<p>My fafsa tip- We submitted using estimated numbers on 1/1. We got an email confirming it was processed. Last week we were able to correct using our actual (rather than estimated) numbers. We kept waiting for an email confirmation and nothing was sent. I called the fafsa customer service number and discovered that it was processed in "real time" and that by the next business day if I needed make another correction I could do that. I did NOT need to wait for email confirmation. I went back and reread the fafsa info that was able print out after my correction. Right on the top of the page it told me that it was processed! Sometimes corrections are processed in "real time". They told me it would just depend upon what changes you made that will determine this. </p>
<p>Fafsa and profile question-Do any of you call around and check with each individual financial aid office for each school your child is applying to and ensure that they have all of your information including corrections to the fafsa, and/or the profile, and any individual supplements? I just spent an entire morning making corrections and I'd like to make sure that they are considered before a package is completed!!!</p>
<p>I never called to see if my “corrections” were received. BUT I know they were…for DD anyway. She was accepted EA at some schools and received an estimated financial aid package based on a priority filing date for the Profile. When we completed our taxes and amended the Profile and FAFSA…she got AMENDED financial aid packages as well…one school reduced her grant aid by $6000. The other two didn’t change it one nickel. Go figure. But they all sent finalized awards.</p>
<p>Well that 6k change is what I am trying to avoid! My son has several EA schools, but has only gotten an early package from one school. We sent our Profile to 5 schools in November and we just sent the corrections off today.
We also just made our fafsa corrections. Our corrections have lowered our EFC so I want to make sure that our package is based upon the real numbers and not the estimates!</p>
<p>northeastmom…believe me…we didn’t WANT that $6k change. You really must file those corrections, however, and indicate that your taxes have been filed. Once you do that, your financial aid packages will also be finalized. Anything done with a “will file” status will be an ESTIMATE. And yes…sometimes the packages are reduced in amount. Just for the record…our EFC only increased by $2000 and our EFC was still far less than the cost of attendance at the school…it’s not like that $2000 closed the “gap”…it didn’t…the school that reduced DD’s aid did not guarantee to meet full need. When she went for admitted students day, she went to talk to that finaid department and the not so politely said “WE DO NOT DISCUSS OUR FINAID OFFERS”. Guess what…she didn’t choose that school. The other schools didn’t touch her estimated package.</p>
<p>Is there any way to make CSS Profile corrections? I’ve ammended my FAFSA, but now some figures are off compared to what I had in my Profile. Will they just go with what the FAFSA says?</p>
<p>Arzachel, you are supposed to make paper corrections for the Profile and send those paper corrections to the schools that use the Profile. At least this is what I did.</p>
<p>Thumper, our EFC went down, so I do not want them looking at the higher EFC that was based on estimates, and ignoring the correct numbers.</p>
<p>northeastmom, so I just print out the PROFILE, make corrections with pen, and mail it in? Should I include a letter explaining that these are corrections based on the actual tax info?</p>
<p>What if I submitted the estimate profile in November and said we would use a 1040 form, but instead used a 1040A form. Will it still be okay, if though some of the boxes may not match?</p>
<p>yosup, that is what I did. It can’t hurt to write a letter to go with it. I did.</p>
<p>I don’t know about the difference in forms and corrections. If you have questions, I would suggest contacting the Profile school’s financial aid office and asking them just to be sure that you are doing it correctly.</p>
<p>yosup…and others. Contact your schools and find out how THEY want the Profile to be updated. Some will tell you to send them the paper copy with corrections written on. Others might have different protocol. If your college participates in IDOC, for example, they may not want you to do anything. CALL THE SCHOOL AND ASK what to do. If they tell you to do a paper correction, also get the name, title, and address of the person where you should send the corrected form.</p>
<p>A few schools do use IDOC, but you should be notified. From the collegeboard:</p>
<p>"Before IDOC Processing Begins - If the student submits a PROFILE application between PROFILE start-up and IDOC start-up (approximately October 1 to February 1), he will receive a message on his PROFILE Acknowledgment and submission email that tells him which colleges will be requesting information via IDOC and that the College Board will send an IDOC notification in early February. </p>
<p>Then, in early February, he will be sent an IDOC notification email with his IDOC ID and information about how to access the IDOC website. Because the student will receive his IDOC ID through this email, it is crucial that the student receive this notification. Therefore, if the email bounces back we will notify that student via paper (U.S. mail)."</p>
<p>I know that this varies from school to school, but does anyone have ANY RECENTLY UPDATED list of universities that ONLY require FAFSA (No CSS, etc.)? I realize that the individual sites need to be checked for confirmation, but we are just looking for a starting point. Thanks!</p>
<p>It would be easier to go to college board and see which schools do require CSS and figure out those that don’t by a process of elimination. Only about 300 out of something like 3,000 schools require it.</p>
<p>Since there are far fewer schools that use Profile, it would be easier to just check the College Board site for the list of Profile schools. The individual school profiles on their site also list the FA forms the school requires.</p>
<p>Also some schools do not use CSS Profile BUT have their own financial aid application forms which do ask “Profile Like” questions: home equity, names & ages of other dependent children etc.</p>