<p>Is there enough time to wait until the end of January of senior year when your tax info comes and then run the EFC calculators to narrow down the colleges to send applications to, or does waiting that long hurt the chances of getting acceptance to a top college for my son? Trying to develop a game plan for next year.</p>
<p>The finances are the limiting factor. He is a junior but has great grades etc so he at least has a shot at some of the better colleges.</p>
<p>I hope this isn’t too simplistic a question!</p>
<p>The right time to run the EFC calculators for the first time is about 30 seconds after you learn that the things exist. The right financial information to use when you do that is your current financial situation and your most recent tax returns.</p>
<p>If you wait until January of your son’s senior year to do so, in order to decide on his college list, he will have missed a whole lot of application dates. Many of those are in the fall.</p>
<p>Often, for top notch students, the better colleges offer the best value. In our case, though our daughter qualified automatically for full tuition at some state schools in our state (still having to pay room and board), we found that due to our income (which isn’t even low by the way; we’re just not rolling in it!), our total outlay at some of the more elite colleges was about the same (some less, some a bit more) than paying for room and board at those state schools. To us that was a no-brainer. Good luck in your search.</p>
<p>OP here. I apologize for not adding pertinent information. One of the reasons I wanted to wait is because my wife and I are both in sales and our incomes vary even by time of year so the EFC info I put in in September as an estimated income may not end up being correct.</p>
<p>@halfemptypockets , some state schools have rolling admissions starting as early as August. Others private schools have Early Action Oct. and November deadlines for merit and scholarship consideration. Some top schools have restrictive Early Action or binding Early Decision.</p>
<p>^^^yes, I was referring to the OP’s question of waiting until January for the student to apply. I see Michigan is February. I’m not sure who else. </p>
<p>I’d suggest running the NPC’s a few ways and if it seems possible a school will be affordable, go ahead and apply. </p>
<p>Your state flagship
a local state school
a couple of OOS flagships
a couple of mid-tier privates
a couple of top schools (but keep in mind that HYPS will give super aid, so they’re not typical at all!!)</p>
<p>How long a period do you have in general from when you receive financial aid packages to when you have to decide on accepting them and picking the college?</p>
<p>If you get your paperwork filed as quickly as possible at the beginning of the year, the financial aid offers will come in time to make a decision before May 1. Generally speaking, if the college/university announces who is admitted on April 1, most aid packages are ready then too. BUT if your tax situation changes after filing the FAFSA and/or Profile, so that you have to update it/them, the finalized aid offer can be delayed. Sometimes there are big differences between the estimated and final aid packages. That is one reason why you want to get everything in ASAP.</p>
<p>Everyone’s finances change somewhat from one year to the next. Unless you are expecting a huge difference next year, chances are that this year’s financial information is good enough to get you estimates with the Net Price Calculators. If you do know which way your income and/or savings are headed, and by how much, use your best estimates for those figures when you run the NPCs.</p>
<p>Use your 2014 W-2s to plug in the numbers and you will get a close estimate. It is only a calculator and your W-2s have most of the info needed. I know there are a few paychecks left but you can estimate the rest of the year based on past paychecks and taxes paid.</p>
<p>HI, this is my first time posting here. I’ve been running the NPC from diff. schools and none of them asked for EFC. so I’m not sure how FAFSA relates to the NPC. </p>
<p>Too late to think of a better word but you need to fill out the FASFA and hope the gap is not too large. Our strategy, however, is to apply to high merit aid colleges like U of Alabama and take the guess work out of it the finances.</p>
<p>Ideally, net price calculators should be run by parents in the early planning stages, perhaps with various income and assets scenarios, in order to get an idea of what kind of savings goals the parents should aim for. Once the student is a high school senior making his/her college application list, the net price calculators should be run to help determine whether each college is realistic on need-based aid, or if merit scholarships need to be targeted (which can move some schools to a more difficult category – e.g. a school that is a safety for admissions may be a match or reach for the needed merit scholarships).</p>
<p>If your income is variable, run the net price calculators with both an average case level of income and a worst case for financial aid level of income (i.e. at the high end of the range of income you may earn).</p>