Luckily my younger sibling will enter college right as my sister graduates, so this won’t be an issue for me 
That being said, there is a very slight chance that my sister will graduate one semester (NOT one year) early. Does anyone know how this would work in terms of financial aid? Would my need-based aid be significantly higher in the fall than the spring or will it be counted as though she were enrolled for the whole year?
Thanks all for the suggestions! In addition to the ones mentioned, I'm also looking into Pitt - I know that the big merit is not a given, but the results thread looks very promising this year and it seems that if you apply early (like as soon as it opens), they will be a lot more generous! I'm also planning to apply to UConn (I'm in-state there) and my counselor said that I'm a shoo-in for their honors program. The only thing is that they're not exactly known for having fantastic aid, but I guess we'll see.
Also, if one or both of my parents were to get higher-paying jobs in the middle of my undergrad career, that would affect my aid for future years, correct? Let’s say this were to happen in the middle of the 2020-2021 school year. What would be the first year affected by this increase?