@psychmomma shhhhhhhhh…I’m not ready.
@bfahopeful yes we use 2015 tax information.
When the FAFSA becomes available you can choose “taxes already completed” and try to “link to the IRS”. It should hopefully bring over your 2015 tax return information.
Asset balances are reported as of the day FAFSA is submitted so current numbers.
When student first signs into FAFSA you can choose “FAFSA renewal” and some info should be there from last year.
Did anyone watch this?
Two low-income students tackle college.
http://www.pbs.org/pov/allthedifference/video/all-the-difference/
We will still have to fill out the form, but can hopefully link to the IRS to bring over the tax and income info. Some questions will need to be answered as of the date we fill it out and may be different than the year before.
For example:
Current balance of cash, checking and savings
Net worth of investments
Net worth of current business
How many in household
How many in household will be college students for 2017-2018 year
I’m sure there are more things that could have changed, too.
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/2017-18-fafsa-updates-students-parents.pdf
FAFSA question- why so early? I thought it didn’t open until the New Year.
This is the first year they it has moved to Oct @readingclaygirl
Oh okay @carolinamom2boys
@readingclaygirl they are changing the date for FAFSA to be available earlier (previous Oct instead of January) so hopefully aid information can also be provided earlier. But tax info from 2 years prior will be used now so actual tax info should be available instead of having to estimate. So this 2017/18 FAFSA will use 2015 tax info, same as the 2016/17 FAFSA.
I’m actually glad for that change. No more estimating and later updating.
Ohhhhh…So we do the FASFA with 2015 taxes and do not have to update it? And next year it’ll be 2016’s info? Why did I not get a memo from FAFSA? It’s not like I’m not in their system.
Found it: http://blog.ed.gov/2016/08/2-major-fafsa-changes-need-aware/
I’m back at college. The break was what I needed. Some good food and family time. I’m ready to tackle the weeks to come
While at first I was very sad to hear it, I have now settled into a positive opinion about my D16’s report that all her 1st-semester classes except one are retreads of her HS courses. As long as she stays engaged in all the courses, earns top grades (full-tuition scholarship and honors program maintenence), she’ll be OK. She can use her extra energy this semester for other activities, relationships, and development.
So, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.
@dyiu13 - has she checked the rest of syllabus? It is common to assume that the classes are retreads based on first few weeks of material because it reads and sounds familiar to those who have taken AP or higher level classes. OTOH, in many colleges you can even take 9th or 10th grade Math classes including the highest ranked colleges because they have core requirements and want to make it easy on the mathematically challenged. One could also repeat material because they are required classes in college and could not be waived which could be the case for your daughter’s classes.
If she has a full scholarship that is contingent on maintaining a GPA, it does not hurt to start off with max GPA the first semester to account for any hiccups later.
Agreed @dyiu13 Compared notes with other moms from our kids and many are reporting that the first 3-5 weeks have had a lot of review. We’ve all warned them not to get overconfident but we are all pleased that all the stretching in high school has hopefully given them a head start in college and a little breathing room to “Adult”
@dyiu13 I wholeheartedly agree to taking a positive spin re: the impression that the first few weeks of college are just a repeat of HS.
My daughter is reporting that her biology class (required for all science majors) is pretty basic and MUCH easier than the AP Bio class that she ended up dropping junior year (which is what I always suspected about AP classes - they can be more difficult than the intro college courses they are intended to replace). She has classes that are not difficult, but they are still new to her (wildlife ecology, visual arts, a natural resources seminar), and she’s enjoying her sustainability themed freshman composition class, where they are reading a book about the food industry. She’s also enrolled in a “review” math course that she takes online. I’m a little concerned that she’s not keeping up with that. She’s one of the “math challenged” and didn’t test into calculus so she needs to take numerical and analytical trig first (both one-credit classes).
She’ll need to take more Bio, chem and physics next semester and then calc, stats, calculus-based ecology and organic chem next year, so I am glad that things seem to be pretty manageable this time around!
I’ll add to the chorus of those who say that things may pick up after the first few weeks in core classes. D was very concerned that her core classes were too easy and/or repeating HS, but they have picked up in pace and offer new material as well. The courses in her major are also not that difficult, but are all new to her, being specific education topics. I think those come easy to her because she’s done extensive independent reading and research on education, not because they are not challenging. Some of her classmates turn to her for help.
@eh1234 D’s math is an online “math for non-STEM majors” and it seems to be both review and some sort of catch-all covering a variety of math topics. Sometimes it bores her to tears, other times it’s challenging. She’s a bit obsessive about homework, so she does keep up.
Received our weekly phone call this morning and was told “I only have 15 minutes to talk, I am headed out to a museum with people”. So far all of the telephone calls have reported that things are going good, I am beginning to worry, simply because I am waiting for the other shoes to drop, so to speak. I asked her if she was homesick at all and she said “No, not really, I’ve been too busy to be homesick”. She had her first Biology test last week and has a chem test on Friday. She promised a Skype call on Friday for her birthday, it will be nice as we haven’t seen her since we dropped her off a month ago.
@labegg We get the same " I’m too busy to be homesick" response. I am trying my best not to channel my inner Eeyore , but I am definitely a glass half empty kind of girl.