<p>So I have been hounding my step daughter to get the FAFSA done as close to Jan 1 as possible. She has some decisions to make and wants to wait until she hears her admissions result back from USC (South Carolina) until March.</p>
<p>I told her it’s not wise to wait, you need to get your FAFSA in ASAP.</p>
<p>She calls the USC Fin Aid Office and tells me the person on the phone told her she has lots of time and can afford to wait for a few months?!?!??!</p>
<p>Am I just being paranoid and taking everything I read too seriously and should just trust the person in the office?</p>
<p>Your StepD may be taking the words literally…that the school has a later deadline. However, that deadline doesn’t mean that all of aid will last until then. She’s a kid, she doesn’t understand that. She hears March deadline and thinks all is good.</p>
<p>That said, what do you think her EFC will be? If her mom isn’t low income, then all of this fretting may be for naught. The type of aid that is limited is often for lowish income students. Things like Work study are limited, but big schools like USouthCarolina may only give WS to those with 0 EFCs.</p>
<p>I always advise my students to apply Early. In your case I think it is going to depend on her situation; if she is filing the FAFSA with her mom as the custodial parent, vs you and your husband and mom makes significantly less money, she should file ASAP. If you & your husband are the custodial parents, I would recommend that if you run your numbers through the FAFSA 4caster and found that you are not eligible for any financial aid other than loans, than it is not really necessary that you apply early. </p>
<p>However, if your stepD is eligible for federal aid (SEOG/FWS/Perkins loans), it is in her best interest to apply early because these funds are limited at schools and are disbursed on a first come first served basis.</p>
<p>If your StepD is eligible for need based aid, I would still advise her to get her paperwork in ASAP, because most schools do not meet 100% demonstrated need and have limited financial aid budgets. At schools that are need sensitive/need aware, it is usually toward the end where the money is running low that they decide to admit based on how much of the school’s resources a student may need.</p>