<p>This is due tomorrow due to applying ED (yes, we did let her apply in the end). The university assures us they will redo the financial aid after Jan 1 when we file the the real tax info from 2013. However, in the meantime, they say we need to file the css profile with the 2012 tax info. Because our income was so unusual for 2012, I do not want to do that. I am not really seeing the point also. I see that I am being told to send copies of the tax return, which I am having a hard time retrieving and it will take time to order a copy from the IRS. I do have all forms such as w-2's. </p>
<p>Would it be bad to just click submit and not put in the 2012 information? They say that for regular decision, it won't be needed. And that in order for the financial aid package to be final, we have to redo it anyway, and 2012 won't be used. It would seem to me that this is only for an estimate and not the real thing.</p>
<p>AND, I don't really want to call them again to ask. Every time I call with a question, I get a different answer. I have asked them 3 times about their need for the 2012 information and I get a different answer. One time they said ED applicants will have their financial aid based on 2012 for the 2014-2015 school year while RD will be based on 2013, and it won't be changed when the new year happens. Another time they said it is figured based on the average of 2012 and 2013, and won't change when the new year happens. Another time they said it was just an estimate and the real financial aid package will only happen after the paper work is filed with the 2013 information and the 2012 won't matter.</p>
<p>Rule #1: If you need financial aid, don’t apply ED.
Rule #2: if you want financial aid, give them all the paperwork they want, and do it ahead of any deadlines they set. </p>
<p>If you don’t provide the info they are asking, they won’t write an award: they will just treat the financial aid file as incomplete and no one will even look at it until they have all info. (If you’re lucky they will send you nag letters about what’s missing.)</p>
<p>If your daughter is accepted ED and you haven’t provided the info to allow a tentative award to be written, then your daughter will have to decide whether to attend that college without any financial aid in hand.</p>
<p>Look at it from the schools pov.
An applicant is applying ED, which generally is reserved for those students who either wont need aid, or can accept having to say the school is their first choice, but then declining if they cant afford it.</p>
<p>Both the applicant and the school want a rough estimate of what aid will be needed- as accurate as possible actually.
But applicant doesn’t want to give the school solid numbers from last year, saying that they were unusual.
So why apply ED? It sounds like aid will be needed and you aren’t going to get their best offer by applying Ed.
( & you really don’t have a hard copy of the taxes you filed earlier this year?)</p>
<p>I believe the PROFILE will allow you to put anything in that you want to. BUT this school specifically TOLD you to use the 2012 figures. There IS a spot on the profile where you estimate 2013 income, and another place where you can explain any special financial situations such as your inflated income for 2012. Keep on mind, however, that the college could well believe that some of that inflated income SHOULD have been put aside for college expenses…and especially for this ED candidate.</p>
<p>NOTE TO OTHERS: when you complete your taxes, either print out a hard copy immediately for yourself, or save in a very safe place so you can print it out in the future. If a tax preparer does your taxes, simply ASK them for a copy. You should have that for your records anyway.</p>
<p>It will take a week to 10 days from submission for this Profile to be ready for your ED college.</p>
<p>Honestly, I think you should change the application to regular decision. It is NOT too late to do that. From what you wrote in past threads, it sounds like this school averages years of income for determining financial need. </p>
<p>And the very significant reality is…the financial aid package you GET is the one you will be using to decide whether the student accepts the ED offer…or not. It is VERY unlikely that you will have until your 2013 taxes are completed and submitted to make this decision. The window for accepting an ED offer is VERY small (because they EXPECT you to say yes quickly). You will be lucky to have two weeks once the ED acceptance is received. And it’s even more unlikely that you will have a finalized financial aid package.</p>
<p>Seriously…not too late to change to RD. why did you let her apply ED given the situation financially??</p>
<p>Yes, if I recall there was a spot to write about anything unusual in the Profile - so the OP could talk about the influx was in 2012 and what the money was used for (presuming it’s no longer available). The OP should be able to get a pdf of the tax forms from whomever prepared the 1040 if the OP didn’t keep a copy. It would be senseless NOT to file as the college asks, because then the OP and family would have no idea what the costs might be and could potentially be accepting an ED offer that they simply can’t afford. At lease with the correct paperwork filed, the offer should tilt more toward a worse case scenario (since AGI was higher in 2012). But if money is tight and financial aid is important, the whole thing feels risky to me. YMMV.</p>
<p>"… the real financial aid package will only happen after the paper work is filed with the 2013 information and the 2012 won’t matter."</p>
<p>This part is ultimately correct. If you’re satisfied that the Net Price Calculator currently accurately reflects what will be your final 2013 finances, you could go with that, disregarding the initial estimate based on inaccurate numbers, but it’s a bit risky. Generally, greatly varing income is a problem for predicting aid, whether at initial ED or year-to-year RD.</p>
<p>If the school wants your child to attend but you don’t submit what they need for processing, you may get a deferral to RD.</p>
<p>Most schools process the financial aid applications separate from admissions, so it is unlikely that an incomplete financial aid package would have bearing on the ED decision-- the ad com assumes that the ED applicant who truly wants or needs financial aid will be proactive about getting their paperwork in on time. </p>
<p>So I think it is far more likely that that the OP will find herself in the uncomfortable position of her daughter being accepted ED, but no financial aid award in hand.</p>
<p>^ Sure, but note that when a school accepts an ED applicant who needs financial aid, the school really, really wants the student to attend, so then it’s time to talk to the school to try to find a solution. There are typically a few weeks before the ED decision deadline.</p>
<p>Apply RD. If you apply ED with an inaccurate representation of your finances, then send your 2013 tax returns for what you would “need”, the school’s finances, which budgeted x amount for you, may not have amount z.</p>
<p>That rule is antiquated and hardly applicable today. There is a WHOLE cohort of applicants who will benefit tremendously from applying ED despite needing PLENTY of financial aid. Who? Anyone with an EFC that is close to zero. If you have some doubt about this, take a look at the statistics of Questbrigde. Even the imperfect and incomplete released data will point in the right direction. </p>
<p>That rules that applies mostly to people who will WANT to compare financial aid packages, and perhaps weigh the alternatives after scoring some merit aid is not for everyone. Same comment applies to people with UNCLEAR financial status with different scenarios arising because of variable income, divorces, custody arrangements, discrepancies between income and assets. Name it! Accordingly posting such far-reaching commentary is simply … wrong, especially without plenty of caveats. </p>
<p>Further, things have CHANGED since the person posting the comments shepherded her kids through the financial aid arcane web. One large change came from the apparently innocuous statement added to the Common Application. This text took all the (potential) bite out of the ED application. Simply stated, if the package that HAS to be included with the offer is seen as insufficient by the APPLICANT, he or she can walk away. Right then and right there that is, and that means December to January. Some have even pushed the envelope to start a protracted “negotiation” with the schools in an attempt to drag it until May. An obvious and unacceptable ploy. </p>
<p>In the end, for applicants with clear financial picture and especially low to zero EFC, the decision to apply ED might very well be a wise one, and this contrary to the posted overly simplistic and untimely statement.</p>
<p>Last but not least, it should be noted that all the discussions about “comparing financial packages” really apply to the FRESHMAN year, and plenty of people make the mistake of multiplying the first year numbers by four, or a few more in the case of public schools. Such position is a LOT more dangerous that the “bite” of the ED. Simply stated, your package is only a one year deal, and all the subsequent years will constitute a brand new game.</p>
<p>Simply not true, xiggi. Even for families with “zero to low EFC," financial aid packages can vary dramatically - they may or may not include loans; they may or may not include study abroad and/or interim programs, special program fees, and student health insurance, among other costs; and the expected student contribution can also cover a wide range. Only some of these costs can be predicted ahead of time.</p>
<p>And, as has been noted in this forum so often before, it’s all well and good to say you can reject an ED offer if the financial aid isn’t sufficient . . . but, given all the factors noted above, as well as the multiple variables in each family’s personal financial situation, it’s rarely that clear cut. And what looks like a good enough offer in December may pale in comparison to offers that would have come in April - and vice versa.</p>
<p>For a family that thoroughly understands all the risks and variables, ED may be a worthwhile gamble. But, as we’ve seen here time and time again, few families have such a thorough understanding.</p>
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<p>Now you’re talking about bait and switch and, although we’ve heard such complaints in this forum, they tend to be few and far between. Yes, the student’s expected contribution will likely increase, but, absent a dramatic change in family finances, families can otherwise expect to receive comparable aid from one year to the next. Not identical, but comparable.</p>
So, you’re thinking that a poster who doesn’t want to include her family’s “unusual” 2012 income out of fear that it will limite financial aid has a 0 or near-0 EFC?</p>
<p>In this particular case…the issue is very important. The OP has more income in 2012 which will inflate her family contribution at a college that hopefully meets full need. She says that her 2013 income will be less, thus resulting in more need based aid. That is why she doesn’t want to report that 2012 income.</p>
<p>Reality check…the school has TOLD the OP to use the 2012 figures. The school has TOLD the OP to send in the 2012 tax return. For the ED acceptance…the financial aid award will like.y be based on these numbers. Since they are asking for the tax return also, if the numbers do not match, they are going to ask why.</p>
<p>This OP is banking on the real financial aid package…based on the 2013 income to be sufficient for her kid to attend. If I were a betting woman, I would bet that the OP is NOT going to have that financial aid package in time to make the decision about the ED acceptance. The only financial aid package they will have is the one based on the 2012 income and tax return.</p>
<p>If the OP were a low income every year person with no extenuating circumstances, I would say…sure…apply ED to schools that meet full need. But that is not the case here.</p>
<p>Also…the school can rightfully ask the OP why none of the 2012 windfall was earmarked for college costs…its not like this kid going to college was a surprise.</p>
<p>Totally different issues. At no time did I offer an opinion about the OP’s merit of applying ED. All I did is point out that your general statement was incorrect and utterly incomplete for many families. </p>
<p>Nope, it is indeed true, and that RULE is what is wrong. It requires mixing different elements to support the notion that one who needs financial aid should not apply ED. Again, take a look at the Questbridge program for plenty of examples that simply exemplify how utterly simplistic Calmom’s rule is. </p>
<p>The first one is the PROBLEM vs BENEFITS of applying ED. On this forum, we spent years arguing about the “binding” part of the ED contract. Check Vonlost posts (and perhaps mine) on this issue. Again, with the Common Application, it has become a clear cut issue. The applicant has the right to NOT accept the ED admissions by declaring the financial aid insufficient. </p>
<p>If that happens, what did the applicant lose? Aren’t you recommending as an alternative to apply only RD? So, the loss or losses are simply that the ED school will not come up with sufficient money, and unless one believes the school will magically be more generous in the RD round, there is no loss. Other loss would be another EA lost opportunity, but that again can be regained in the RD round after rejecting the ED offer. </p>
<p>As far as the packages being different in years 2-4, that is not bait and switch, but the reality that financial aid packages are based on formulae. If the income changes, so does the aid. While there are some subjective elements that can be addressed, it remains that almost all institutional NEED BASED aid is driven by well-established formulae, and that the officers are letting the “system” dictates what is offered. </p>
<p>For the record, part of my experience on this issue goes beyond my family’s personal situation. I had the chance to dig deep in the admissions and financial aid at a number of institutions that are known to be generous and highly selective in the early rounds. There was NO difference between the packages in the early or the regular rounds for similar EFC students. The schools applied rigorous and quasi universal formulae. </p>
<p>What we are discussing here is not if a school gives more or less than its competitors, but if they might be more generous in the RD rounds. The differences between schools for zero EFC students are also often publicized. The absence or presence of loans are not a nebulous and a FYEO affair.</p>
<p>Lastly, and to be clear, I think that deciding to apply ED should not be hasty decision, but one that is built on analyzing many elements, and many that are more important the basic financial aid. My point is that for some students it makes perfect sense, and this despite require massive amounts of financial aid. And, for the record, an unclear or unsettled financial picture is hardly a bonus in the ED round.</p>
<p>2014-2015 Profile asks for income in 2012, 2013 and 2014. You fill the same form during ED and RD. Does not matter if they see the 2012 return or not unless Profile 2012 numbers do not match the actual return.</p>
<p>CCDD is correct…same advice I gave the OP on the OTHER thread with the same questions. </p>
<p>The issue the OP has is that the school,has specifically asked for the 2012 numbers…and the 2012 tax return.</p>
<p>The odd thing to me…the profile asks for the 2012 income in one spot…but usually the numbers you put in the fields on the form are the GOOD estimates for 2013. Then you guestimate 2014. </p>
<p>According to the OP in this thread, the poster was told to put the 2012 numbers in the fields on the Profile. I’m wondering if she misunderstood.</p>