Processed vs. Deadline for FAFSA?

Paying for College
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<p>Some colleges I applied to have a Feb. 1 deadline for FAFSA so it practically gives me 3 days to finish it off. Yet, if I submit the FAFSA, by lets say Jan. 31 but does not get processed until Feb. 8, will that be valid submission as I submitted it before Feb. 1 just that the processing took longer? Thanks. Also what is this CSS profile stuff I keep seeing on the boards?</p>

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<p>bump..please hellp me out here</p>

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<p>My son's FAFSA was processed in less than 24 hours. So, get the form together, get it submitted ASAP and you will probably be okay. If you don't know all the figures yet, you can give your best estimate and then submit a corrected FAFSA once you have the final figures.</p>

<p>So far as CSS Profile goes, it is similar to FAFSA but asks more in-depth questions such as housing and retirement plan values, 2006 income and 2008 estimated income, etc. Some schools require Profile in addition to FAFSA. Check the admissions/financial aid sites of the schools to which you are applying to find out if they require Profile. College Board handles the Profile and here is their description of it: "CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE® is the financial aid application service of the College Board. More than 600 colleges, universities, graduate and professional schools, and scholarship programs use the information collected on the PROFILE to determine eligibility for nonfederal student aid funds."</p>

<p>CollegeBoard puts out a list of schools using the Profile here, but I'd also double check your schools' websites: <a href="https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://profileonline.collegeboard.com/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet/PXRemotePartInstitutionServlet.srv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>jollymix - if you have applied to any private schools it is very likely they require CSS and that their deadlines are soon. I noticed on one of your other posts you talked about Harvard - their CSS deadline is feb 1st. You need to check your schools and get these applications submitted very soon.</p>

<p>FAFSA will determine what you get from federal sources but for schools requiring CSS it is CSS that determines the institutional aid. Federal aid will be a drop in the bucket at schools like Harvard so get those CSS forms completed now if your schools require them.</p>