Well…you first have to submit the FAFSA. For the 2018-2019 academic year, your parents need their 2016 taxes. Are you saying they are a year late filing those?
Apply to the college…and get the FAFSA done. Then once you are accepted to the college, you should,get a financial aid award as well…but that all depends on your financial aid application being submitted in a TIMELY fashion.
Once you submit that FAFSA, keep a very close eye on your student portal, and your email…and spam folder. Watch for any verification requests you might receive. IF you are selected for verification…that’s where it will be.
When are your parents planning to get their 2016 taxes done? You will have to wait for a few weeks after that to link their taxes from the IRS Data Retrieval tool to the FAFSA.
If they can’t link to the DRT, they will need to request a tax transcript. The college will want either the DRT or the tax transcript to make sure the info on your FAFSA is correct.
So…when will you know? Well…since you haven’t even started…it’s going to be a while!!