The FAFSA uses prior, prior year tax return now.
So for a student starting college in fall of 2018 (current seniors), they file the 2018/19 FAFSA for the 2018/19 school year with 2016 tax info.
A school might require FAFSA to be filed to determine if student is eligible for federal or state grants, before they award merit.
Your best bet is to call and ask if you can’t get a clear answer on the website.
Some schools won’t consider you for financial aid in subsequent years if you haven’t applied in freshman year, but I think that applies just to institutional aid.
You don’t have to file the FAFSA if you don’t want to take out student loans. But you can file it at any time during the school year to get loans (school might have a deadline to have enough time to process the loan).
Some local scholarship applications asked for FAFSA EFC when my D applied, to ascertain financial need I think.
@cardinal2020mom I would ask the GC, especially since other students are in the same situation.
With regards to the FAFSA, we are with @traveler98. We have too much put away in 529 and other investments. Plus, D is leaning towards Canadian schools, which have minimal costs for us, independent of merit awards. Filling out the FAFSA seems pointless in our case. Not gonna do it.
I hope this didn’t come across as too pushy, but I’m an anxious parent with a first child going to college. I sent an email to the GC this morning and copied the head of the Counseling Department. Tried to make it sound like we had some questions regarding the National Merit app, but really, I just wanted to get some response that the GC knew the application is due in two days.
Our S18 turned in his counseling questionnaire a couple weeks ago (the counselors have all the kids fill it out so they can try to write a decent rec and so they know when all the deadlines are and which colleges you need recs for). He filled out his NMSF app a couple weeks ago as well and the GC portion has not been completed yet. I know they’re busy, but you’d think that the NMSF things would be the first to go out as they have the first hard deadline.
Anyway, I also reminded him that there is another deadline coming up on the 15th for our son (and I don’t know if they work on the weekends, so the school portion I’m hoping will be completed by this Friday) and let him know many more apps will be submitted this week as a heads up.
How do you all keep your calm when it is getting down to just a handful of days and no progress has been made on the school side of things?!
@RoonilWazlib99 , just want to say I feel your pain. My S18 is at a large public school, and I have been really trying not to stress too much waiting for the GC and teachers to confirm they are on track for EA deadlines. I was thrilled and relieved to get emails last night (weekend!) from both saying that they have completed everything for Common App schools and are working on the Coalition App. Whew!!! I hope you get confirmation that progress has been made for your son, but that it just wasn’t communicated to you. Congrats to him on NMSF!!
@daffodilpetunia : Go ahead and fill out the FAFSA. It is not a “scholarship application.” It is a federal form that most schools use as a basis to make financial aid calculations. Even private colleges use it as a vehicle to collect some basic information. Even if you won’t qualify for financial aid, some schools want you to fill it out anyway because that is how they get you into their financial data system.
@RoonilWazlib99, to help set your mind at ease you could call NMSC and ask what can be done about the school portion of the NMF application. They’ll know that your S has done his part of the application and may be able to help or be flexible on the school portion.
I heard back very quickly from GC. He said he completed S18’s letter over the weekend and has everything he needs to complete applications from his end. So hopefully it all goes smoothly!
S18 getting ready to hit submit on:
Georgia Tech
Cal Poly SLO
Stanford
Dartmouth (regular decision, but just submitting his app now because it is done)
University of Wisconsin
University of Michigan
Virginia Tech (another regular decision, but just done and wants it off his mind)
University of Washington
Tonight!
Wahooooooooo!
Then only three left after that. Two early and one regular, but one of the earlies is UCSD and he is still trying to rank the schools (any input for a potential engineering major with a strong interest in other disciplines?? He said Roosevelt looked the best so far with Warren second). The other early is another UC school, but he can’t move the application for either forward without ranking the UCSD schools.
Turns out my daughter’s CA information (submitted on 9-1) showed up in the guidance counselor’s OTHER portal, that the GC knew nothing about. I am fit to be tied. She accepted the link on October 5, and I just emailed her to say the deadline is ASAP. I think we will be all right, but I don’t trust this lady at all. The two really good GC’s both retired, so we are left with three newbies.
Breathe. Breathe. MUST. NOT. ASK. S. ABOUT. MCDERMOTT. ANYMORE. Yesterday we were chatting and I couldn’t resist bringing up McDermott yet again. I know, I know. I said I wouldn’t bug him about it but I have totally been bugging him. He was very calm and very polite but he asked me not to mention it anymore. He knows the early-read deadline and he knows what he has left to do. He’s interested in the program but is aware it’s a (very) long shot and that the honors program and NMF benefits at UTD are great. He thinks he would enjoy the extra experiences of McDermott and he would absolutely accept a spot if it were offered, but he’s still struggling with writing so many personal essays. I NEED to back off and stop asking him about it, as I told myself to do many weeks ago. I’d better find some busy work to keep me occupied for the next few weeks. I’ve been meaning to organize the cabinets anyway… :))
@traveler98 - when is the deadline? Feel free to vent away here and talk about it all you want!
S18 also submitted first scholarship application last week. It was a private one. He’s not applying to any at particular schools except the Honors programs, but most of those are just auto applications based on your regular app.
And he was so cranky about getting up and doing the SAT this Saturday because he is only doing it for National Merit. He asked why he had to do it if you only really need semifinalist status to get merit money at schools and put it on your applications. I told him it was worth some money if he did well enough and he grumbled some more but then came home and said he thought it was so much easier than the ACT. He said he felt like he had an extra 15-20 minutes on each section whereas with the ACT, he scrambled to complete the sections on time, especially the math section. Crossing my fingers he was right and he did well enough.
@Traveler98 it is an intense application, my son has done the 5 super short sentances and 5 out the 8 1000 character essays. I think the most daunting part is that dang introduction video.
Hi. DD has submitted four apps. University of Colorado Boulder, University of Denver, University of San Francisco and University of Arizona. These are all really safeties for her I think stats wise. She has a 3.97 weighted (cut off for top 10% of her class is 4.1 and a 31 ACT). We have visited Boulder and Denver and she likes them both. Loves USF on paper - anyone know anything about it? CC doesnt have much about it. UA she applied to just so she can hear back and know she is going to college as none of her others are rolling. Still trying to find a couple of reaches that she would be excited by. Mostly interested in west coast and open to the NE. Wants at least medium to large size wise and says she must be near at least a small city. Interested in photography, social justice and diversity. And of course - doesnt want to have to write additional essays but seems resigned to the fact that for more competitive schools - she will need to:) I have enjoyed reading this thread and am glad to know my 17 year old isnt alone in not having her drivers license.
@RoonilWazlib99 we are in the same boat. Counselor portion of the NMF application is still not turned in. Trying not to freak out. D sent another reminder email to her today. I will start freaking out at the end of the day if that thing isn’t done. And it’s my 50th b day today. I really don’t want to start freaking out over this.
Thanks @RoonilWazlib99! The early read deadline is November 2 and the regular deadline is January 3; the program is so competitive that S knows his only real chance is if he gets his application in by the early read date though. My guess is that only an extraordinary applicant (you know, the nationally recognized musician who cured cancer and reads to blind senior citizens after leading meetings as student body president) could submit for January 3 and still become a finalist. S is not that kind of applicant.
@3scoutsmom, my S probably has the same percentage done as your S but he’s got more of the longer essays done and hasn’t started the five sentences. He’s not exactly nervous about doing the video, just figuring out how to make it only two minutes.
Back from our last (thank god) college tour. We’ve seen 21 schools in 9 states over the last year and a half. DD’s final list of schools to apply to was due today to her GC, so this was our last chance to kick the tires. Some surprises this tour, even!
WashU in STL: Beautiful campus. If Disney designed a college campus, it would probably look like this. Stone buildings, beautiful quads. But DD wasn’t sold, possibly because everyone we heard from/talked to was pre-med, which is not DD’s jam at all.
Carnegie Mellon: After WashU, CMU looked pretty junky to my eyes—and I’m an alumnus. But there’s a kind of charm to the shagginess. At WashU you’d be afraid to hang something on the wall, whereas at CMU tearing stuff apart and rebuilding it would be par for the course. The mix of arts and engineering is really unique and allows for some different interdisciplinary blends.
Oberlin: It didn’t help that the day was raining and grim. We were poised to love Oberlin, but only found it ok. Some of the buildings and facilities are really dated and the We’ve Turned Progressive to 11 vibe is a bit much.
Kenyon: We had low expectations for Kenyon, but really liked the school. It’s gorgeous and has a good, easygoing community vibe. It’s really out in rural Ohio, but didn’t seem to bug us as much as equally remote Oberlin.
