<p>What I mean by my question is what kind of forms and such can I start filling out now to save time in the future? (eg. FAFSA doesn't come out until Jan 1)</p>
<p>There is precious little you can do right this minute. The CSS Profile for the upcoming year also isn’t yet available (at least I don’t think it is). SO…what can you do? Well…first CHECK THE DEADLINES for all of your schools…in particular check for priority deadlines if you are applying early. If you have to complete a Profile before the end of 2011…you need to have all of the information you will need to make good estimates of your total 2011 income/taxes. You will need to have all of the information to get your asset balances as of the filing date of your Profile (and eventually your FAFSA). If you do online banking…this will be easy. You might want to get out last year’s tax return…sometimes you can use that to help you make GOOD estimates if you need to file the FAFSA or Profile before the end of year.</p>