HappyGrace Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 I am deer in the headlights, burying head in sand w/ college stuff for dd who is a senior in high school. She started filling out applications this week. I know I need to get on this stuff but I'm overwhelmed beyond belief about all this-too intimidated to even start. I need to start w/ FAFSA since dd is saying she needs it done to get an application in by this Sunday (!) Is it a big deal or something I can crank out in a couple hours? I keep hearing what a nightmare it is to fill out and I'm freaked out! (a side question: the FAFSA just came out Oct 1, right? Why do places need it already by this weekend? She said it's to avoid application fees by getting apps in early?) Then maybe do her transcript? I tried to look at the sticky Lori put up, but it's making me way more overwhelmed. I need to find a way to keep it simple! It shouldn't be that bad-she knows she wants to go to Liberty Uni, and her grades and SAT scores are enough to get in and also for honors level there. We are applying at three others though to see what packages they give. FINANCIAL AID is key and we need a GREAT package-we have nothing to contribute toward college due to being on one small income plus debt. Thanks for any help! I'm also hoping any answers to this thread will help others in the same boat right now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 FAFSA takes about half an hour if you have your financial papers in order and can find your tax return or use the data retrieval tool. It's really not that bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JanetC Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Check the college financial aid website. The application deadline and the financial aid deadline are separate. The earliest deadline for any of my DDs schools is November 15th. And, no, the FAFSA isn't bad at all. The Profile is the painful one, but it's not required in most cases. (Again, go read the financial,aid website for the school.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I was prepared for it to take days, and was shocked when it only took me about half an hour the first time. I was certain I had done it wrong. I did have all of my financial information handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourisenough Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Took me 15 minutes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 It took me a good chunk of the morning to do yesterday, but that was because I spent the time setting things up to transfer my tax data from the IRS and when I looked at what was being checked off on the fafsa, it did not seem right. (The SE retirment box was checked and the lifetime learning box was checked and neither of those apply to us). So, I re-input the info manually. It also took me a bit of time to figure out how to handle the personal investments section and what actually needed to be included. But then, I am experiencing murphy's law for everything I go to do lately. I went to print my school profile and we had no paper. I reloaded the paper tray and then it said toner low. I went to order toner from amazon and it said it couldn't because I didn't have a valid payment option. (There had been fraudulent activity on my cc.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Now I am worried I missed an error because we imported... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnMyOwn Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 (edited) Now I am worried I missed an error because we imported...Probably not. Mine might have even been okay and had those boxes checked with zeros input. Since I couldn't see what had actually transferred, I just thought it would be safer to manually input. Did your EFC come out about how you expected? Edited October 12, 2017 by OnMyOwn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HappyGrace Posted October 13, 2017 Author Share Posted October 13, 2017 Thanks, feeling better about it! I will attempt it tomorrow..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chanley Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 If you use Turbo Tax, there is a form that you can print out with just the info you need. I could not get the tool to link to the IRS to work when I did mine. So I just used my Turbo Tax cheat sheet. Took no time at all. This is not the stressful part, that is when you see the numbers they think you can afford. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PinkyandtheBrains. Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Probably not. Mine might have even been okay and had those boxes checked with zeros input. Since I couldn't see what had actually transferred, I just thought it would be safer to manually input. Did your EFC come out about how you expected? Yes it did. I just worry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamakelly Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 It’s not hard at all. Takes about 30 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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