<p>Hi, My twins got 2 letters yesterday from colleges that received our "will file" fafsa Jan 24th. We were chosen for review by one and the other just asked for signed 2009 returns ASAP.
The reason I sent "will file" was we weren't quite ready yet to finish. I also stated that my girls weren't filing, although they asked for their W2's. (they worked a little, no fed tax was taken out or under 100.00)
Stonehill stated they wanted them within 10 days!</p>
<p>Isn't this early to do this? I don't remember having to send these things until March or after the "filed" fafsa was finished. I can do it in a week or so, but wondered if this was the "norm".
Has anyone else had these letters? Are they indicative of anything? My daughter said, "maybe more aid?" but I thought, they don't believe how little we have. : )</p>
<p>Debruns, we were verified by several schools last year and two made their requests very soon after the “will file” FAFSA was submitted in early January. I suspected the letters were just canned language and called/emailed the FA office telling them when I was going to file in February, which was after the 10 day deadline. Both were fine with submitting the tax forms after that and we got FA award letters in early March.</p>
<p>We had to provide the SAME information to DS’s undergrad school EVERY year…and in a timely fashion. He didn’t qualify for a nickel of need based aid. Go figure. Why did they even WANT this stuff??</p>
<p>Kelsmom…I know you all are required to ask for verification for some folks. BUT why bother with a student who isn’t receiving a PENNY of need based aid. All my kid got from the federal government was an unsubsidized Stafford loan which he could have gotten with ANY income we earned. By the way…he was verified for FOUR years…yep…every year…and he never qualified for any need based aid. </p>
<p>You would think they would want to verify FAFSA for folks for whom they are dispersing need based funds.</p>
<p>If you are selected for verification, and you take too long to send in your forms (or refuse), and you are not getting any federal financial aid (not even unsubsidized loans)… </p>
<p>If you are getting institutional need based aid, you will not get that if you don’t complete verification. If you are getting NO aid at all … no consequences. If you are getting merit aid that is tied to filing a FAFSA, you would have to consult the school for the answer.</p>
<p>Checking “will file” does not guarantee a verification does it? One sons school requires the tax forms every year, so I have to send them in anyway, while the other does not.</p>
<p>This is the first year I can’t say already completed as I am still waiting on a form that is delayed.</p>
<p>I filed my daughter’s FAFSA as “will file” and wasn’t chosen for verification.</p>
<p>That may change when I file the corrected version. (It worked that way for my friend last year – not selected when filing estimates as “will file”, but then selected when filing the corrected one.)</p>
<p>I have not noticed a correlation. However, if your income is drastically less when you update filing status, that could raise a flag that triggers verification. Say you have an EFC of 10,000 with will file & 3000 with filed … I think that <em>could</em> be a flag … won’t say <em>is</em> since there is no way to know that for sure. I do feel that going from non-Pell eligible to Pell-eligible is more likely to trigger verification than both transactions being Pell eligible or both transactions being non-Pell eligible. Just my gut feeling.</p>
<p>Verification is really no biggie (as long as your data is all correct of course). We have been verified 6 out of 7 FAFSAs so far. I just print an extra copy of the tax returns when I print them out ready for our records and have them ready to go if required. Takes a matter of minutes to fill out the forms and stick it all in an envelope.</p>
<p>What exactly is required for verification usually? The entire tax return? Or just a page (really, only a page of it was needed to fill out the FAFSA. The page with the income and exceptions).</p>
<p>It depends on what the school asks for. When we have been verified it has been the tax return itself (just the return, not any schedules as far as I recall), copies of W2s, and a form we had to complete and sign with info about the family members included in household and the schools attended by any listed as being in college.</p>
<p>The one time I was verified they just wanted a copy of the tax return (including the schedules, they wanted the as filed return). We never filed FAFSA with “will file” checked, I always finished the taxes, then did the FAFSA. There was also a sheet that had a statement that we signed, can’t remember what that was for, maybe familly verification. No big deal, we copied, mailed and never heard another word.</p>