Preparing for Finaid Applications

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<p>I thought it was required that these be sent by Jan 31. I have always received all of my 1099s by that time. Also, you should have end of the year statements from ALL of these types of accounts. When I help my kids fill out the FAFSA (and YES I do it with them), we use the end of year interest numbers from the statement at the end of the year. And as mentioned above, you can usually get the exact numbers by either going in person, or calling the bank or investment house.</p>

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15. You can only submit to six schools at one time for the FAFSA. If you apply to more than six schools, you will need to submit the application to the first six schools...wait until it is processed...then go in and amend. Delete the first six and add the others.

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<p>What do you mean wait until it is processed? As in, wait until Jan 31 when you have the real data or....?</p>

<p>Also, I have to do CSS. Should I just wait until I have 07 data? 06 is, I'm sure, pretty close...but should I wait until Jan 31 so I can avoid having to send in a paper correction, too?</p>

<p>No, you wait a couple of days for FAFSA to process the form, and send you back your report through email, if you have done it online. Then you go to the corrections part of the FAFSA site, open your report, delete the first schools, and replace them with the remaining schools. Send that to FAFSA, and you will get back in the email, a few days later, another transaction. Each school, from both reports, will get your application. As far as when to do all this, you can do it now with estimates, and then go back in and correct them, or you can wait until you have the exact figures, which may very well be after you and your family have done taxes. Someone above said that you could not correct CSS online later if you complete it with estimates now. I don't know about that. I do know that you can estimate now for FAFSA and correct it with exact figures later. Check CSS, for that info.</p>

<p>
[quote]
15. You can only submit to six schools at one time for the FAFSA. If you apply to more than six schools, you will need to submit the application to the first six schools...wait until it is processed...then go in and amend. Delete the first six and add the others.

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<p>really?! Yikes, I put all 10 of the school codes I applied to in the online FAFSA form and I've already submitted it....Should I go back and delete some of the schools or would it be worthless to do so?</p>

<p>^^
kjcastillo -- my understanding is that THIS YEAR FAFSA made changes and increased the number of schools that you could send to with one submission once -- so I think you are fine using all 10. That's why they had 10 spaces for colleges in the form. I filled out ours today, and I thought the instructions made it very clear. But I believe that Thumper's original post referenced last year's FAFSA form.</p>

<p>
[quote]
kjcastillo -- my understanding is that THIS YEAR FAFSA made changes and increased the number of schools that you could send to with one submission once -- so I think you are fine using all 10. That's why they had 10 spaces for colleges in the form. I filled out ours today, and I thought the instructions made it very clear. But I believe that Thumper's original post referenced last year's FAFSA form.

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<p>OOooooooohhh, ok. Thanks for clarifying!</p>

<p>Just a heads up...</p>

<p>I read somewhere that you should not leave the additional slots on the Fafsa school codes blank, but rather pad them.</p>

<p>For instance...my daughter applied and was accepted to 7 colleges. So, out of the 10 spots on the fafsa, we added these 7 colleges. This left 3 more spots.</p>

<p>Now, when the schools you list on the fafsa receive the institutional SAR, it shows every school you requested your sar be sent to. The financial aid departments see all those schools listed there prior to awarding financial aid.</p>

<p>So, we padded the other 3 schools. Since we were appling mostly to schools in Texas, we added Rice, SMU and TCU as our last 3 codes. The article I read said that financial aid offices might see these schools, assume these are also schools for which you have applied and been accepted, and PERHAPS offer high financial aid packages for you to come to THEIR school.</p>

<p>It may be a long shot...but it definately cant hurt!</p>

<p>What about financial ais process for boarding school?</p>

<p>This is the most confusing post I've read. Padding the school listing? Where did you read you should do this? And how, in January, does your daughter have 7 acceptances already? College financial aid officers know that acceptances have not been announced (only EA and ED, but not groups of 7 unless I'm mistaken about the process...) - how would they think she has been accepted to 10 schools as of January 14??
I've never heard of such a thing. and why would you clog up the system sending reports to schools that have no application on file for your student??
Don't the ad com and fin aid people have enough to do already withouth trying to match nonexistent materials??</p>

<p>Mam2.imho..a question of ethics may apply to your padding the FAFSA...is this what you want to teach your child?</p>

<p>I did the fafsa 4caster---it asked for only 2006 info--how do you set the fafsa up so you do it "planning to file"</p>

<p>I guess the only concern I have is that I think that the "you will never get a free ride" is a little bit overstated. You don't have to be Harvard quality -- there are a number of 1/2 tier LACs that are now offering additional grants to low income families to remove loans and work study. Even some public universities are doing it -- for example, UC "Regent Scholarships" can include extra grants to replace loans and workstudy. A student can certainly be good enough (and needy enough) to get one of those without being "Harvard-quality". </p>

<p>I think it would be more realistic to say that the 'full ride' -- full grant-based aid without loans or work study -- is very rare and not the norm, without saying that it's only for "Harvard quality" students. It <em>is</em> increasingly becoming available to very low income students, so very low income students shouldn't restrict their applications to just public or local schools. The advice seems to suggest that very bright low income students who are not "Harvard quality" cannot get aid without loans, which is misleading.</p>

<p>According to the princeton review, an income protection allowance in federal tax forms is very low. we should sent a report to every one of the schools I apply, telling them the actual amount of the family budget. Is this necessary?</p>

<p>so umm does anyone know what to do if you cant file 2007 tax forms by feb 15 and the school wants it then? cuz i've been bugging my mom, but she says she can't do it until she gets all the info from everywhere...(she doesn't really work...she files as self-employed)</p>

<p>Yeah same here...my dad needs to get info from some companies he's invested in, and he won't be able to file until April or so.</p>

<p>ALWAYS submit a list of your out-of-pocket medical expenses and copies of the medical bills. A public school might not consider medical expenses, a private school usually will. I keep track all year long of our medical expenses. They are submitted with the tax returns to the student's school. IF you are in the application process with a high school senior, send the medical expenses & tax returns together to the finanancial aid offices, via CERTIFIED MAIL. Every October, buy the book "How to Pay For College Without Going Broke" by Kalman Chany, a Princeton Review book & take your tax returns & do the worksheets in back of the book, to calculate your EFC. That book has saved us probably $1,000's over the years. Also, another important point is that a FAFSA or a CSS Profile will not accurately spit out the correct number of your property taxes on your house, your state income taxes paid or personal property taxes paid to your town/city (For Cars) You must personally write a letter & give these numbers to your child's FAO every year he/she is in college, thereby saving you money! If you are in the application stage for a high school senior, state your local and state income taxes AND your medical expenses (with documentation) in a letter along with the tax returns to the FAO of every school your child has applied to! Remember taxes you have paid are deducted from your AGI and there is a medical expense allowance you could qualify for, but you have to tell the FAO's about it to get that allowance, especially if you are dealing with a private college.</p>

<p>I just wanted to add, yes it's true that companies don't HAVE to send out 1099 Forms until February 28th (29th on leap years.) It does not follow the same rules as the 1040.</p>

<p>hi slumom,
I live in Florida--have high med expenses--no income tax--but paid high sales tax--we can substitute that--are you suggesting these lower your AGI?
thanks</p>

<p>You estimate and then send in the revised infor. Meet the deadlines, because the goodies go early. If they have to reduce your aid, they will. Increasing it can be a problem if grant money runs out, so be conservative in that you get a little more, not less.</p>

<p>If private colleges consider high out-of-pocket medical expenses, it is worth sending them in-copies of receipts & an itemized list. Usually public schools don't consider them, unless they are over a certain perentage of your AGI
(adjusted gross income) I have never seen any documentation listed about state sales tax as being an allowance (or a deduction from your AGI in the financial aid formulas) Forgive the late response to this inquiry!</p>