the only thing missing in my file and she said i can send it in whenever they're available.... not sure if that's a bad sign</p>
<p>i got an email today from the Princeton Financial Aid Office saying that my dad sent in the wrong non-custodial form (WOOT?). Apparently he sent the one for 2004-2005 and not 2005-2006 or something.
If they are actually taking the time to send me an email about this, does it mean something? Yeah im paranoid.</p>
<p>so I called this afternoon and the lady said that indeed NC was missing and another form and that we should fax it...</p>
<p>We hope to hear from you within the next few days. Please feel to contact us if you have any questions or difficulty providing the requested information.</p>
<p>majadito,
personally i'd take that as a good sign. If indeed the Princeton Finaid office only computes aid packages for admitted students, why would they ever need you to submit the correct NC form?</p>
<p>On the other hand, last week, i got this email:</p>
<p>Dear ________:</p>
<p>Our records show that you registered and logged in to the Class of 2009 Princeton Financial Aid Application (PFAA) at some point in the last several months. Although you may have saved information on your PFAA, you did not submit it to Princeton University.</p>
<p>I have not been notified of anything yet, and I know for a fact that I havn't sent in my tax return yet. I don't think they're due till mid-April.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I have gotten neither a likely letter nor an acceptance letter from Brown. I did get a letter dated March 15 asking for the Business/Farm Supplement. </p></li>
<li><p>I got into Amhers RD (early write). I got a letter dated March 11 (1 week after acceptance) asking for a whole bunch of stuff (looong list), including Business/Farm Supplement and the 2004 Tax Report. </p></li>
<li><p>I got a letter dated January 25 (exactly 1 month after I sent in my college apps) from IDOC, which is part of CollegeBoard and helps college get financial information from its applicants. They asked for almost the same things, including 2004 Tax Report and Business/Farm Supplement. This information was needed for Amherst, Yale, and Harvard. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Here's what I can find from these letters: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Colleges do not start calculating financial aid only for already admitted students (whether the student knows it or not). The letter from Harvard (via IDOC) came on January 25. I got a call for a second interview something this month, which means that they definitely hadn't finalized my admissions decision by January 25. They calculate financial aid before finalizing student's admissions decisions because they just don't have to time to start these so late. Asking for all these documents can get very complicated and time-consuming. </p></li>
<li><p>These financial aid things, like I said, are very complicated, and they make mistakes. I know for a fact that Brown doesn't have my parents' 2004 Tax Report. They asked for my Business/Farm Supplement, but they didn't ask for the tax report. Why is that? They probably don't realize because they have so many other papers to process. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>However, the caveat:</p>
<ol>
<li>I've also applied to Columbia, Princeton, and UChicago. They haven't contacted me at all about missing financial aid forms, although I am sure that what I sent them is not enough. Maybe they don't realize... maybe they plan to give financial aid awards later to those who got accepted later (after much deliberation during committee meetings)... maybe I've already been rejected. </li>
</ol>
<p>Sorry, I'm rambling, but I guess I can't conclude much, either.</p>
<p>ooh, also, I got a likely letter from Wellesley, and although I'm missing the Business/Farm Supplement and the 2004 Tax Report, I haven't gotten anything from them. </p>
<p>Don't worry, princetonwannabe, let's just wait 9 more days. :)</p>