Ultimately Financial Aid is only given to accepted students right? So hear me out.

Applying to College
1

<p>Hey,</p>

<p>Well its March, 1 month before decisions, and I got a letter requiring me to send my proof of Citizenship (i.e. passport copies) to several colleges...</p>

<p>I want to clarify something. I know that financial aid and admissions are 2 separate processes but ultimately accepted students are the ones who get aid. Does the adcom committee, in order to make the whole job easier, ever simply just tell the Fin Aid commitee to evaluate only the accepted students (assuming they have made their decisions weeks before April) instead of wasting time and effort on non-acceptees?</p>

<p>Thus, I was a bit curious that I got these ctznship verification requests by the Fin Aid comittees 1 MONTH before my decision is due as if my admissions decision has already been made. I am not sure if it is something to feel optimistic about or anything.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>Does the adcom committee, in order to make the whole job easier, ever simply just tell the Fin Aid commitee to evaluate only the accepted students (assuming they have made their decisions weeks before April) instead of wasting time and effort on non-acceptees?</p>

<p>No.</p>

3

<p>Any college that gets federal funds (virtually all of them) are required to verify the income infomation of the students that apply for aid.</p>

<p>Just because you got a letter while it could be a good thing, don't bank on anything until you get an admissions letter in your hand.</p>

4

<p>It is a matter of timing. The universal decision date is April 1st, and applicants have until May 1st to pick their college. They need to know the fin aid package in April and so they prepare packages for all applicants.</p>

5

<p>Actually there might be some proof of this. I've heard of many CCers who were asked by top colleges to send their finan. aid forms, and eventually they were accepted. Me, on the other hand, I KNEW I didn't send some stuff to Yale but I got no call saying that I was missing anything :P (I was eventually rejected)</p>

6

<p>As far as I know (working in an admissions office) financial aid packages are NOT prepared for every applicant. However, at this point in time decisions are still being made and so they may be preparing packages for students they are planning on admitting, students who are on the fence, and those whose applications have not been read through yet (or those where a decision has yet to be made). So while it may be a good thing, I wouldn't get your hopes up quite yet.</p>

7

<p>I didn't actually see alot of follow-up by finan aid offices to ensure that they had everything that they needed.</p>

8

<p>Thanks stickypenguin! Your comments make a lot of sense. I've been getting such notices from several of my reach schools over the past two weeks. I have a feeling I'm one of those "on the fence" applicants. If I get declined, at least I won't feel like they made me gather all of those documents and pay those CSS Profile fees for nothing. I'm a little weary at this point.</p>

9

<p>Let me clarify....I like the idea of thinking maybe my reach schools think of me as "on the fence". It makes the waiting a little easier...somehow.</p>

10

<p>so if we haven't received this stuff, does it mean we're rejected?</p>

11

<p>bump.......</p>

12

<p>We were asked to fill out verification forms for a school in February. Son was waitlisted when notification came out in April. There was never any chance he was going to come off the waitlist.</p>