<p>Exactly how “vital” is it to fill out the FAFSA correctly? I went to an informational fin-aid meeting once which turned out only to be a company advertising their services for helping individuals fill out their FAFSA forms - for a few thousand dollars. A friend told me that such services cost so much because the way you fill out the form is very particular, any “wrong information” (I’m not sure what that means) could lead to the government withholding just that much more money from you, that you could have been eligible for. But there was a service called College Goal Sunday advertised at school, which said that if you went to one of the locations at which they were held, they would fill out the FAFSA for you for free. How and why can there be such a huge discrepency in numbers?</p>
<p>It is important to fill it out correctly. The numbers go into a formula so obviously if you put in a number wrong it will affect the outcome. But there are no “tricks” . Just follow the instructions and put the correct numbers in the correct places. If you are unsure about what goes where there are detailed instructions here.
[Completing</a> the FAFSA 08-09/The Application Questions(1-31)](<a href=“http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2008_2009/ques.html]Completing”>http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/students/publications/completing_fafsa/2008_2009/ques.html)
One thing we did the 1st time is complete one of the EFC calculators to get an idea of what to expect for our EFC. That way we would know to check if the FAFSA EFC came out vastly different. We used the one at finaid.org and it was pretty spot on.
[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and Financial Aid](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml]FinAid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml)</p>
<p>It is very straightforward, but I found it easy to make mistakes. In fact, I did make a mistake, by entering a wrong numeral in my soc sec number. There was no way to go back on line and correct the error. I had to wait for FAFSA to process the incorrect form, then I had to print out a signature page and overnight mail it to FAFSA. Then they had to correct the online form to reflect the correct soc sec number. I was up against a hard deadline, and was very anxious that this would not make the deadline. But it turned out fine; the whole thing from error to correct took three days, not the two weeks they originally predicted. So. The difficulty is in being absolutely certain that you don’t make a mistake. </p>
<p>Another mistake I made was going at first to fafsa.com. This is a business and charges upwards of $100 to fill out the form for us. I did that, erroneously thinking that it was the correct web site. That site is fafsa.ed.gov, and is free. Companies can do it for people, and I guess they promise not to make the kind of mistake I made. But it is not that difficult. I should have taken my time, and not gotten so stressed.</p>
<p>it is easy to make mistakes- but it is free and easy to correct them</p>
<p>I forgot to mention, when I went to fafsa.com, I realized the mistake right away. I called them, and they canceled my order, without charging me. They were defensive about their services, but I had no problem voiding what I had just done. Sorry about posting twice.</p>
<p>How can some people fill out their taxes by themselves, while others pay accountants or tax preparers to do it? FAFSA’s no different. If you do your own taxes, you can do your own FAFSA. And, just like accountants, FAFSA services charge whatever the market will bear.</p>