There is really no benefit to waiting to complete the FAFSA . There is a tax retrieval program that retrieves your tax info from the IRS once your taxes are completed which becomes active in Feb. Funds are typically distributed by college on a first come , first served basis until they run out( so I’ve been told by a FA representative)
@mysonsdad, don’t beat yourself up too much about the numbers. When you file your tax return you can go back into the FAFSA and use the IRS data retrieval tool and the info will transfer over right from the tax returns to the FAFSA.
Questions: D16 has applied to more than 10 schools. We submitted FAFSA on Jan 1st with 10 colleges and it was processed on Monday. We had to go back on it yesterday to fix an error and resubmit it. Do you know when we can go back and submit the other 3 schools? I know D16 received an email letting her know that her application was processed, but how do we know that the schools have actually received them and by deleting them, they will not miss the application?
@bookmom7 CONGRATS to you and your son that is a great accomplishment!!!
Congrats @bookmom7.
Congratulations @bookmom7 !
@lonetreegrad, this is what I found about applying to more than 10 colleges
Thank you everyone.
He sure didn’t get that science brain from me but, I am proud of him, nonetheless.
Since we are talking FAFSA…
Because we own a plumbing business I cannot really estimate our numbers very well, so I set out to do my taxes early, specifically, this week. Once the taxes are done I will do the FAFSA. My accountant is being fantastic and getting everything done this week. She has a daughter around the same age as my son so she understands. Because we own a business and there is no bookkeeper…that job falls to me. The the past several weeks I have entered into quickbooks about 3000 or more invoices/receipts and entered about 1500 or more expense receipts. I normally spend about 4 months, between Dec and April, slowly entering them, but this year I just sat down and started entering with a goal of Dec 31. It has been somewhat nightmarish. Once the taxes are back I can do both the FAFSA and Profile with real numbers, so that is a relief!
The good news is, thanks to several wise purchases we will come out with a much lower income this year! The bad news is that we wont next year, but since 2015 is counted twice we have some time to think about that. One thought we had is actually downsizing our house to get rid our our mortgage. It is funny. We moved to this side of town because of he schools. The houses were a little out of our reach financially but it was worth it for the school experience. Now that the oldest is leaving and the youngest is homeschooling we can move right back to the other side of town! Once again moving for education.
@mommdc Thanks. I saw that too, but D16 received her SAR on FAFSA website with the corrected EFC immediately after the new information was submitted, so I wasn’t sure if this new information was replaced for the schools or not. I thought that we will be getting another email to say that the colleges have received the FAFSA application!! I also thought that colleges have to download the application like the Common Application! Sorry, hopefully, this makes sense.
If ya’ll keep talking about FAFSA, I can’t keep ignoring that I have to do it!
@lvmjac1, I think most of us get the "should have"s at some point in raising the kids. Unfortunate in some ways that there are no do-overs. My youngest actually started public school last year for 5th grade, and is quite the happy camper with no intention of returning to Mom’s classroom. 
I’m not super impressed with what she has done thus far educationally; "A"s come easy to her there, because the challenges are not great. But she loves being there, so I let it go. Each of my kids have had such different needs.
@bookmom7 , what an accomplishment!!
Congrats @bookmom!!!
Congrats @bookmom!
@GoodGrief16 Here here! They are so different. We have done private, public and home school, all right for each particular kid at the time. I am very glad to have the options!
I am kind of surprised there are colleges out there which don’t consider computer science as a science.
D’12 slept through a couple of APs because the college she attends wasn’t going give credit for them.
@Mom2jl I went in and changed it to register. Thanks so much!
::banging head against wall::
One of D’s schools emailed today to say her application is not complete, because she did not take the writing portion of the ACT. She most certainly did take the writing portion, both times, so if they have a score at all (which they apparently do) they clearly should have her writing score.
This is not a school which is high on her list at the moment, but it would be nice to know whether she is accepted or not, since she actually did apply, and I paid to send the bleedin’ scores (and the application fees, and…).
@Petrichor11 I would be so frustrated too. Can you call the school and speak with someone?
@lvmjac1 Life is full of, I should haves. My biggest regret is not redshirting my S20 in kindergarten. He has so many speech issues. The preschool was telling us there were concerns about LDs. It never occurred to me to give him another year of preschool. Now all the research I am reading is that kids who are kept out of school an extra year have a significant decrease in ADHD symptoms. He really needed more time and we are paying for it now. Homeschooling, doesn’t make up for that mistake. There is nothing I could do about it now, so we all have to pay for that mistake.
I think if we play the “I should have” game we will be filled with regret. Remember, there are times that you got it right as well. Many people told me to force the school district to put S16 in a general education class right away and to keep him out of special day classes for ASDs. They said it would harm him. Well I did it my way. Two years of an SDC and it worked out much better for him. I chose well that time. It is all hit or miss, really. Who knows what will happen down the road. If only we had 20/20 future vision instead of 20/20 hindsight.
You did the best you could with the info you had. There is not time for regrets…
@LKnomad: I seriously considered redshirting D, between eighth and ninth grades. We were going to call it her “gap year” and just sort of…homeschool lite. (She was homeschooled for grades 4-8.) In retrospect, I think it would have been a good idea because she’s a relatively immature seventeen and in no particular hurry to grow up. We didn’t, though, because she has a twin brother and we thought it would be too odd.
A bit late now, and I suppose she won’t die from immaturity. And it’s possible that if we had taken that extra year, she’d regret not graduating on time. So who knows?