When is a good time to apply?

<p>When is a good time to apply for financial aid to schools? I'm not sure if I should apply for it before I apply for school or close to when I graduate high school or what? I was going to apply for FAFSA (Federal Aid) and they only had the 2005-2006 forum. I will still be attending high school then. So If I plan to start college fall of 2006, when is a good time to start applying for financial aid?
Also, my school really doesn't have any kind of guidance councilor or anyone that can help me to find scholarships or aid. So how does a person go about finding financial aid or scholarships? Any suggestions?</p>

<p>You can apply for the FAFSA after January 1, 2006. Apply as soon after that as you can. I know my college needs me to apply before Feb 15 to receive any aid. You'll probably fill out all of your college applications before December. When you are accepted to colleges, they will send you a financial aid package based on your FAFSA results. Mine had all the scholarships, grants, and loans they wanted to give me.
You can apply for scholarships now. Think of local organizations that may have given out scholarships. When I was a senior, I thought back to other years when my older friends graduated and what scholarships they applied and won. Local ones are going to be your best bet. If you want to visit fastweb.com or scholarships.com, they might have useful ones (I never found any, but to each their own). If your school doesn't have a good guidance department, maybe a local high school in your county has a website with a list of scholarships on it.
Good luck!</p>