So i will be applying to quite a few schools this fall/spring. Some schools, such as MIT, explicitly state:
If your parents' 2007 federal income return is not available by our February 15, 2008 financial aid deadline, submit your parents' 2006 federal income tax return, including all schedules and W-2s, directly to Student Financial Services by February 15, 2008 and submit the 2007 federal income tax return, schedules and W-2s through IDOC as soon as they become available.
MIT - Student Financial Services
Yes, that info is a year old, but i have to assume that MIT will have the same policy for this coming application season. However, I am not sure if it is safe to assume that this policy applies to ALL colleges out there. Are there any schools that will not accept estimates even when their February deadlines make getting all of the 2009 tax info on time impossible? If so, what does one do in that scenario?
To give one other school's perspective, CMU sent me a brochure that explained the reason for their deadline is that students are allowed to submit their 2009 tax info later than Feb 15th, but by doing so they risk not having an aid decision before the May 1st deadline to commit. While that is not an ideal situation, it is at least better than being barred from recieving FinAid alltogether simply for not being able to meet an impossible deadline