<p>Gunners…from what I understand, you can’t change it online, you have to mail the corrected version to each school that requires it.</p>
<p>Ok. I’m sure there are others out there like me. I have done all of the FA calculators and no one will give us any FA. We are blessed to have jobs and do well, but it’s not like I have all that money sitting in the bank for tuition. I have debated and debated on whether or not it is worth the time to fill out the FAFSA. I know we won’t get any aid. The one advantage would be for the federal loans. So, we are not filling out the FAFSA and praying like crazy for any little bit of merit aid that will make this bearable! I’m nervous that we even decided this, but honestly it won’t make any difference for us. Can anyone tell me if they have experience that the FA calculators are pretty accurate when they ended up getting their aid letter? Thanks.</p>
<p>Count me in for the HS '17/College '21 thread. I’m looking forward to a break when this one decides where he’s going but also want to start reading the new thread from the start.</p>
<p>RobD - THANK YOU! I would have been right there with you (going over the balcony for sure!) Lately, with the movie coming out, I have been having PTSD about that night I was trapped at the Kennedy Center. Everyone has been gushing about how much they just love it. Ahhhhhhhh!!! ha ha By the way- I saw Spamalot in 2007. AMAZING!! 
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<p>Greek - I’m not a financial expert, but SteveMA made a really great point about filling out the FAFSA no matter what. There are state funds that might be freed up, there are very reasonable loans that are accessible, etc. etc. I would fill it out no matter what. Here’s the thing - it can’t hurt you, it can only help.</p>
<p>He’s DONE!!! At looooonnnnng last!</p>
<p>I think we need to cut the college talk…my young D just told me that she named her frog webkins Johns HOPkins.</p>
<p>GreekMana - I think you should fill out the FAFSA! I think even though your EFC must be really high, you never know what could happen. We are in the same boat - not sure how we will pay for it because we absolutely do not have our anticipated EFC available at all. Our EFC is really high as well, and I know we are very lucky with great jobs, but really? So, even though we do not expect FA, we intend for our DD to obtain student loans to help pay for her college costs, and the FAFSA is necessary to get those loans.</p>
<p>Greek, you may want to fill out FAFSA for the first year. I did with S who is a sophomore in college, but did not bother for his second year. U Chicago already told us we would get no need based aid from looking at our Profile, and I think all of D’s schools require Profile, so I am not going to bother this year. We are not interested in loans. Also, make sure none of your schools require FAFSA for merit aid consideration.</p>
<p>Ok, so can I fill out the FAFSA and not send it anywhere? I just do it as a baseline in case something changes drastically in the future? I did check the schools where there might be a chance of merit aid, and I was told that the FAFSA is not required. We checked that we would not be applying for FA. Not that we don’t want and need it-- but you understand!</p>
<p>Just saw “this is 40” which was hilarious! Also saw a trailer for “Admission” coming out in the spring…Starring Tina Fey, who is an admissions counselor for Princeton. it looks REALLY funny, but mostly was sitting there thinking in how we could rent out a theater and all see it together. Picture a girl doing the splits on the ACs desk while talking about her Cuban father in a wheelchair, or a parent running beside her car offering a bunt cake! I was crying!</p>
<p>So I had to look up the Admission trailer–
[‘Admission</a>’ trailer, featuring Paul Rudd and Tina Fey | Inside Movies | EW.com](<a href=“http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/20/admission-trailer-tina-fey-paul-rudd/]'Admission”>http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/20/admission-trailer-tina-fey-paul-rudd/)</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound at all like the book but I think the movie will be better because it’s funny!</p>
<p>Moonpie: glad to hear a good recommendation for “This is 40.” I only do funny movies and the trailers for that have looked good. I read Admissions a few years ago and when I heard Tina Fey was in the lead I thought “hmmm, that doesn’t exactly seem to match the tone of the book” but I love Tina Fey so I’ll probably see that. Wait. I might see 2 movies in 1 year? That might be a record :)</p>
<p>Re: to file or not to file (the FAFSA.) I’ve heard that you should file it, even if you don’t think you’ll qualify for any need based aid because a) you then qualify for a student loan and b) one never knows how ones employment will be affected over a year; if you don’t file when you DON’T need it, it is near to impossible to get aid if your situation changes and you do need aid. We filed a FAFSA for D1 her senior year, but haven’t since because she went the big merit package route at UA. D2 may be a very different situation come April.</p>
<p>Hmm… I might have gotten mixed up about having additional information on the FAFSA - I did fill out three things this morning, so sorry if that’s incorrect.</p>
<p>GreekMana - I’ve heard fill out the FAFSA, definitely - it also can help with getting work study and those are often the best jobs on campus. You never know where that might be useful.</p>
<p>I wish we could all go to “Admission” together, too!</p>
<p>MommyDearest - Johns HOPkins?? LOL!! Congrats on being done!</p>
<p>Trees and all indoor signs of the holidays are gone.
The older ones are stressed over HW. S14 did none all break (I suggested he start days ago but of course he didnt) and claims he remembers nothing. Egad.
Small child is playing video games. I’m pondering bed… College football all day and clearly all night too is too much for me. Though I do like the brief commercials about the schools.
So everyone should do FAFSA huh? That should be depressing. But, ok. It may beat stalking college websites to see if they’ll release decisions early. :)</p>
<p>89wahoo: I thought that I was the only one stalking websites to see if they release early! C’mon U N I V. of U T A H!</p>
<p>OMG!!! I just put together a spreadsheet on FA forms we need to submit and due dates. They all say different stuff. Some say get FAFSA done as soon as possible and then update. Others say definitely wait to do FAFSA until taxes are completed. Dates for CSS are all over the place. Most want tax forms, but not all. Some schools even have their own forms to fill out. Ugghh!!</p>
<p>The only thing that helps is to think that it is only this messy this year. Next year we’ll be dealing with just one school.</p>
<p>Middle TN moms and dads…we should make a date to go see the movie together! I think it would be toooo fun! I had no idea it was a book first…may need to download for my iPad!</p>
<p>I had to get everything filled out early for ED for D2, so I just have to re-enter stuff when our taxes are done. even though I was cursing at the time, glad to have some of it off my plate. I hate tax time…so stressful being a small business owner : (</p>
<p>confetti247–don’t take Turbo Tax for gospel yet. There will be more patches, etc. to come and numbers don’t always work out for the best right now. Did you look on the actual "forms’ section for the numbers? Sometimes they show up there differently then the “refund” box at the top until they get all their updates done. There is probably some credit or something that isn’t calculating right.</p>
<p>Surgery is on for tomorrow unless DD gets sick again. She has been fine all day. Talked to one of her other dr’s and she thought DD should be fine tomorrow. Called the on call dr back and he said to call the office in the morning to double check as well but thinks she should be ok.</p>
<p>GreekMana–Fill it out. It only takes a few minutes if you have your taxes from last year handy and any papers from this year year (pay stubs, etc.) All we qualify for are the loans—anyone that fills out the FAFSA gets loans if they want. There are also outside, private scholarships, that use the FAFSA but their income guidelines are MUCH higher so you may still qualify for “need based” money through those. I’ve seen some that were over $250,000 AGI so you never know. Also, if things change down the road, funds at most schools are allocated for previous FA candidates first so by not filing you take yourself out of that group. We plan to take the loan funds because it’s cheap money to borrow–bank the funds for DD for med school. If she doesn’t use it for that, the money is there to pay back.</p>
<p>It’s actually depressing what they really think you can pay. Our EFC is a HUGE portion of our take-home pay–2 kids and it’s not quite 1/2 of our take home pay–sad really. We do like to eat every once in a while–heat is good in the winter too you know :D.</p>
<p>SteveMA - I’ll be thinking of you and your D tomorrow and sending positive healing vibes after. Take care of yourself as well.</p>