I have a quick question. If a student is accepted to one school and completes a FAFSA and lists that school’s identifying number on the FAFSA but then later gets off the waitlist at their top choice school, how hard is it to switch the FAFSA and financial aid documentation over to school number two (the top choice school)? Is there any reason to hold off on doing a FAFSA to the school that actually accepted a student if they are hoping to get accepted elsewhere off of a waitlist? Or can a student do FAFSA’s for more than one school at a time? I hope this question makes sense. Thanks!
Students can list up to 10 schools on the FAFSA. There is no reason not to list a school the student hopes to get into, and it will make life much easier if the FAFSA is already at the school if the student gets in off the waitlist.
@mominaz
Don’t wait til a student is accepted. Send now to all schools that were sent applications.
You do the FAFSA for all of the schools to which your kiddo has applied…now. And check to see if they require the CSS Profile or any other materials for financial aid applications. And most definitely check the DEADLINES…and make sure all is submitted on time…early is better.
This is the year to get your 2014 taxes done ASAP after February 1…so you can complete all of these forms, and send the colleges everything they request.
The submission deadlones and requirements vary by college, so be sure to check them ALL.
My D applied to more than 10 schools. How/when should I go in to the FAFSA and delete one of the first 10 and replace it with one of the 3 remaining?
Once you receive the SAR you can go back in and make corrections (subbing the remaining schools for ones that have already received the FAFSA info). It took two days for us to get the SAR so the first ten schools were done on Jan 1st and the remaining 8 on Jan 3.
I am able to track when a few of the schools of the first 10 schools have received the FAFSA via their application status web sites.
To be safe, I am waiting until they indicate they have received the FAFSA before removing them and adding the last 3 schools/
You don’t need to wait - and waiting may take awhile. Schools do not always pull FAFSA’s in right away, particularly if their computer systems are not yet ready for the new year. Once your transaction has processed, it has been sent to the school. It may sit in the mailbox for a long time, so go ahead & make your changes. Just don’t forget that you will have to update the first and second sets of schools if you make changes in the future.
Thank you for your replies! That answered my question.