Hey all,
I’m new to all this with my first son going to college next year. We just put in for early decision and filled the CSS-profile and the FAFSA stuff on the net.
I was curious how we see what the results of each will be. The early decision was for one school and if he doesn’t get in we have 10 more schools listed in the css profile and fafsa to register during regular-decision.
Net price calculator doesn’t seem very accurate when trying slightly different numbers.
How and when do we find out about the results of the fin-aid/css for the early decision.
Also, how and when do we find out about the results of the fin-aid/css for the regular decisions.
For FAFSA, you were able to ‘see’ the EFC when you completed the form. On the final page, there is a summary of what you ‘might’ be receiving as a Pell grant (if your EFC was over ~$5500, he won’t receive one) and that he’s eligible for $5500 in loans, some of which might be subsidized.
For the CSS, each school determines what aid it will give you, so you will never receive ‘a’ number. Most schools send financial aid awards shortly after offers of admissions are sent. If the EA school accepts him, you may receive information about merit of financial aid before the deadline for the other 10 schools, or you may not. Up to the schools.
If you are in need of significant aid and the ED school does not meet full need, it was a mistake to apply ED.
For the ED school you should recieve the FA package with or soon after the acceptance. At least that is how it worked for us and it makes sense that should be the case since you need to see it before you put your deposit down. We had a couple weeks to put our deposit down and withdraw other applications.
For EA and RD schools it was more varied. Some accepted right away but took some time for the FA package, others came together or near the same time.