<p>We are a two CPA family here although I haven’t done tax work in forever-it’s like anything else though the more you do the easier it gets-having to just do your own once a year is harder than preparing lots of them.</p>
<p>I know nothing really about the FAFSA other than we didn’t get any aid out of it and my husband did it-he also did the CSS Profile-I think he thought that one was harder but I can’t recall offhand.</p>
<p>D got the Vassar big mailer today. She opened it up and immediately said “Wow, this smells nice!” and sticks her nose to the letter. I grab the paper and inhale. Hmm…it seems familiar. I give it to H who sniffs it and he says “it smells like a mimeograph!” S21 also took a whiff (yeah, you all look at the information colleges send, we sniff it).</p>
<p>Is anyone here old enough to remember mimeographed paper? Sniffing the freshly mimeographed paper the teacher handed out?</p>
<p>We did the FAFSA for D12 because all the schools said it was a good idea. We got nothing but loans. We did not fill out the CSS profile. Somebody at work just did and said it was 22 pages!! Is it true that each profile school has a different CSS profile? That is a ton of work!!</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the CSS, but a friend just did it and said it was much longer and “more invasive” than the FAFSA. I was also told you have to fill out the forms (for some schools) if you want to receive MERIT aid. I am really hoping that that is not true – merit should be based on the scores I thought?</p>
<p>twogirls, my sister <em>thought</em> about filling out the CSS profile when her son first entered college (he graduates this year). But she decided that it wasn’t worth the pain and she and her husband are full-pay at $60K!.</p>
<p>Ugh I can’t pay $60,000!!! The schools that my D12 applied to and the schools on D15 list do not require the FAFSA for merit. I called the FA office and asked. A few ask for the FAFSA ( Kenyon? Brandeis?) to get merit but most do not. Thankfully nobody requires the CSS. </p>
<p>Ohhh, I remember mimeographs. I loved that smell and the slightly wet feel of the paper. It was probably loaded with toxins. ;)</p>
<p>We have never filled out the CSS profile but I do remember that they looked difficult and lengthy. I think most schools do not require the FAFSA for merit but I know we were encouraged to complete it anyway. </p>
<p>@mamabear
We went through the FAFSA /CSS route with d1. Yes, despite what others say on cc some schools do require these for merit aid. Since we were talking about W &L, I recall they required a CSS profile for the Johnson scholarship ( merit) The process was intense, and also contained a supplement asking when we bought our cars, what we paid for them etc. Was some frantic searching through old financial records to pull all the info.</p>
<p>Remember " dittos"? LOL!!</p>
<p>Well we have 2 more snow days built into the calendar and after that they take from the April break. They start with April 17, them April 16, and lastly the 14th. Hopefully we will not have more than 2 more snow days. We have a few visits lined up for that week >:P and I took personal days Monday and Tuesday. </p>
<p>Wasn’t there an 80’s movie with a teacher named Ditto and he would pass out the dittos and the kids would smell them? What movie was that?</p>
<p>All Financial Aid stuff is H’s department. I take care of all the research, planning, visiting, applications and he does the money. He is the tax guy after all, he should be able to figure out these forms.</p>
<p>In junior high I took print shop. We mimoegraphed, printed, made blocks…everything was mechanical and ink-based, no computers back then :D</p>
<p>I remember being a TA in the late 80s and turning the handle on the mimeograph machine to make those awful purple copies. At the same time we were using xerox machines and dot matrix printers, and wondering just why some of the professors were still insisting on using mimeographs. </p>
<p>twogirls, won’t you want to fill out the CSS anyway? As I recall we submitted it to almost all of the schools our son applied to (mostly small LACs). It may not be a factor in determining merit (nor should it, in my opinion) but if you are hoping for any need-based aid you will probably have to do it.</p>
<p>Tonight I feel tired and old enough to remember cuneiform on clay tablets!</p>
<p>My older kid did not have any schools requiring the CSS profile- only the FAFSA. We got nothing except offers for loans. There are probably about 6 profile schools on my D15’s list. That means filling out 6 CSS profiles? It seems like a lot of work when I already know that we do not qualify for FA. Our income makes us " too rich" for FA yet " too poor" to write out checks for $50,000. The only 2 schools where we may get something would be Princeton or Harvard, :-L as we seem to be at the top of their chart for FA. Our income is not considered high around here- we live in a very high cost of living area. We live in a basic house- nothing fancy. </p>
<p>Question: The schools on my D’s list do not require us to fill out the FA forms in order to qualify for merit aid. I read that the CSS profile takes home equity into account and they expect you to use it. Given that our mortgage is almost paid off that does not help us out much. On a positive note we will have a little extra money in another 3 years to put towards school ( at least some of it). Here is my question: what is the benefit to filling out these forms when I already know that we won’t get FA and the forms are not necessary to qualify for merit aid not based on need? Do profile schools give grants to people who fill out these forms " just because?" She will not be attending a school that won’t give her merit, except for our state school which we already have the money for. Any school that comes in without merit automatically gets tossed. The only reason I can think of for filling out the forms ( and this is a biggie) is if you lose your job etc down the road. I hear that if you don’t fill them out freshman year you can’t fill them out later on…but if she already has merit this may not matter. </p>
<p>Ugh very confusing. Everything that I read on the FA forum on CC states that people who make less than we do will not qualify for anything. This is the reason why I think filling out these forms is pointless unless she applies to Princeton. Some merit awards have a need component- she is not going after those awards, but that would be a reason to fill out the forms. I will call all of the schools to check again. </p>
<p>Getting ready for snow!!!</p>
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<p>Thanks for making me almost spit out my coffee!</p>
<p>twogirls, sorry it is so confusing. We did talk to a FA person at my son’s college and he was super helpful. Of course I have blocked it all out now because filling out all those forms was a big pain. :(</p>
<p>We filled out the CSS for my older daughter, but since I am at the lower end of the income scale, it was mostly “no, we don’t have a second house; no, we don’t have a boat, etc., etc.” I’m a single parent now (got divorced when my older daughter was a junior in college) and now it’s just my income that will count, and since I am in college right now, I know that we will qualify for Pell grants unless something amazing happens in my career in the next year. Which I’m not expecting. </p>
<p>Irishmom we do not have a second home or a boat either, but everything that I have read on CC indicates that we will not get FA based on need because our income is too high- however I suppose we will never know unless we fill out the forms. </p>
<p>We filled out the CSS when applying-we actually got some FA from Bucknell! Otherwise no we qualified for nothing at CSS schools and or FAFSA schools. My husband fills out the FAFSA every year just in case-I don’t know if it’s true or not whether you have to have applied the year before in order to qualify in a year you may have different circumstances and apply and would otherwise qualify. He has not filled out the CSS since but yes they do ask for all kinds of information. It is quite comprehensive but since it’s their money they are giving out I guess they can ask whatever they want. I have a lot of friends who were in total shock when they found out they were full pay-I strongly advise all of you going through this the first time to use each school’s NPC if offered before your child gets accepted to their dream school and it becomes a nightmare decision.</p>
<p>Last night was the first time I had heard of snow days being built into a schedule and I had to have it explained to me numerous times before I grasped the concept! Must be all those mimeos I sniffed back in the dark ages! Here we just add them to the end of the year and once it goes past the date they can go to they start taking them out of the vacations. I wish they’d drop February vacation anyway and go to one week like I know some areas do. We also start right before Labor Day and go until mid June best case scenario. I have wondered how kids with AP classes fare since the exam is given 4-5 weeks before our school year ends. My son self studied for several and told me in Chem and Calc they covered the material in their non-AP class right after he took the AP exam so it will be interesting to see how my daughter finds taking one of the two actual AP classes our school now offers.</p>
<p>No second homes or boats either-the thing is each school looks at different things and there really is no way for sure to know unless you are accepted-but filling out the NPC at schools you are interested in is a good way to be blindsided. Like I said we qualified at one school-the rest nothing but I think if it’s the first time doing this I would recommend filling the form out. I doubt we will do it this time but with two kids in school at the same time for one year we probably will since that is a different circumstance.</p>