<p>My oldest S wants to attend USC in the fall 2011. The cost of attendance seems extremely high, since (based upon our FAFSA numbers) we don't qualify for any aid. </p>
<p>My younger S will be attending college in the Fall of 2012 (they are only 1 year apart). </p>
<p>If I am understanding FAFSA / CSS Profile correctly, next year our EFC will be split evenly between my 2 kids and if that is the case, we may qualify for some aid at USC in years 2,3 and 4. </p>
<p>If this is accurate, we may be willing to buck up and pay the tuition for the first year, provided we will be receiving aid for the next 3. </p>
<p>Does anyone know if this is indeed how FAFSA works??? I am trying to figure out our cost over 4 years at USC with some FAFSA help vs the cost at a Public University for 4 to 5 years without any aid..... </p>
<p>my gf transferred to USC after freshman year and had to pay almost full cost. the next year her sister came to USC and together they paid about the amount it would cost for 1.5 students to attend, rather than 2 students. </p>
<p>this is just anecdotal evidence and your situation may be different, but it’s something i’ve seen USC do.</p>
SWILL2011, as josebiwasabi mentioned, the EFC isn’t quite “evenly” split. Each student will have their own self-help portion, which at USC may consist of summer earnings of ~$3,000, Stafford subs and unsubs of $5,500 freshman year, $6,500 soph, and $7,500 each jr. and sr. years, and possibly federal work/study of $2,000 - $3,000. USC will also consider the costs of the insitution the other student attends - an in-state public costing far less than USC would leave more funds available for the USC student, for example.</p>
<p>For many families, having two or more students in college at the same time is a great advantage because the EFC is spread amongst the students - so much of an advantage that some families consider a “gap” year for the older student when they are only a year apart. You can get an idea of how your EFC will be affected by using the FAFSA 4-caster and the calculators availble at the College Board site - be sure to use “Institutional Method” at College board - and enter “2” students in college. </p>
<p>We submitted the FAFSa with estimated amounts. USC has asked for our daughters (the students) tax return, so we went ahead and completed hers (since its easier than ours).<br>
We will be faxing her info into USC today.</p>
<p>They haven’t asked for ours yet (which I thought was odd). We plan on getting that done within the next few weeks. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if we should update FAFSA with the actual student info now, and then do it again once we’ve completed our return - or wait to update both until we’ve completed our tax returns? Can you update FAFSA multiple times?</p>
<p>All financial aid applicants must submit both student and parent tax returns, so if they neglected to send a request be sure to FAX them in anyway - USC won’t put your package together until they get the tax returns.</p>
<p>The due date is March 2nd for parent and student tax returns [USC</a> Financial Aid - Applying & Receiving Financial Aid - Undergraduate - New Students](<a href=“http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates2/newstudents.html]USC”>http://www.usc.edu/admission/fa/applying_receiving/undergraduates2/newstudents.html) , though in the past when applicants contacted USC saying the taxes would not be filed by then, USC responded by saying “Please submit them as soon as possible thereafter,” so it should not be a problem to submit them in mid-March. If they are submitted later than mid-March it is possible your package will be presented a bit later than the others, but there should be no reduction in aid - so don’t panic about the March 2nd date.</p>
<p>Yes, you can make multiple corrections to your FAFSA, and I recommend you go ahead and do the current corrections now - you don’t want any discrepancies to raise red flags in the meantime - and then do another correction when you file your taxes.</p>
<p>I would make this suggestion to all parents (and to students to tell their parents), when you have students in college or about to attend college for the first time and know you will be filing for financial aid, to immediately start working on all tax returns as soon as possible (preferrably in mid January). As W-2 forms come in (all W-2 forms and 1099 forms should be received by first week in February), make necessary changes. I always fill out the tax returns in mid-jan (using year to date from last paychecks from previous year). By Feb 5 my returns are ready to be filed. Even if you owe money you can file in Feb and send in the money in April (by April 15).</p>
<p>It’s harder for some of us who are self employed, and do our own taxes. Our tax returns involve first completing all of our business financial statements before we can do our personal return. We’re usually done by early March but its a long, slow, painful process.</p>
<p>Meditrina,
Filing all those tax returns is not a pleasure for anyone. I do not know of any university that gives substantial aid without some sort of necessary forms. Many SC students receive packages worth thousands of dollars. </p>
<pre><code>The university does consider special circumstances. If this pertains to you send a letter of explanation along with your financial aid application.
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<pre><code> I just did a quick search on the internet for total cost of colleges/universities for the 2010-2011 year. The list was compiled using the costs posted on each college website. Sarah Lawrence was the most expensive. Others costing more than SC were Bard, GWU, Connecticut College, Scripps and others. On the list for total cost was SC at 39th.
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