Finished out taxes! yippee!!
Then waded back into FAFSA & CSS to update with new numbers -it didn’t get any better- but, I still feel relieved that it is done!
Congrats @collegemom2boys! What a great birthday present.
Good luck to all our interviewees of the weekend
Great birthday present @collegemom2boys
@collegemom2boys congrats and happy birthday to your son
I hope to join you soon @bookmom7! I am sure it feels good to have that all finished.
I finished the FAFSA awhile ago on estimated numbers and finished taxes about a week ago. I went back into FAFSA and changed from will file to have filed. The directions say the link to connect to the IRS will just be there but it isn’t. Is it just a matter of waiting a few more days for my return to be fully processed by the IRS and the link will appear? We meet all the requirements for being able to do the direct connection.
@dcplanner, yes, just a few days wait and the option should appear
@dcplanner i think I read the direct upload to/from IRS was going to be available soon, possibly by or before mid-Feb.
I was told the IRS retrieval tool goes live Feb 7
Well, H just paid the deposit to Fisk, since it is refundable through May 1. This will allow D to register for the scholars’ weekend in April, and that registration goes live next week. It’s basically an accepted students weekend, but you can register for classes, while parents can confer with FA or housing, etc. if so desired. They seem to have a special performance each year. Last year it was the Jubilee Singers, the year before it was NIkki Giovanni. The long lead time and the fact that it’s refundable gives us plenty of time to change our minds well before we’d need to buy tickets to get there or have anything carved in stone.
Tomorrow D has that education conference we learned about, then it’s back to the science fair project. Mock up is done, now it’s on to the report writing. She and her partner were like the flying Dutchman, teachers kept moving them from room to room to hall, to outside, as they tried to finish building it.
On a completely unrelated note, I was doing some ancestry research for my niece, who is due with her first child in May, and is looking for possible names from one side of the family. I learned that my first American ancestor was a very successful, but not very great guy, with documented slumlord history, some possible insurance fraud, a little swindling and maybe even a Mafia connection! Holy Cow! On the plus side, by the time it came down to my grandparents’ generation everyone seemed on the up and up and had regular ordinary lives. I also learned that this branch of the family was not very creative when it came to names, and seemed to produce mostly males. So there were many of the same 4 names through the generations. Family gatherings must have been confusing when someone called “Joe” or “Nick”!
@sseamom at least they used 4 names and not like George Foreman who named all his kids George.
Congratulations on the deposit @sseamom and @collegemom2boys
I am getting taxes done tomorrow and I was hoping to use IDOC after I was done. I never even realized that I have to wait for the IRS to process.What if they don’t have it done by the 15th? Can we just change the FAFSA/CSS numbers and submit or do we have to use the IDOC service? Also, for corrected CSS did any of you scan and email the corrected form?
According to some people on the NEU thread, looking at last year’s thread some NEU decisions with scholarships should be coming out this week.
IRS data retrieval is available 2 weeks after the IRS processes your return
@Mysonsdad- Yes, you have to use IDOC. At least now it can be done online. Most of the dates are late enough that it won’t be a problem. Have you logged into IDOC yet? It will tell you what the earliest deadline is-I think S '16’s is 3/1. On correcting the CSS, you might check with the schools first. They may not care about corrections if the numbers are close. They will just use your tax info and make adjustments.
It’s not that big of a deal, really. Just take a deep breath and make a good-faith effort. In our experience, FA depts are reasonable with reasonable people. They get that life throws you unexpected circumstances. We had that happen one year in the fall quarter and S’13s office just held up billing while they sorted it all out. D '10 had a similar situation at her LAC. It will all work out and next year will seem like a piece of cake in comparison!
DS has become impatient with the phone calls. They all want to know where they rank on his list. He was honest on the last call and told the caller that he was definitely not going there. I do not know if it was a student or AO but I think it was a good sign that DS is able to really drop one off of the list. We do still need to go into their system and formally decline. Great school but not “the one” for my DS. Progress is good!
@Cheeringsection- Good for your son! It’s nice to be wanted and have choices, but good to know your own mind.
@Mysonsdad- One more thing about IDOC… if the 2015s are not going to be ready in time for the deadlines, sometimes the 2014s can be submitted directly to the financial aid offices and then you can follow up with the 2015 info. But check with the colleges and don’t be late or you could end up with more loans or less money in general!
Thanks critter
I uploaded a copy of the return that I downloaded from turbo tax. Is that going to be ok? I just submitted them to the IRS two days ago, but on IDOC it said docs from your tax prep software were preferable. Just hope I’m not missing something. All of this is for a super long shot school …
All I can suggest is that you call the schools on Monday, but if it says that is preferable then it sounds like you are okay. I don’t think that doing the IDOC wrong is going to affect admissions. All this stress, it feels like we are walking on a tightrope where one wrong mistake and it is all over.
@Mysonsdad You are so right. This is my first experience with a kid applying to selective schools. D09 applied to several state schools and some in-state privates that she wasn’t even all that interested in. Had never even heard of the CSS before this past year.
@CAMidwestMom We are in the same boat. D11 applied to cc so this is all new to me. I think S and I have made every mistake possible and most are realized seconds after submitting a form. I had never heard of the CSS profile before either. Lol
Sorry - more IDOC questions.
DH is self employed. Had a horrible 2014, 2015 was MUCH better, but the accountant says our taxes will NOT be ready to submit to the IRS until April.They did a mock return for us for the FAFSA, but will not have the real #'s until April.
What do we do? This is SO stressful!