<p>I was searching around to find an EFC Calculator and stumbled on FAFSA. I figured since I was a rising senior I should start it now and be able to submit between January and February. But the site says: The soonest a FAFSA application can be filed with the Department of Education is on the January 1st preceding the academic year that you are requesting financial aid for.
Does this mean I shouldn't begin the application, or that I can't submit until after January 1st, 2015?</p>
<p>Sorry :(( but you can’t even start it until January 1st.</p>
<p>@terinzak :(( :(( :(( Ugh, I got a pin and everything. I was so happy to have had started somewhat early.</p>
<p>That’s OK! Put that PIN in a safe place. You will need it when you DO complete that FAFSA…and it’s a headache to get a replacement! </p>
<p>One of your parents will also need a PIN. They can get theirs too!</p>
<p>Where do you go to school? I would be surprised by a rising senior never heard of FAFSA before. Your GC should have done better job to inform you about this ahead of time.</p>
<p>At our high school, the GCs do not inform the students about the FAFSA. They DO tell them to check deadlines on each college website for admissions and financial aid deadlines.</p>
<p>If you want you could print out the 2014-2015 fafsa formula guide and work through the numbers now. You could estimate now what your efc would be with your parent’s help and see what info it asks for and how the calculations work. It shouldn’t change much for 2015-2016.</p>
<p>Shortly after Jan. 1 you should file fafsa with estimated 2014 income numbers and actual asset numbers as of the day you submit it. After taxes are done, you will update the income numbers either manually or using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool, but don’t update the asset numbers. Your parent’s and you if necessary should plan to file your taxes as soon as possible next year. That can be difficult if your parent’s are self-employed or have an otherwise complex tax return.</p>
<p>Do you know that many schools require either their own financial aid forms or the CSS profile for aid in addition to fafsa? Check the finaid pages of any school you are planning to apply to, to see what forms they require.</p>
<p>Here is the link to the 2014-2015 fafsa formula guide.</p>
<p><a href=“http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf”>http://ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/091913EFCFormulaGuide1415.pdf</a></p>
<p>@billcsho sorry I guess stumbled on was the wrong word. I meant that I ended up on their site. I’ve heard of fafsa before (not from my GC though).
@annoyingdad thanks for the information. </p>