dirty ethel rackham Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I was up until 2:30 working on the CSS profile. I am so tired, I almost fed the dog a 2nd time this morning. It all started when I realized I had to actually try to do our taxes because some of the numbers are largely different from last year. But, we don't have all our documentation so that isn't even final. t stinks that I had to do this so early, but one of the schools has a February 1 deadline for the CSS profile despite having a March 1 deadline for FAFSA. That was painful enough. But, the endless probing questions? I feel violated. What do they want to know next? What color is my pee? Due to the lack of sleep, I am in a ton of pain and have to walk the dog (and I am sure very few of the sidewalks were shoveled last night. ) Grrr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I understand! I am not looking forward to this next year. I laughingly told DH that maybe I'd strike any college of the list that required the CSS. For the most part, it's like being repeatedly stabbed with a hot poker. GAH!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teachin'Mine Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 If nothing else, it makes the FAFSA seem easy. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 Lots of sympathy from here. It's a horrible process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted January 31, 2014 Share Posted January 31, 2014 I understand! I am not looking forward to this next year. I laughingly told DH that maybe I'd strike any college of the list that required the CSS. For the most part, it's like being repeatedly stabbed with a hot poker. GAH!!! I almost got away with this -- avoiding the Profile all together this time. As of last spring, none of the schools ds was looking at required the Profile, and I was doing a happy dance. Having filled it out for my oldest, I know the pain.... Then late last summer, I discovered, much to my chagrin, that one of the schools added a Profile requirement this year, ugh... So I did have to fill out that blasted form, and pay the $25 bucks for the privilege as well.... At least it's done and in. I will still have to go back and revise the FAFSA because I don't have all the tax paperwork in. It should be straightforward, and I don't expect much to change, at least. Brenda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunshine State Sue Posted February 1, 2014 Share Posted February 1, 2014 one of the schools has a February 1 deadline for the CSS profile despite having a March 1 deadline for FAFSA. I am thankful that I don't have to do the CSS. I feel like I hit the lottery. But, what's up with the deadlines? Ds's school wants the FAFSA filed by Feb 15. One of our documents is not promised until Feb 15th. So, I gotta rush, fearing mistakes, to file the FAFSA? Yes, I've done the preliminary with "will file", but geez. What color is my pee? :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: Due to the lack of sleep, I am in a ton of pain I'm sorry. Hope you feel better soon. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 Oh great. I just finished the FAFSA with very disappointing results and the CSS is next on my list. Really, for the school that wants it, it might not be worth the trouble. (Our EFC on the FAFSA is quite a bit more than those online EFC calculators estimated for us. I'm guessing the CSS result will be even worse.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elisabet1 Posted February 2, 2014 Share Posted February 2, 2014 I hate paying to submit this, before we even know if our child got in in the first place. Why pay to submit to all these places if our child might not even be admitted? And if we need financial aid, why are we paying so much to submit CSS profile to so many places? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 2, 2014 Author Share Posted February 2, 2014 I hate the paying for it thing. What a racket! Out of the 3 schools that wanted this, ds has been accepted to 2. The third one (the one with the most intrusive supplemental questions) probably won't let us know for a few more weeks as they only had ED - no early action. We finished it, but I had to eliminate one of the deductions as it insisted that we can't have a tuition credit and an American Opportunity Credit for the same student. But we didn't. One was for one student and one was for the other. Oh well. On to FAFSA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 3, 2014 Share Posted February 3, 2014 Well, what do ya know. Ds sat me down for a heart-to-heart talk this evening to explain that he no longer wants to even consider attending the one school that requires the CSS. Looks like I'm off the hook! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted February 3, 2014 Author Share Posted February 3, 2014 Susan, Lucky you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galtgrl Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 UGH. I'll call your CSS Profile and raise you IDOC. There's nothing like sending out all the information anyone would ever need to steal your identity. All before you know if the kids are even accepted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Those who have been made to suffer by the CSS may appreciate this: http://chronicle.com/article/111-Colleges-May-Be-Violating/144395/ "More than 100 colleges may be violating a federal law that bars institutions from requiring applicants for federal student aid to submit forms other than the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, according to an investigation by Congressional Democrats. In a letter sent to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on Monday, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, identifies 111 institutions that "appear to be establishing additional requirements for students to complete costly additional forms," including the College Board's CSIC/Financial Aid Profile. In the letter, Mr. Cummings requests a meeting with Mr. Duncan to discuss how to ensure colleges are "not creating improper and unnecessary barriers to federal financial assistance." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnella Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 I hate paying to submit this, before we even know if our child got in in the first place. Why pay to submit to all these places if our child might not even be admitted? And if we need financial aid, why are we paying so much to submit CSS profile to so many places? I agree; this has been awful. Then on to the IDOC. Though I have had one worse experience than the CSS. My DS applied to University of Southern California. While they require the CSS, they have additional online forms and want their own copy of our W-2s and tax returns. (Nevermind that IDOC thing.) One of their online forms was essentially retyping 1040 figures into their form, but it got worse. SoCal wanted to know how much we spend on clothes, food, internet, utilities, and some other items. This is a school that is loan heavy, yet they have had requested far more personal information than any other school. I wish I'd known this sooner beause I wouldn't have supported having my son apply there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Finnella Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Those who have been made to suffer by the CSS may appreciate this: http://chronicle.com/article/111-Colleges-May-Be-Violating/144395/ This was a fascinating article, and the list includes all of the schools we had to complete the CSS for. I believe that Princeton was not on the list only because it has entirely outsourced its need based aid to Questbridge. Once Princeton has picked their Questbridge kids, they are done with picking out students eligible for need based aid. My son was "only" a Questbridge finalist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barbara H Posted February 16, 2014 Share Posted February 16, 2014 This was a fascinating article, and the list includes all of the schools we had to complete the CSS for. I believe that Princeton was not on the list only because it has entirely outsourced its need based aid to Questbridge. Once Princeton has picked their Questbridge kids, they are done with picking out students eligible for need based aid. My son was "only" a Questbridge finalist. Congrats to your son on being a Questbridge finalist. That's great. Princeton is need blind and has better financial aid than most schools. 64% of students get financial aid and their packages are based on grants and work study rather than loans. Much detail here. https://www.princeton.edu/admission/financialaid/how_it_works/who_qualifies/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan in TN Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Well rats. Looks like we'll have to fill it out after all - there is a scholarship program available through dh's job and they require the CSS. Better get at it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabertmom Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 Finella and Barbara H, I'm sorry to renew such an old post, but I'm hoping you can help me. Finella, are you quite sure about what you said about Princeton only offering their need-based scholarships to Questbridge? Barbara H, I'm trying to figure out if it makes more sense for my son who has been receiving lots of info from Questbridge to apply through them or directly to the schools he is interested in. From what I can tell, Questbridge only offers the College Match scholarship to about 3% of applicants, and then the regular admission numbers look pretty much like what the schools general acceptance rates are. These same colleges are the ones that offer a full ride to students whose EFC and/or CSS/Profile are very low (as ours is), so I'm not clear as to why it would help him to apply through Questbridge rather than applying directly to some of the same schools. Help me please! I'm swimming in college. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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