<p><strong>Hey guys... i posted this in one of the stickied threads, but i guess those don't get much attention so here it goes again.. sry for the repost</strong></p>
<p>So i will be applying to quite a few schools this fall/spring. Some schools, such as MIT, explicitly state:</p>
<p>If your parents' 2007 federal income return is not available by our February 15, 2008 financial aid deadline, submit your parents' 2006 federal income tax return, including all schedules and W-2s, directly to Student Financial Services by February 15, 2008 and submit the 2007 federal income tax return, schedules and W-2s through IDOC as soon as they become available. MIT</a> - Student Financial Services</p>
<p>Yes, that info is a year old, but i have to assume that MIT will have the same policy for this coming application season. However, I am not sure if it is safe to assume that this policy applies to ALL colleges out there. Are there any schools that will not accept estimates even when their February deadlines make getting all of the 2009 tax info on time impossible? If so, what does one do in that scenario?</p>
<p>To give one other school's perspective, CMU sent me a brochure that explained the reason for their deadline is that students are allowed to submit their 2009 tax info later than Feb 15th, but by doing so they risk not having an aid decision before the May 1st deadline to commit. While that is not an ideal situation, it is at least better than being barred from recieving FinAid alltogether simply for not being able to meet an impossible deadline</p>
<p>It's a DEADLINE. Do what they tell you to do. Don't miss the DEADLINE. They post these deadlines for a reason. They want the requested information by that time. The year you are applying as a freshman is NOT the year to delay doing tax returns. You and your family should get these completed as soon as possible after February 1 (unless you have a business or are self employed, you should have all your info from your employers and banks by then). </p>
<p>CMU summed it up well. Do you really want to risk not having aid decisions by the time you MUST make a decision on which college to go to? </p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that some schools have limited funds and their money goes on a first come first served basis. Also, for things like Perkins loans, there is not a bottomless pit of money. </p>
<p>Deadlines are (in my opinion) one of the most important things college applicants and their parents should adhere to. Don't miss deadlines.</p>
<p>I took the information from his blog, had it enlarged where it hangs in my office for all of my students to see because the information can be transferrable to any college.</p>
<h1>49. Do not miss deadlines! Not for the CSS profile or any part of the application.</h1>
<h1>50. In that vein, don't wait until October 31 (early) or december 31st (regular) to apply, especially if you plan to apply on line. If the server is down for some reason, you're screwed.</h1>
<p>Alright, well my point was not that I would SKIP the deadline, but rather that I would turn in the info with estimates before the deadline. The main problem is that my parents keep telling me that it is not their fault for being late, but rather our accountant and the companies that take their time mailing necessary info (i actually have no clue about what goes on in the taxpaying process... but according to my parents there is stuff that slowly trickles in through the mail that they need to report).</p>
<p>So i guess this may be a unique type of problem, but if my parents are correct about having no control over being able to file that early, where should i go from there?</p>
<p>You certainly can complete the finaid forms using estimates. In fact for the FAFSA there is a place to indicate "will file" for those who haven't yet filed. BUT be aware...your estimated FAFSA and Profile will get you an ESTIMATED financial aid award pending the finalization of your FAFSA and Profile using the correct data from your 2008 taxes. We used estimates for priority finaid applications for DD for two EA schools. We were able to finalize by the beginning of March. In one case the financial aid award was reduced by $4000. In the second case, it wasn't reduced at all. </p>
<p>Your family needs to know that the timeliness of completing this is very important this year. You run the risk of not knowing your final financial aid award if you delay and delay completing your 2008 taxes. What will happen if your award is reduced by thousands of dollars? Wouldn't it be better to know before May 1?</p>
<p>We were also a family that typically completed taxes at the last minute...but when we realized it could jeopardize financial aid for our kids, WE took the bull by the horns...got the info we needed and made a VERY early appointment (for us) with our accountant.</p>
<p>Since your parents are suppose to have W-2 forms, interest statements etc by jan. 31, I agree with thumper that they need to push back to whoever they need to push back to and make the earliest appointments with the accountant to get their taxes done especially for this your freshman year (at some schools, the deadline is moved back for returning students). </p>
<p>Even at schools with deep pockets, there are budgets and at schools that do nto have no loan options, you could end up with more loans, work study as all of the "free $" has already been allocated. </p>
<p>Thumper raises and excellent point , some colleges will not give you a FA package until all of your paperwork is turnted in.
Also, if you find your self in need of getting a financial review (to meet another school's FA package or to improve the package you already have, it would be very hard to do without the tax documentation).</p>
<p>There are some people who just cannot file their tax return by Feb 1 because they need K-1's to do so and those are typically received in March. I would suggest that you have your accountant prepare a preliminary return as soon as you can with an estimate for the K-1's. If your accountant is not willing to do that, find one that will. At least your estimate will be as close as possible to the real numbers. Then file as soon as you can.</p>