<p>**
Hi! I have 2 questions.**</p>
<p>*1) * I'm planning to submit the FAFSA this month. My schools admission deadlines aren't until later in April and May. Can the schools give me a better estimate of the financial aid they might offer before I apply?</p>
<p>*2) * Do I have to be admitted and enrolled before applying for a Stafford loan?</p>
<p>Can you even get financial aid or Stafford loans for a Summer semester anymore?</p>
<p>I really don't expect much of anything other than a FAFSA. FAFSA estimator says I might qualify for a Pell Grant, but I believe I applied too late for it this year. I was not planning to attend school next year, but now want to... either this Summer 2013 or Fall 2013.</p>
<p>There are only a few colleges on my list to apply to (easy schools or state school), but there are application fees I need to minimize (yes, even though I only want to apply to a few choice schools). So, I am curious if schools can/could/might be able to tell me what my financial aid package look like before I apply? If not, do I just apply to each of the schools and, if accepted, they will look at my FAFSA and estimate it then? </p>
<p>I'm an upperclassman who took some time off from college to work. I have never received financial aid before.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Some schools will give an early read of financial aid to APPLICANTS. So…you would need to apply.</p></li>
<li><p>You MUST be a matriculated student at a college to take out the Direct Loans (which are then paid directly to the college you are attending…not to you).</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You should send your FAFSA application at about the same time
You send your applications for admission.</p>
<p>It’s not too late for Pell. Pell is not a limited funding grant. </p>
<p>Summer aid is generally taken out of the aid you are eligible for the school year. It is not in addition unless you do not use your eligibility during the regular school year. </p>
<p>A far as summer, a school can use either a header or trailer system. This means they either treat summer as part of the following FAFSA year or, more commonly, as part of the preceding year. If your school is a header school, then any aid in this summer would use up part of your loan and Pell eligibility for the rest of the year. For instance, if your Pell eligibility for the year is $3750 and you received $1250 this summer, you would only have $2500 available for the fall and Spring semesters. If it is a trailer school, then this summer’s aid would require you to complete last year’s (2012-2013) FAFSA (deadline is June 2013). If you have not attended school this past year, then you hav not used any of 2012-2013s aid, so would be eligible for some this summer and it would not impact your fall/spring aid. Next summer, you would only be eligible for whatever you have not used during the year. So if you have $3750 Pell and are full time in Fall/Spring, you would have no remaining Pell. </p>
<p>So it really depends on the school.</p>
<p>Cool, I’ll hopefully qualify for Pell then. (Estimate calculators say that I do.)</p>
<p>I’m glad that summer financial aid would be an option. I plan to finish my BA degree within one year of starting school, and have never had aid before. </p>
<p>I plan to apply to one college now and ask for a financial aid estimate. I’m glad that I don’t have to “accept” admission or transfer schools until I know the cost.</p>