When first filling out my CSS profile I went through all my schools and googled if they needed the CSS profile, and then searched each school in the CSS profile looking itself as well. Somehow, however, I missed Ithaca College in the filing. I went back February 1st (Having sent in the rest of my application + FAFSA the 31st of December) and after clicking around and exploring the portal they have for prospective student, found that their CSS priority deadline was January 15th. It didn’t bother me (having assumed I had submitted it over a month before) until I went onto my CSS account to get my ID for my IDOC and didn’t see Ithaca. I panicked and immediately submitted it.
I considered myself a fairly good applicant for admission and aid for Ithaca–31 ACT composite, 32 superscored (I sent in test scores for both ACTs I took just in case), 3.5 UW GPA, 3.7 W–but now I’m worried. I do have a very low EFC (<1,000) due to my family’s situation, but now I’m very concerned over my chances of receiving aid. Neither of my parents have been to college and don’t really understand the process of applying, and our guidance counselors limit themselves to sending in documents, so I’ve been trying to do this on my own as much as I could, but now I’m worried. From what I’ve heard from friends that are more familiar with it, Ithaca is stingy with institutional aid as it is? I just didn’t expect a school to require the CSS profile before their application deadline.
Is there anything I could do to fix this? And how bad of a situation is it really? I don’t believe any of my reasoning will be seen as legitimate by them, and I admit it was a foolish mistake for me to make, but I was really interested in this school. I’ve already received acceptance to two schools with good? merit scholarships (Quinnipiac University and Becker College) so I do have alternatives of course, but … like I said, Ithaca was high interest for me. My end goal is a DVM, so taking out large loans for undergrad isn’t preferred.