<p>Some background: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1668602-when-to-take-the-act-during-senior-year.html?new=1">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1668602-when-to-take-the-act-during-senior-year.html?new=1</a>
This post will be long but if you take the time to give me an answer I would appreciate it VERY MUCH!! :D Okay so I know where I'm going to apply and how to send transcripts and test scores and such, but I'm confused as to what I do AFTER that. I'm mainly confused about financial aid, when and more importantly where do I sign up for it, is it the same thing as FAFSA? And if not when do I sign up for that? I will not be able to attend college without aid. Also how do I send the information from the aid to my colleges? Will each college tell me how much I have to pay out of pocket before making me choose which one I'm going to? Do I have a say in dorm selection? One college has suites with 6 or 7 people and I do NOT want that. Also when will I need to start buying my laptop and books for the school? Oh, and I plan to have outside scholarships pay for (hopefully) everything. I've applied to over 20 so far this summer and plan to apply to the Horatio Alger and Coca Cola one (hopefully I can win one, low on income ladder). So i understand that the money is awarded to my college, but how do I spend that? Like to buy things such as books and the computer I will need? Will they give me some sort of debit card to use? I've very confused about all of this, and if you have any advice please feel free to share it!</p>
<p>Submitting FAFSA is similar to submitting college applications. There will be a due date for it. Sit down with your parents and fill it out (my parents filled out most of it for me because they knew about our finances much more than I did). Each college will tell you what financial aid forms they accept. Most accept FAFSA, some accept specific state financial aid forms (e.g. New York’s is called TAP), and some will have financial aid forms specific to the college. Each college has a due date for when they want the forms, so check each college’s website to make sure you get each form in on time. When you fill out each financial aid form, I believe you select which colleges you send it to, so they receive the aid information directly from the FAFSA (or whatever form) and can do with it as they wish. Colleges will all tell you what your cost of attendance will be before you have to pick a college. Some schools send the financial information directly with the acceptance letter while some mail it a week or so later.</p>
<p>Dorm selection depends entirely on the college. Some will assign you randomly, some will have you rate the dorms in order of preference, some will let you choose the specific dorm and it will be a first-come, first-serve basis. Almost all colleges let you choose to either be placed with a random roommate or request your own roommate. I would suggest buying your laptop the summer before you attend college (I’m attending in August and still haven’t bought one yet…oops). I was advised to wait until the first week of classes to purchase books in case I decide I don’t like the class and drop it, in which case I won’t have wasted money on books. I don’t know whether I will do that or buy the books in the coming weeks, but I think either is fine. As for outside scholarships, I think that also depends on the college. My college (Cornell University) requires you to report all outside scholarships, and then that money is actually deducted from your financial aid, which sucks a lot. </p>
<p>Okay, that was a lot, but I hope it helped! Let me know if there’re any questions/comments/concerns you still have!</p>
<p>@Ranza123 Thank you so much! <3 </p>