<p>Okay these may seem like basic questions but I am very inexperienced in the whole process and I’m practically going at it alone. My parents passed away a few years ago and my siblings are SO much more older than me. I live with my sister but i’m not sure of my exact status (I think I’m under guardianship).</p>
<p>I ran a predictor EFC and it said 0? Is that right, or? What exactly does that mean?
What is a CSS, do I really have to pay to send it? I applied EA to a school and they said have it by 12/1 but what does that really mean? Should I send it now or just wait to send it to the schools I apply for RD as well?
FASFA isn’t open yet, when can I start that and how do I go about that?</p>
<p>Sorry if these are amateurs but I really want to know and don’t want to have to take out loans, etc. </p>
<p>Since both of your parents are no longer alive, you will be considered independent for financial aid purposes. On,y your financial information will be included on the FAFSA. This will be the same at most schools requiring the Profile as well.</p>
<p>Re the Profile for EA. Yes…you should try to submit it by the early priority deadline for EA students. You will need any income for 2014 that you will earn, plus any money you have in any accounts. These all get reported on the Profile. Maybe your sister can help you complete it. Submit it for the EA school. Then you can do it for,the regular decision schools with updated info when the time comes.</p>
<p>The FAFSA will not be available until January 1. Your information only will go on that form.</p>
<p>And yes, your efc is likely $0. If that is accurate, you would be entitled to the full Pell Grant of $5730 and a direct loan of about $9000 for your freshman year. </p>
<p>You have to send the CSS profile to the EA school when they asked for it. You may need to ask an adult help you fill it out – ask your sister to help you. The answers will be more obvious to someone who is older who has done taxes, etc., I expect. Call the school financial aid office if you are not sure how to fill it out, they are usually really helpful. Note that if you have something like inheritance assets in trust, those may need to be put into the CSS (but there is a spot where you can explain if you can’t access the money until a certain age or something). There is usually a link from the college financial aid website to the CSS profile site. It is a form that asks for a bunch of different financial information for you (the student) and your parents (most of which may be blank for you). </p>
<p>A predictor EFC of 0 means that you are probably eligible for Pell grants, and can take out federal student loans. That is all it really means. If you want to know how much it might cost you to attend a specific school, go to that school’s website. Go to the financial aid page, and find the net price calculator. Have your sister help you run that. You should do that ASAP for every school on your list, since not all schools meet financial need.</p>
<p>You can’t fill out FAFSA until January 1, so don’t worry about that right now.</p>
<p>In general, you will want to go to the financial aid website page for every one of your schools. Make a list (or spreadsheet) of all the due dates for financial aid materials. If you aren’t sure what something is, contact and ask them. Most of them are really helpful. But the dates, and sometimes what paperwork they want can vary quite a bit, so you need to keep track.</p>
<p>Oh, and there are often waivers available from schools for application fees if you are low income, which you seem to be. There might be a CSS fee waiver process, I am not clear (but someone else out here might be, or you could Google it).</p>
<p>Kudos for you for taking this one by yourself, good luck!</p>
<p>I’m not sure the net price calculator will be accurate for an independent student…but it’s worth trying.</p>
<p>Well… the parent info would all be zero, right? Not sure how guardian resources are treated, but I am not under the impression that colleges expect guardians to pony up financially for colleges as they expect parents to.</p>
<p>@thumper1 @intparent Thank you guys, this cleared a lot of things up! I am researching the CSS fee waiver thing right now but I think I may have to talk to my GC regarding that. I was planning to apply to my RD schools around Thanksgiving-ish, so should I submit the CSS around that time all at once or just do it for the EA school now?</p>
<p>Also, it has come up in a few NPCs I ran but when it asks about household size, etc., should I only put me as 1 since I’m considered independent or should I put everybody who lives with me?</p>
<p>I believe you are a family of one. YOU are not supporting any others. </p>
<p>@flexibility : Did your parents have life insurance? Do YOU have assets? Are you the beneficiary of a trust? If you are receiving social security due to the deaths of your parents maybe you have a bank account with the balance of unspent funds (if any)?</p>
<p>Has enough information been provided to determine that EFC 0 is likely?</p>
<p>@Madison85 No at life insurance. I have a student’s checking account and I am not sure about the trust. I think when my grandmother passed there was money left but I will have to double check the amount + what age I have access to it at.</p>
<p>Also there are savings bonds, do you know if I report that or not?</p>
<p>Depends on who owns the savings bonds at this point, but you probably do. You need to get a handle on all these assets before you can fill out the CSS profile. Ask your sister to help you, and make a list of everything that MIGHT be considered an asset. Even if it is not available to you, you may have to report it and then explain the situation around whether you can access it or not. You will have to report your checking account.</p>
<p>Yes, savings bond at current value are reportable. There are online calculators (have the bonds with you so you can enter the necessary information into the online calculator).</p>