<p>I have heard that if you are applying to Lawrence University in Appleton and want all of the money, they should have your application before December 1st. Basically, they give out more money to those who have their application in before December 1st, even though their application deadline is January 15th. Is this true? And if it is, do other colleges do this? (Mainly Grinnell, Bowdoin, and Middlebury, the other three I am applying to.) I have not read this once anywhere in any of the information I have received from Lawrence. I wouldn't be pushing too hard thankfully because I was aiming to send them out around Thanksgiving or a little after, but I want to know if I have to stick with before Thanksgiving and work a little faster to make sure the schools have everything before the supposed deadline.</p>
<p>I seriously doubt that it’s true. But you can call them and ask. I know a student who was accepted off of the waitlist a few years ago at Middlebury, and she got a great financial aid package…in June. Seems to me, they didn’t run out of money.</p>
<p>Two years ago my D applied to Midd and was accepted with a great FA package. I know she sent in her app late in December to meet the RD deadline.</p>
<p>Kelly,
Lawrence’s deadline for need-based financial aid is March 15. You must have all of your financial aid paperwork in to them by that date. This year, I would suggest submitting your FAFSA and other paperwork as soon as possible after January 1 (the date that FAFSA starts taking applications for 2009-2010). This isn’t just for Lawrence, but for all schools.</p>
<p>Lawrence does offer a number of MERIT scholarships. In order to be considered for those, you must apply by the stated deadlines of the application program you’ve chosen. For Early Action, that deadline is December 1. For Regular Decision, it is January 15. All students who apply by the deadlines will be considered for merit scholarships.</p>
<p>If you check on the Lawrence financial aid homepage all of this is explained. My advice for all questions like this is not to rely on this or other boards for information - ALWAYS go directly to the source, the colleges themselves. That way, you will always have the correct information.</p>
<p>By the way, unless you have applied Early Decision, NO COLLEGE will require you to have ALL of your financial aid paperwork done by December 1 – that would be impossible since you can only submit FAFSA for 2009-2010 after January 1, 2009. Again, this year, it would be worthwhile to get everything done as soon as possible after January 1. It is true that at many schools, the earlier you get your financial aid application in after January 1, the more likely you will be to get the best financial aid package.</p>
<p>Some colleges have priority filing dates for students applying Early ACTION also. Ditto early decision. Most of these are Profile schools which will require that the Profile be filed by an early date for their early admittance application (whichever one it is). As stated…the BEST and most accurate source for these deadlines is the finaid office at each college. Look on their website, the info should be there. If not, give them a call.</p>
<p>Regardless…your FAFSA will have to be submitted ASAP after January 1, and both the FAFSA and Profile will need to be amended once you get your 2008 taxes completed. Any financial aid award you receive prior to putting in those final numbers from the 2008 taxes will be estimated. So…get your taxes done early this year too!!</p>