<p>Our expected family contribution calculated using standard formulas is above the in-state cost of SBU. I assume that in this case we cannot expect any fin. aid from a state school. Correct? But there is still hope for scholarships and merit aid. Do we need to sumit FAFSA for it? Or merit aid is strictly merit and does not take parent’s income into account?
Also I found no clear deadline for FAFSA on the SBU web site. Is it better to submit an estimated FAFSA now (we are doing this for a school with Feb. 1 fin aid deadline, the estimate is pretty accurrate)? Or should we wait till 2007 taxes are done (is March 1 too late?)?</p>
<p>i called FAFSA customer service since my parents (including myself also) had not gotten our W-2’s yet, should get them this week, but she said that you should use answers from last year and choose the “WILL TAX” answer for the question that asks you if you have filed them or not. Then she said after they are done, you should make “corrections” to it with the most up to date/accurate information and change the “WILL FILE” to “FILED”.</p>
<p>Basically, she said it’s best just to have an answer to all the questions and get it filed, then fill in the corrections. She also said unless the answers you originally estimated are totally different, the system will ask you the same question 2-3 times repeatedly to make sure it is accurate this time around.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if this is 100% what we are surposed to do, but I did that since she said it’s best to meet the deadline and we can always make corrections on out FAFSA.</p>
<p>There’s no “deadline,” necessarily, but I believe they recommend March 1 for optimal consideration.</p>
<p>And no, the FAFSA is not required for scholarships, I believe.</p>
<p>Chris</p>
<p>Thanks guys. We tried our best. Due to some reason the FAFSA site does not let us to send any more apps (we sent only two so far). We will have to negotiate it with them tomorrow. Hopefully it will be resolved in a timely manner</p>