<p>I got an email Thursday (didn't see til Friday) that I was selected for verification for my fafsa at UMD. I'm instate with an EFC of about 2500 and may 1st is around the corner! I want to fax in the forms needed today but the application is down...will I make it in time to get a package and see if its worth not attending jhu (offered 48k in aid) but the chemE program may be better at umd...so if the money is there, I want to go there. Should I contact FA tomorrow and ask for an extension? Is that even possible? Is it worth it? I'm so stressed ;(</p>
<p>Fax the forms tomorrow. I don’t think anyone working in the FAO today.</p>
<p>Did you not get a tentative award from UMD? Or are they saying they refuse to tell you ANYTHING until they’ve completed verification?</p>
<p>If you got a tentative award, and the figures used on your FAFSA were accurate, there’s no reason why anything should change following verification.</p>
<p>If, on the other hand, they’re refusing to give you any info at all (and I’ve heard of this happening occasionally), you need to call and explain, as calmly as you can, that you need an estimated award NOW based on the paperwork they already have in order to make an enrollment decision. You’re happy to comply with their request for verification, but cannot afford to wait until verification is completed in order to know your estimated award. If they tell you that verification will be completed well in advance of May 1, then you’re fine. If it won’t be, and they refuse to give you an estimated award, you need to keep going up the chain of command until you get to the director of financial aid, and see if he or she will help you.</p>
<p>And if that doesn’t work, go over to the admissions office and tell them you will not be able to accept their offer of admission if you’re unable to get an estimate of your financial aid award. And see if they can convince the financial aid director to help you.</p>
<p>Alright, I will.
They never gave me a tentative (which I thought was odd since my others have). I’ll gladly call tomorrow and see when they’ll give me my award and if I could get an estimate.
Thank you very much!</p>
<p>Some schools do not work on a student’s aid package until the verification process is complete. My daughter’s school would not put together a tentative aid offer until all verification documents were processed. It actually lead to her losing out on aid one year when the info about being selected was online during spring break and we were all away and could not get the documents there till the next week (she asked why she had not received a limited funding grant and work study that she had received previously and they looked at her file and said it was because she was verified and they ran out of funds - it was quite annoying as we filed FAFSA in January and the verification happened in March). So get the documents there ASAP. And do give them a call. Good luck.</p>