<p>Alright, I know that most places have preferred deadlines and that they'll still accept Financial Aid applications after those deadlines, but it seems like Penn might have a hard deadline that will screw me over. It seems the final deadline is Feb 27; do you think I can still get stuff in and have them consider my application?</p>
<p>(I've been really behind on most of the financial aid process...I wish I had known more earlier.)</p>
<p>Deadlines mean something. It’s time for you to realize that.</p>
<p>It seems you might be screwed. But what do we know? Why don’t you call Penn FA this morning and report back what they say here. They may have an extreme cases exception, like if you couldn’t file because you were in a coma, or kidnapped, or close to inventing a cure for cancer.</p>
<p>Even if you are scr**ed, the sooner you submit, the less scr##ed you will be. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.</p>
<p>franglish is correct, but these deadlines are often soft. When called, schools usually say to get the stuff in ASAP. There does come a time when it’s indeed too late; maybe Feb. 27 was it. But don’t ask us, ask the school!</p>
<p>C’est vrai; I should have been on top of this. I accept that it’s my fault completely. Anyways, I think I’ll send in the appropriate forms and see what happens. I’ll also call Penn tomorrow and see what they say. I’ll post here later with an update.</p>
<p>Hey. So i’m in a similar situation missing the Penn deadline and everything. My other schools though that I missed deadlines for said to get things in asap, so you might still be ok.</p>
<p>Best of Luck, I feel for you</p>
<p>Just get it in as fast as you can. We (large state school) have a deadline - but we certainly accept things past the deadline. However, we may not actually process your file if you are after the deadline. We look first at those who finish their files by the deadline, THEN at the others. That may well mean your aid would not be ready by the beginning of school. Every school is different.</p>
<p>Alright, I guess the underlying message is “turn in your forms ASAP and things are likely to be okay…but remember deadlines in the future.” I can live with that.</p>
<p>Thanks to all (and mcgmfc, we need to stop missing deadlines! 
thx though and good luck to you, too), I’ll post the official word tomorrow.</p>
<p>Penn says that I should get the forms in as soon as possible, but that it’s totally fine and I’m not in any danger in regards to receipt of aid or anything. Whew! This should teach me to be more careful in the future.</p>
<p>I submitted my finaid late to Penn…but I got rejected from Penn LOL…</p>
<p>anyhow, to the tools on here talking about how college kids need to be on top of their deadlines, get a clue. You don’t know the individual circumstances of the person on why they met the deadline. Secondly, the purpose of financial aid is to assist students who might not otherwise be able to attend college…the purpose is NOT to teach people about “responsibility” and “meeting deadlines”.</p>
<p>Every single one of you on here has missed a deadline in the past, be it big or small…so shut your mouth and keep it reasonable: in this tough economy, students need financial aid and the role of an institution is to assist them if possible, no matter how late they applied.</p>
<p>good luck, sumzup</p>
<p>//Secondly, the purpose of financial aid is to assist students who might not otherwise be able to attend college…the purpose is NOT to teach people about “responsibility” and “meeting deadlines”.//</p>
<p>I have to disagree with this statement. Once you finish school, you’ll be expected to be responsible for all kinds of deadlines: job deadlines, rent payments, insurance, etc. The consequences of not meeting those deadlines are generally stiffer than the consequences of not meeting a college’s deadlines. Part of your college education is learning, <em>in a slightly more forgiving environment</em>, how to meet deadlines. In college, if you miss a deadline, you might not get the specific class/scholarship you want, but you’re probably not going to get thrown out of school. After college, if you miss your rent deadline you can get evicted, and if you miss a job deadline you can get fired.</p>
<p>If your college has a zero-tolerance policy on missing deadlines (i.e. no appeals CONSIDERED for special circumstances–if they consider your appeal but don’t grant it, that’s not zero-tolerance), they’re being (in my professional opinion) unreasonably strict. </p>
<p>When you were learning to ride a bike, and first rode it without training wheels, did you have a parent or someone walking along next to you to catch you if you wiped out? That’s what meeting deadlines in college is supposed to be like. We (the staff) can’t ignore the deadlines, the same way your parent can’t make gravity go away 
but if you start to fall we should be prepared to catch you before you break something.</p>
<p>Get a clue, folks. There is only so much financial aid to go around. If you have demonstrated need, you might miss out if you miss the deadline … period. The cutoff has to be established in order to be able to effectively distribute aid. You <em>could</em> still get some or all of the aid if you file late - but you might not - and if you really need the aid, then you need to get your act together & do what is necessary. In addition, aid offices have a lot of processing work to do. In order to be fair to those who filed on time - that is, in order to make sure those folks on top of the deadlines get taken care of in a timely manner - aid offices may put the late filers on the back burner while they take care of the on-time students. That is how life works.</p>
<p>So go ahead and be late, if that’s the way it has to be. Just understand that there may be consequences involved.</p>
<p>Thanks ns347, but the truth is that I should have been on top of it from the get-go. At the same time, I’m glad that the deadlines are relaxed…I’m sure there are many other people in my situation. choryphee is absolutely right.</p>
<p>choryphee, I don’t understand your point. A financial aid office is not the best way to teach people life lessons…perhaps if you were interested in learning more about red tape and bureaucracy, then yea it’s the right place to go. I agree, that in college you have to learn responsibility and meet deadlines…you have to do that in life in general. BUT, even if you miss deadlines in the real world, things dont happen instantly. If you miss a deadline, you will not be fired after your first mess-up. If you miss a house payment, you will NOT get evicted immediately…</p>
<p>don’t believe me? Look at the hundreds of thousands of americans struggling to pay their mortgages…the gov’t is giving everyone a nice hefty cushion.</p>
<p>so yes, meeting deadlines is something everyone should do, but just in case you miss it doesnt mean you need to be completely screwed over.</p>
<p>that’s like just waiting for people to fail and mess up so you can have a nice pathetic laugh</p>