<p>my son applied to 14! colleges. I (his mother) handled the fafsa piece, my husband the css profile and the individual school fin. aid forms. He got denied at Olin (his first choice....he was devastated after going to candidate weekend and getting whipped up into a frenzy!), and waitlisted at his second fave Harvey Mudd. Happily he got into Rice and we were eagerly awaiting the financial award letter.</p>
<p>When I got it, there was no mention of merit or actually anything except it said that they didn't receive the fafsa. Aargh. I sent it in in January but somehow out of the 14 schools that it was sent to, I left out Rice.</p>
<p>I am not sure if we can afford Rice until I can see that letter....and Owl days is creeping up.</p>
<p>I called fafsa and it is now fixed but will take 3 to 5 days to be available and then who knows how long before Rice can review and send a letter.</p>
<p>Does anybody know if it will take LONGER than the acceptance date of May 1 to find out.</p>
<p>Call Rice and ask. My guess is many finaids are finishing the incoming freshman or are getting there and will be moving on to the sophs, juniors and seniors soon…but no one here would know what is happening at Rice, so calling is going to get you the most accurate answer about how quickly they can package up your future freshman…</p>
<p>I believe Rice is also a Profile school. The FAFSA would be used to determine eligibility for federally funded aid (Pell Grant, SEOG, Work study) but the Profile would be what Rice uses to determine the awarding of institutional need based aid. To be honest, you need much more than the federally funded need based aid to fund an education at Rice.</p>
<p>Make sure Rice has ALL of the information it requires to process your son’s financial aid package. Call Rice to see if everything is there and ask how long it will take.</p>
<p>Rice also requires you to send tax returns and other info to them through IDOC. Have you done so? When you talk with them you might ask about the possibility of getting an extension for the date by which you have to commit. If you don’t have an offer from Rice in hand by May 1st I suggest your son choose his next best option school just in case. If Rice comes through you can forfeit the other deposit.</p>
<p>Also, I believe Rice promises to meet need and the financial aid dates for them are only “priority” dates. They will still give you the money you qualify for if you apply late, but the offer might mot be available until after May 1st.</p>
<p>OP…if you ask for an extension from Rice, you should also ask for extensions from the other schools your child is interested in. If the money doesn’t work out at Rice, you want the other options to still be on the table as well.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody. Idocs is complete, css done as well. It was simply that I didn’t list Rice on my fafsa list. So frustrating! I might have to convince my son that case western is the place to be! (large merit offer!). We will see. This is a very stressful time.</p>
<p>Oh no, wait. If the Idoc comes from fafsa, they didn’t receive that either. I will call them tomorrow. I sent them an email and I did not get a response. Three weeks ago I called to see if they had everything and, again, no return call. Thank you for thinking of that! In the meantime, I guess I need to figure out if I want to fly him out to Carleton for their accepted student days (his next choice that might be financially doable).</p>
<p>i’ve had to update the fafsa and it says 3-5 days but in every case it happened in one or two days so you should be okay. When you call the school - let them know when you made the change and they can check proactively – rather than wait for messaging to come in that the change was made.</p>
<p>Hope you’ve talked to someone at Rice’s FA office by now (?). I think you will be ok if you beg and plead to do a “rush” on his FAA. Let them know that Rice is his first choice, they will be more likely to help you if they think he’ll take the slot. Good luck! Don’t feel badly. My H was late getting FAFSA to Brown by 2 weeks. It does happen. But you do need to call them!</p>
<p>I called Rice and they already received the fafsa. It could take up to THREE weeks to get the financial aid award though!!! I am trying to decide if my son should attend owl days or not. (accepted student days there). He has visited once already.</p>
<p>Take a look at the calendar. By September this is all over and done and the kid is somewhere. This will pass. Meanwhile have a talk with kid. Tell him the Owl days is to get accepted kids all whipped up about Rice so they will sign with Rice instead of some other school. If he’s already excited, then he doesn’t need to go (but the end of summer program that is a college introduction week is always a good idea). </p>
<p>Please do not refer to yourself as an idiot again. The college app and fin aid stuff is brutal. Many of us think we are losing our minds that first season. The system is idiotic, not you. Tell offspring that you clearly can make a mistake and now he has a “Get out Jail free” card – that he can remind you of your oops some time when he makes a good sized one and the two of you will call it even. Have ice cream. This will pass.</p>