<p>So, on my common app, I checked the boxes that said, "Check box if you think you may qualify for financial aid". I checked the box and turned it in. Now what do I do? What are my next steps. Thanks!</p>
<p>Your next steps, if it hasn’t already been done, is to sit down with your parents and establish what they are prepared to pay from savings, current income and loans.</p>
<p>Even a school that meets 100% of need, will likely expect you to cover something, and most schools don’t meer need.</p>
<p>What schools are you considering?</p>
<p>This site as well as the links on this page may answer some of your questions.
<a href=“FAQs about Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;
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Check out the financial aid webpages of all the schools that you applied. Most schools would want you to file FAFSA first. See <a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/</a></p>
<p>Look at the finaid website for each school you are applying to and see what the school requires for finaid. Virtually all schools require FAFSA. In addition, many schools require either the CSS profile form from collegeboard or their own additional financial aid form. Check the deadlines for each school as to when the forms need to be submitted. The deadlines vary by school. The term financial aid generally refers to need-based aid. You should also check each school’s website for any scholarships(merit based aid) you may be eligible for based on GPA and SAT/ACT scores or other criteria and whether they require an additional application.</p>
<p>FAFSA for the 2015-2016 school year isn’t available to be filed until 1/1/15. Here’s the website:</p>
<p><a href=“http://fafsa.gov/”>Federal Student Aid;
<p>This FAQ post has a lot of good info about financial aid:</p>
<p><a href=“Financial aid FAQs - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums”>Financial aid FAQs - Financial Aid and Scholarships - College Confidential Forums;
<p>But as mentioned above, you need to know how much you and your parents can afford to contribute each year for college costs to know whether a particular school will turn out to be affordable.</p>
<p>@emeraldkity4 @4kidsdad Case Western, USC, U Michigan, Purdue, UIUC, Northwestern, bunch of UC’s, virgiia tech, and georgia tech. so all i need to do is fill out fafsa as of now right?</p>
<p>The UCs just need the FAFSA. Many other schools, particularly private schools, want an additional form called the CSS Profile. A few may have their own supplemental forms.</p>
<p>Have you run the net price calculators on each school’s web site to get estimates of what they may offer you?</p>
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For example, Case Western See <a href=“First-Year Students | Financial Aid | Case Western Reserve University”>http://case.edu/financialaid/undergraduate/apply/first-year-students/</a> Case Western would want you to file CSS Profile first and then follow by FAFSA. Pay attention to the deadlines.</p>
<p>No. You cannot fill out FAFSA for the school year beginning fall of 2015 until January 1, 2015 because that FAFSA isn’t even available until that date. </p>
<p>You should write down your list of schools and look up each school’s requirements for financial aid applications, taking special note of the deadlines, especially priority deadlines and absolute ones. As a general rule, it’s better to get you application and information in early rather than later because the goodies can run out fast. It can make the difference between getting grants vs self help (loans/work study) in some cases or even getting gapped.</p>
<p>Those schools that require PROFILE can often have those filled out earlier with estimated numbers. However, PROFILE schools also require FAFSA and will check their numbers against it and FAFSA often verifies its info against the actual 2014 tax return. </p>
<p>What you will need to fill out these forms: 1) Tax returns for 2014 or use 2013 ones with numbers upgraded with estimated for what differed in 2014. 2) Value of assets as of the day you fill out the forms. Make sure you don’t fill out the forms while big amounts are sitting in the accounts waiting to be paid out for, say a roof repair, since the assets are a snap shot of the day. If your parents own realestate or other non case assets, including their home, you need some estimate of value less any liens, mortgages, loans against the such assets for a net asset value. FAFSA exempts your primary home, most PROFILE schools do not. </p>
<p>As others have suggested, now is a time to run NPCs for the schools on your list. Should have done it sooner, to get some idea what each school will expect your family to pay, given income and asset figures. A lot of those OOS public schools are not likely to meet full need for you. SOme of them may well be unaffordable, and you may need to start looking for some schools that you KNOW your family can afford and that you KNOW will accept you. </p>
<p>Did you run the Net Price Calculators on each school’s web site? Right now you have some OOS public Us which will cost $50K/year to attend.</p>
<p>@"Erin’s Dad" @ucbalumnus i haven’t run the actual calculators, but my family and I know the average cost of attendance. we will run the calculators soon.</p>
<p>Average cost is irrelevant. You need to know the cost in your particular situation. Yes, run the NPCs soon. </p>
<p>Annoyingdad is absolutely correct. Bear in mind too that the average kid at a number of those schools will have in state costs and that COA will be lower than what it would be for an average OOSer which you will be… </p>
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Ideally, you should run the NPCs before you apply to schools.</p>