<p>Embarrassed to be asking this question after being around on CC for years.
This fall we will have 2 kids attending 4 yr colleges. One will be a continuing student. His Fafsa is not a problem since the due date is not anytime soon. His school doesn’t require it for merit aid and he just gets his unsubsidized loan.
My other child is applying as a junior transfer from a community college. She is not presently getting any aid. At this point she has applied to about 11 schools. The FAFSA due date I need to meet is March 2nd. Problem being our taxes will not be done. H’s income is complicated as his income is not just from salary.
How do I complete the FAFSA if I don’t have the adjusted gross income numbers? Guess? or use last years? From the years on CC I know at some point I can correct the numbers. If she is applying to 11 or 12 schools when can I delete some and add the others? Do I have to wait till after the corrections are done?
In the past with 1 in college at a 4 yr school we have not qualified for need based aid. I doubt we will this time but I am hoping that my oldest the transfer student gets some sort of aid with 2 of them in college.
Thanks</p>
<p>I would post this on the financial aid forum, but my 2 cents:</p>
<p>Use last year’s numbers, adjusted as you are able, to approximate.</p>
<p>You can delete and add new schools after you have received the SAR.</p>
<p>You can do corrections after you’ve done the first round (both sets of schools) with approximations.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>I did the FAFSA based on last year’s taxes. There is a place where you indicate that you haven’t filed yet this year. You can amend it later.</p>
<p>I have another question. I was told we had to do a FAFSA for even merit-based scholarships. Is that true? We have saved for college so we won’t qualify for FA. I did the FAFSA anyway but I don’t think that the colleges my S is considering need it.</p>
<p>Barfly, the answer to your question is school-specific. Of all the schools my D applied to last year, only one required financial information (CSS Profile, not Fafsa) to be considered for merit aid.</p>
<p>My son did not need to do Fafsa for his merit scholarship. We do it so he can get the student loan.
When my D applied 5 yrs ago she was also given merit aid without a FAFSA.
Thanks I will use last years numbers.</p>
<p>You can do FAFSA as “will file”
Your assets need to be accurate that exact date
Your tax numbers are guesstimates and I suggest you make them all 000 numbers, like 1000, 10,000 so it is easy to go back and make corrections</p>
<p>mom60-Will she turn 24 by the end of the year? If so, she can file as an independent student.</p>
<p>I wish. Only turning 23 this year. Not sure how that plays out the following year. Would she be independent at that point and eligible for need based aid even if we support her?</p>
<p>There is a help section to the FAFSA and FAQs that are helpful too. There are a series of questions that you answer and they will tell you if the student qualifies to be an independent. </p>
<p>We amended our FAFSA 8 times the first year. It is no big deal. But please get this done ASAP. The FAFSA’s are usually processed by the colleges in the order they are received – so get it done NOW so you have your place in line. Once you have your place in line, you can add information as it comes in.</p>
<p>Olymom- Fafsa is the chore of the day tomorrow. Also realized that 3 of the schools also want the CSS Profile. Printed out the 17 page pre-application worksheet. Wow!</p>
<p>File your FAFSA using estimates and a “will file” status regarding your taxes. However I would suggest you use end of year pay information to get your numbers rather than last year’s tax return (unless you have very little change). Perhaps you have some end of year pay stubs or other records of income payment? If so, use those. Use the “year to date” info from the last income information received in 2009.</p>
<p>Try to get your taxes done as soon as reasonably possible. Remember that in many cases, financial aid awards given based on estimates are also only estimates. The schools will finalize your award once you’ve amended your FAFSA to reflect the 2009 tax numbers.</p>
<p>Some schools DO require the FAFSA even for merit aid dispersement (my kids both attended such schools). </p>
<p>What did you do the year your other child was a freshman?</p>
<p>When son was a freshman we had only 1 in college so we knew we would not qualify for aid. When he did not get merit aid at one of his choices they suggested we file a FAFSA anyway. They awarded him institutional aid though we qualified for no need based aid. His college of choice did not require FAFSA for his merit aid. We file it just so he can get his student loan. Because of that we can file the FAFSA at a date after we get our taxes done. Due to my H’s family finances we use an accountant. He gets the taxes done by April 15th and rarely much before. Also H is self employed so it is not so simple as getting the income off the W2.
We filed a FAFSA last year for both of them. Since she was at a CC we did not get any aid.
I doubt we will get any this time. Fortunately and unfortunately my spouse has some property that he holds in partnership with several other family members that he received from his parents. Due to the way the property is held the portion can not be sold. It generates some income but the value is what causes us a problem. Problem is that at full price we can not afford two college tuitions. We do know it is a lucky problem to have.
Unfortunately most schools do not award merit aid to transfer students. This will have an impact on her final decision. If she could qualify as a dependent for her 4th yr she might have more choices. We have fully supported her for the last 4 1/2 yrs through some medical conditions and are looking forward at some point to have her off of our payroll.</p>