<p>I am panicking right now...looking at the FAFSA and CSS forms is making me dizzy. My mom pokes her head in every now and then and sort of tosses another form at me. We haven't filed our 2006 Income tax returns yet so I'm having to use the ones from last year...I don't even know if that's allowed though. On the CSS, I don't have my income taxes filed yet (I worked three jobs during the summer and one during the school year) because I have no idea how to do that. I keep googling to find "FAFSA tutorials" and things, but I just...I don't even know where to begin. How can I fill out my own financial information if I was too stupid to keep track of my pay stubs? How can I even begin to try to do this when I, in all honesty, don't even know what a 1040 is? </p>
<p>I can't do anything about my mom or her sudden unwillingness to help. I've tried apologizing to her, I've tried reasoning with her, but the fact is that this stuff is due tomorrow for a lot of my schools and I can't get caught up in petty fights if my mom is being irrational. She told me it's my fault that she's not helping me and if I'm such a daddy's girl I should get help from him (they...have a lot of problems, surprise surprise), but he has no idea what he's doing and got really frustrated and gave up. </p>
<p>So sorry you are in this situation.
It is unfortunate that time is so short. That doesn't excuse your parents, IMHO, from helping you with these ridulously complicated forms.</p>
<p>Is there anyone else that you can ask for help? An older sibling? Guidance counselor? Aunt or Uncle?
I really think this is beyond most 17-18 year olds to complete solo.</p>
<p>Hope someone else can chime in with other suggestions. Don't give up....</p>
<p>I don't have any suggestions for you (my family's financial situation is the most complicated ever, and when I tried to do it by myself I ended up bursting into tears and then my dad took pity on me), but here are some virtual hugs anyway... your family problems sound similar to mine, and I know how hard it is to go through this already stressful process with something like that hanging over your head. </p>
<p>(((((j07))))) <--- e-hugs</p>
<p>I know it's hard right now, but you'll get through it, and I hope you get a thick envelope from Princeton in April. :)</p>
<p>Haha thank you camelia...I always love looking at your beautiful photography from the Princeton forum and I appreciate your e-hugs. I hope you get that same envelope!!</p>
<p>Get them filed as well as you can now and keep in mind that
a) You can correct, i.e. change, FAFSA figures on-line later.
b) For both, you can check "will file" when it comes to the questions about income taxes.
c) For css/profile, you can print out the form you filed and make corrections on it by hand and mail it to the schools which need it.
d) Finally, just get it done as well as you can because the worst thing to do is to miss the deadline.</p>
<p>aw, you poor thing
my spouse has many college degrees and has done this for years BUT he's across the room saying that it is TOO HARD for a teen. Your mom is being quite unfair tonight. Please bring her over to read this next time she opens the door to throw a form at you.
His advice is this: fill out whatever you can tonight, even if it's messy or wrong, simply to meet the deadline which counts.
Then contact the colleges tomorrow and say that you had to do it this way and you have tried your best.
My daughter thinks maybe that the colleges will at least take pity and not hold your first attempt against you at all.
Eventually, both you and your mom will get better doing it (as a TEAM) but this first year it is simply too much to ask of you.
If others on CC agree, please chime in so this lady has some support.</p>
<p>also our instinct was correct to use last year's taxes. Just ask your parent if there are any huge differences from last year's situation. Last year's tax forms are really your best guide tonight. You're better than you think, here! Take heart.</p>
<p>Gosh j07 - I'm sorry you're in such a bind - it really is crazy to have to do it yourself. Here's a link with step by step instructions - maybe it will help a little. Good luck and follow the others' advice to just get something done now and worry about correcting it later.</p>
<p>After my failed attempt, my dad spent the better part of a week making Excel spreadsheets and going over tax returns and old credit card statements. Now, my father is a 42-year-old man with a degree in economics, and even he couldn't fill out those forms in one night. To expect that of a high school student is beyond ridiculous.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice...I am just stuck on the fact that I have absolutely no idea how much money I made this summer. I saved most of it, but I already had a savings account (well, it only had like $200 in it, but still) and I don't know how much is from my earnings and how much is from the auto-transfers I have from checking to savings. I have no idea how much income tax I paid on my own job and I know I could probably just guess and then go back and change it, but I'm too scared and I really have no idea.</p>
<p>You should receive a W2 from your employer by the end of next week that will have the numbers for you. For now, just do the FAFSA with your best guess, and mark "will file" for the taxes.</p>
<p>There is no way a high school student could be expected to do a FAFSA in one evening and the Profile is even worse, and then worse again if one or both parents is self-employed.</p>
<p>Also, when a parent uses a child as a pawn in a battle against the other spouse, it's really disgusting and inappropriate.</p>
<p>J07, just take it slowly, breathe, and guess. You will make errors that can be corrected later. My sympathies.</p>
<p>Tell your parents you'll have your gossipy aunt/guidance counselor/whomever help you and she'll spread your financial/home life all over town...that would change my parents' minds.</p>
<p>no really I had to beg my parents to help me and I started asking them back in November and we just now got it done.</p>
<p>My heart goes out to you. I'm a parent with more than one college degree and when I initially looked over those forms, they practically gave me a headache. I can't imagine a teenager having to do this, especially in the space of one night. As others have mentioned previously, the colleges understand that estimates (often using numbers from the previous year's tax return) are frequently used, and your employers will be sending you W2 forms(but in the meantime just use your best estimate)with your '06 income figures. FWIW, the CSS Profile is the most complex of the forms and the FAFSA, by comparison, is somewhat easier to complete. Just plow through those forms, do the best that you can, and good luck; I wish you the best.</p>
<p>I find myself being on the other side of the argument, somewhat. I finished my portion of the FAFSA three weeks ago and gave the worksheets to my DD to fill in her section and put the data online. That's all she had to do. It was finally done a couple of days ago, after much reminding. I told her I would take care of the CSS submittal (that one is even daunting to me).</p>