Since I am approaching my junior year in high school, I’ve been thinking about post-secondary more frequently. One of my biggest concerns with college-choosing is costs. However, I still want to get into the best school I can get into. So my question is when does the whole “this is how much money we’ll give you” process happen? Do I apply for financial aid at the same time as I apply to the school? Do I get the information with the acceptance letter? Do I apply for it afterwards, and if so, do I need to lock into that college as my final decision to find out how much aid I’ll receive? I’m an American citizen but I go to a Canadian high school so I have little knowledge on the specific process.
You should apply for financial aid around the same time you apply to schools. Some merit scholarships may require early submission, etc.
You apply for federal aid when the FAFSA opens.
Depending on the schools, you may also have to send the CSS Profile for need-based scholarships. This information should be on the Financial Aid sections of their websites.
You do not have to choose a college to see what FA package they will give you.
Usually, the only aid included in an acceptance letter is merit aid.
Once I get accepted, do they give a FA package specific to my situation or do they give me a package depending on which of their pre-determined models I fit in?
You get a FA package specific to your situation, as determined by your FAFSA EFC, stats, possibly the CSS Profile, and whether the college meets need.
And I should apply to FAFSA and EFC before I apply? If so how long before, and what is the process of applying? What is my CSS profile? And the main question is when and how DO I get the said FA package specific to my situation.
You should apply for FAFSA as soon as possible. The FAFSA for 2019-2020 opens on October 1st. When you complete your FAFSA, you get your Estimated Family Contribution (EFC) which gives you an idea of how much your family is expected to pay per year. The EFC usually comes within a day or two.
The FAFSA process is detailed on fafsa.ed.gov.
The CSS Profile is used by some colleges, but not all, to determine need-based gift aid.
You’ll get your FA package from each school after you are accepted. You will receive each package before it’s time to pick a school.
So how do some schools give more aid than others if I have a constant FAFSA/EFC? Because I’ve done estimated cost calculators for schools like Princeton or John Hopkins and they are much lower than schools like University of Chicago or Columbia. Also, are you saying even though I’m going to grade 11 I should apply for FAFSA now?
No. You apply to FAFSA the same year you apply to colleges, so wait until 12th grade.
Some schools give more aid because some schools meet need while others don’t. They aren’t obligated to abide by the FAFSA.
Also, it might depend on your stats, esp. merit-based scholarships.
Not necessarily. There are plenty of schools that provide details of a complete need-based aid package at the time of acceptance.
Maybe; maybe not. There are a host of reasons why it may be a good idea to delay submitting FAFSA.
The bottom line is, it all depends on the schools being applied to and the individual circumstances of the applicant.
Most top colleges do not award any merit aid, it is all need based.
Most schools don’t meet need. Only 85 out of 3700 do. The 4 schools you listed are examples of “meet need schools” meaning most other schools would be more expensive - run the NPC for UVermont and UCLA for instance. These don’t meet need and UCLA offers no financial aid to non Californians.
Then, even meet need schools calculate differentky, in particular for the way they acfount for home equity and assets.
Why is aid different from college to college…when your FAFSA EFC is the same?
- Most colleges using JUST the FAFSA to determine need based aid awards do NOT meet full need for all. They can give you any amount of aid they choose to give you.
- Some colleges have much deeper pockets than others. They award higher institutional aid (school money).
- Some schools use the CSS Profile which looks in much more detail at your family finances than the FAFSA.
I would suggest…
- Have a chat with your parents. Find out how much they can and will contribute each year towards your college expenses.
- You are a rising junior in HS. You need to get THE best grades possible. In addition, you might want to do some test prep for the PSAT which you will take in October.
- You will also likely want to take the SAT near the end of your junior year. Prep for that too....and do well.
Having a strong GPA and test scores can open up the doors to merit aid at some schools.
And lastly, the FAFSA and Profile for your first year in college will open on October 1 of your senior year. Unless there is a good reason, you probably want to file as close to that date as possible. A good reason to wait is if your family sold a house and has all the profit in the bank…but will be closing on a new house and using that money as the down payment…for example. If that were the case, you would want to wait until after the money is out of their bank accounts.
Each college and university has a link to its Net Price Calculator on its website. Sit down with uour parents and run a few of them to get a general notion of which places might be workable.
I see. So basically, my need will be the same depending on my FAFSA and EFC but some schools provide different amounts because they don’t need to fulfil all of it. Once I get accepted, I may get the details of my FA package. If not, do I contact the school to see how much they’ll give me? And if so, I don’t need to finalize my decision to see how much need they’ll cover, right?
Exact. You should run the net price calculator on all colleges you’re considering.
You’ll get your award/package with your decision and you’ll have till May 1 to decide.
If you apply EA or ED you’ll know around December. If you apply before scholarship deadlines (typically October 15-Dec 1 senior year) you hear back within 2 months. If you apply RD you’ll typically hear in March.
@Superpatel101 re:#13 not exactly…the schools that meet full need all have their own formulas for calculating need. Some include home equity and some don’t, etc. Duke will meet 100% of what the Duke formula says is your need; Princeton will meet 100% of what the Princeton formula says is your need. Those will be very different numbers even though both are claiming to meet full need. Schools will use the numbers on the FAFSA and CSS to calculate your need using their own institutional formulas.
Oh, I see. But their definition of “need” will be available for me to see, right? Whether I need to calculate it on their website, they show me in the acceptance, or I contact them myself—I’ll be able to figure out how much they’ll cover before I give a final decision right? And @MYOS1634 , is there a difference in the date when I need to decide for EA, ED, or RD? Or is it for all college decisions, the final time is May 1st?
EA and RD = you need to pick one by May 1st or earlier. You’ll have decisions and financial aid packages by then.
ED is different - by signing the ED contract you indicate to the college that it’s your #1 and will attend if they admit you. Your only “out” is if your financial aid package isn’t sufficient. You must answer quickly (usually in December).
@Superpatel101 yes. You can fill out the net price calculators now for an estimate. But you’ll get a complete answer from the financial aid office if you’re admitted.
@Superpatel101 When my D was applying to colleges a couple of years ago, I put together a spreadsheet listing all the schools she’d applied to. Some of the fields were the application deadlines for EA, RD (she didn’t have an ED school) and a checkbox to make sure she’d applied to all by the correct dates, the admission decision date, admit or deny/result, sticker cost of attendance, total FA offered excluding loans (which she was notified of at different times - some in the summer before her senior year and the last one mid-April senior year), then net cost of attendance to her. Then, when all was said and done, we could look at the results and make the decision. Some of the other important things to track are whether transcripts, letters of recommendation, SAT/ACT scores, FAFSA/CSS info have been submitted to the schools on your list by the required dates. Each college’s website should give you all the deadlines for everything.
A lot of other families do this too. The process can be a little overwhelming.