<p>im done with junior year, going to be a senior next yr.
so all of a sudden these financial problems start to get on my nerves. all i thought before was to take the SAT,get a high score, then application.
reading through this forum, i feel really unprepared.
when should i start appling for fafsa? and how do i get organized? i wanna apply for scholarships too, please lighten me up.
i heard we need fafsa or someting in order to apply for scholarships?
i'm new to this ,because my parents didn't go to college~ so i dont really get any advices from them</p>
<p>The FAFSA will be filed early next year and will refer to this year's numbers for income. You can use one of the online calculators to get an estimated FAFSA now, though, which is what I would recommend doing. </p>
<p>Also, read through FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans, I think it is; they have an article about filling out the FAFSA that you may find useful. (I'll see whether I can find the link to it in a minute.)</p>
<p>Take a deep breath; it's good that you are thinking about this now, and yes, you have time to get organized. Good for you for thinking about this now and not a year from now!</p>
<p>Start here: FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications</p>
<p>Also read this: FinAid</a> | Financial Aid Applications | Maximizing Your Aid Eligibility</p>
<p>Read the articles and threads here on CC and ask questions. It's a lot to learn (I'm still learning, and how! [Mom of rising 10th grader here])!</p>
<p>Relax! You are in good shape, really. That's because you are thinking about all of this.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is not a source of money, as you may already know. It is used by colleges to determine the amount of aid, if any, you are qualified for. Each school interprets the final form that you will receive (called the SAR) differently. The FAFSA is not available until January 1 each year. Therefore, that is the earliest you can fill it out. Usually, though, families do it later, because they can estimate the $ amounts then, but they need all their tax info for the newly finished year to finalize the form. You might also need to fill out the CSS on the College Board site. That Profile is another application that is similar (but with marked differences) that many schools (usually private ones) also need. I believe that you can do the CSS Profile in October, but check the College Board site for info. Follow the directions on each form and take a lot of time so that you do them correctly. Have your parents do them with you, if possible. To fill out these forms you need tax information for everyone in your family who earned money even if not everyone filed taxes. </p></li>
<li><p>To get organized, like I said, you need tax info. You also need bank statements FOR THE EXACT MONTH THAT YOU FILE THE FAFSA. You also need any paper work that pertains to your family's financials: price of your home if you own it; medical bills, if there are big ones; cost of private school or university tuition for siblings, if that applies; assets such as ownership of businesses, farms, vacation homes, investments such as stocks. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I suggest you take a cyber-stroll through the FAFSA web site (fafsa.ed.gov) which will help you further with your organization. It will tell you how, when, what, etc.</p>
<ol>
<li> As for scholarships, you can search for what is available on google. Perhaps your family works for a company that helps the children of its employees. Or, your Guidance Counselor at school can help you. Or, the schools that you may be interested in may have merit aid.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Maybe the most important thing of all, though, is to look at the financial aid office sites on the schools that you are interested in, and see what they recommend. That should really be your starting point. Then go from there. Feel free to ask questions here, and there are lots of people who are happy to help you. Good luck!</p>
<p>Cross posted with the above posters! But you see there is a lot of help available!</p>
<p>I think the most important thing to do (and now is the perfect time to do it) is to have a sit-down talk with both parents and talk about college finances. Ask them to use their 2007 tax info and fill in the blanks at this site: FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid make sure the info used is accurate and try both the institutional and federal methodology. </p>
<p>That will give you parents a good idea of how much they are expected to contribute to your college -- this number is usually a shock to most parents! It is better to be prepared before you make you college list, than to select colleges that your parents won't be able to afford.</p>
<p>Once your family has a good estimate of the EFC and you talk with them about whether they will be able and willing to pay that amount, you can start looking at schools. You may need merit money, you may need to find schools that don't gap, don't give large loans as part of the FA package, etc.</p>
<p>come back with any questions -- lots of people with experience here to help! You might also give your parents the web address -- sometimes it is better to get parents involved in the financial aspect if they are expected to pay.</p>
<p>What I found to be true with respect to my son's college admission over the past year. Much of it was learned after getting the FinAid offers.</p>
<p>1) Don't let the sticker price of a school dictate whether you apply or not. Some schools with extremely high price tags have extremely good finAid. DS is going to the highest cost school on his list for the least amount of money. It's what you end up paying that matters.</p>
<p>2) Get the best estimates you can for the total cost of attendance for each school. I recommend College</a> Navigator which provides cost data for the past 3 years, and allows you to see the rate of increase in the recent past. For the 09-10 year there could be some larger than normal increases due to higher energy prices that aren't fully reflected in the 08-09 costs. Also, compute your own travel expenses rather than use an average figure. How many times will you have to come home? Are the dorms closed during winter & spring breaks?</p>
<p>3) Learn the financial aid rules at each school. What method do they use to determine EFC, FAFSA or Profile? Do they require supplemental information? If so, how is it used? Do they include home equity, or a portion of it, as an asset? What percentage of financial need do they meet? (Hopefully 100%) How are the FA packages structured with respect to Grant, Loan, and work study? How are outside scholarships treated? Do they reduce loan or grant? Are work-study jobs readily available? How much do they pay? </p>
<p>4) How is financial aid at a school likely to change over the 4 years you attend? This is often hard to figure out. One way to tell is how forthcoming the school is with answering your FA questions and making the 'rules' clear? The school where this information was difficult to get turned out to offer the worst finAid packages and the least certainty in future years. What happens if a sibling is in college, or id a sibling now in college graduates? Is the student expected to take on more loan each year? Are additional merit scholarships available for upperclassmen?</p>
<p>Finally, plan on graduating in 4 year - or less! An extra semester or year is expensive and delays your entry into a job, i.e. making money instead of spending money. Good luck.</p>
<p>thankyou all.
thankyou.</p>