<p>om that college, then did I not waste my time and MONEY?</p>
<p>For example, say someone applied ED to Columbia University. Their CSS Profile due date for ED applicants was on Nov. 1st. So if the applicant sent in their CSS Profile along with their application, then would it not be a waste of money if the applicant got rejected ED from Columbia?</p>
<p>I hope people can understand what I am asking (I don’t know if I worded it correctly to express my thoughts.)</p>
<p>Also, what is the difference between FAFSA and CSS?</p>
<p>Why do some colleges require both? And what is up with the CSS costing money per each school; it would be one thing if it just had a one time fee.</p>
<p>The CollegeBoard is just brilliant at extracting more and more $$$ from students. They win. They’ve got you nailed. Yeah, you have to pay every time you order a Profile report, everytime you order another test score, everytime you register for a test, need to reschedule the test, change the test. Pretty soon they’ll figure out how to charge you to even request a brochure directly from a college or place a phone call to an admissions office. Count on it.</p>
<p>CSS is required for many private schools. It is administered by the College Board, and you’re right, it’s part of the racket. FAFSA is administered by the Federal Government and is required by state schools and many private schools (most? all?). They have most of the same information, not all the same, but are two distinctly different parts of the financial aid process, and both are required by a lot of schools.</p>
<p>The problem is that if you wait until acceptances come in, the schools don’t have sufficient time to give you an estimated financial aid package before you have to declare where you want to go (or in ED, to determine that the FA package is insufficient in enough time to allow you to apply elsewhere).</p>
<p>In RD, you get your acceptances in April, and have to reply by May 1. There’s no way that a school could wait, get the financial aid papers from all its accepted students, process them and give them a package in enough time to make an informed decision about where to go.</p>
<p>I agree it’s ridiculous that students have to pay for transmission of the Profile, but as far as timing goes, there’s no other way than apply for FA during the admissions process.</p>
<p>Well I wasn’t complaining about the money exactly, I was mostly complaining about how the process is structured in such a way that an applicant has to pay extra to know his potential financial aid package from a college that may not even accept him/her. If that were to happen, then the applicant would have not only wasted his/her time in doing the application and his/her money for the application, but also his/her money for the CSS profile.</p>
<p>Now imagine if the applicant, such as myself, is applying to at least 7-10 schools, some of which are top notch schools such as the Ivy-League. Then do you see why money can be a factor?</p>