College Financial Aid question

[ValRN]

My oldest DC will be heading to college in the fall of 2013, and I know nothing about the financial aid process. Oh, I do know that DH and I have to complete a FAFSA form in January (or as soon as we file our taxes). That's it! That's all I know.

 

I've searched the forums and cannot find any posts regarding how to apply for financial aid. I'd love to get some advice from someone who has been there, done that.

 

What should DS do and when should he do it?

 

If the colleges automatically consider applicants for scholarships, does the college inform the student if they will be offered money in the acceptance letter?

 

HELP!

[JFSinIL]

Most private schools, and some public, will consider all applicants for any merit aid for which they qualify. Other schools make the student find and apply for any scholarships. Check the on-line financial aid pages of any colleges to which the student has applied for each school's info.

Sometimes the financial aid offer comes with the acceptance letter , sometimes is comes later. If the student has won a decent merit grant or scholarship, that usually comes with the acceptance.

[AngieW in Texas]

I know that the school my oldest goes to (and that my middle will attend also), sends out merit award letters 6-8 weeks after they send out the acceptance letter. I'm not sure when needs-based awards are sent.

 

I do know that they reduce their award amount by the amount that you have received from outside scholarships.

[JFSinIL]

My son's LAC did not reduce his merit award (big scholarship, little scholarship and grant) when he also got an outside award. So it depends on the school.

[Brenda in MA]

My oldest DC will be heading to college in the fall of 2013, and I know nothing about the financial aid process. Oh, I do know that DH and I have to complete a FAFSA form in January (or as soon as we file our taxes). That's it! That's all I know.

 

I've searched the forums and cannot find any posts regarding how to apply for financial aid. I'd love to get some advice from someone who has been there, done that.

 

What should DS do and when should he do it?

 

If the colleges automatically consider applicants for scholarships, does the college inform the student if they will be offered money in the acceptance letter?

 

HELP!

Hi Val,

 

What you and/or your son should do ASAP is to check the websites of each college he applied to and make a note of all financial aid policies, forms required, and deadlines. You should also check your state's board of higher education. Some states give college aid separately from the FAFSA and may require their own forms. If you find the websites confusing, call the colleges financial aid offices in early January and ask what needs to be completed and submitted when.

 

You will definitely need to fill out the FAFSA. If you and your child don't already have an online PIN to electronically sign these, you can apply for the PINs now. The FAFSA for 2013-14 can't be completed & submitted before Jan 1, 2013. Make sure you use the free federal official FAFSA website (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/). There are copycat sites, like fafsa.com that charge you to submit the form. These often show up if you do a google search for FAFSA. If your taxes are pretty straightforward, it's a good idea to file the FAFSA as "will file" with estimated numbers in January. Then, once you've gotten in all the W-2s and other paperwork and actually completed your taxes, you can log back into the FAFSA and update the status to "already filed" and change any numbers accordingly. The reason for this is that I've read that some colleges (mostly state colleges, I think) prioritize their financial aid applications by the date the FAFSA is filed. They might have a limited amount of aid to award, and some types are first-come, first-served, so you want to get your child's form in the cue early.

 

Also, some colleges require their own separate financial aid forms, and others require the CSS Profile, administered through the College Board. Again, check your son's college websites for what they require.

 

Some colleges automatically consider all applicants for scholarships, other require a separate application. You'll have to check the colleges' websites. Some colleges notify of scholarships and/or financial aid with the acceptance letter, others send scholarship notifications and/or financial aid information later.

 

Once you've gotten a handle on the colleges' required forms, you might want to invest some time in looking for local scholarships. These are often listed by the guidance department of the local high school. The amounts are often smaller ($500 - $1000), and they are usually only for one year, but the student's chances are often higher of winning one than trying to win something in national scholarship competitions. These are often from local clubs, like the women's auxiliary, your church, your local VFW, etc.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

[JFSinIL]

DS got a big scholarship due to his GPA and test scores. The college website had a chart showing what scores/GPA got what scholarships. SOmetimes a student might be able to increase an award by doing well on one last ACT or SAT test by a certain date. Worth checking into.

 

Going to the school for a 2-hour test scored him another renewable $1,000.

Applying for and interviewing and being accepted into the Honor's program - another $1,000, again, renewable.

Our getting the FAFSA in by Feb. 15 (even if we have to redo a lot of it on-line later when taxes are done) - $500!!!! award.

 

Outside, he got a $500 one-time Biology award, and a renewable $2,000 from the Foresters based on essay and volunteer work.

 

Plus he has taken out max. student loans...and worked summers as a "filed hand" for a local CSA farmer. He will have enough money saved now to skip the loans Senior year.

 

So - look carefully over all the college websites - there may be other ways to "win" money.

[ValRN]

Hi Val,

 

What you and/or your son should do ASAP is to check the websites of each college he applied to and make a note of all financial aid policies, forms required, and deadlines. You should also check your state's board of higher education. Some states give college aid separately from the FAFSA and may require their own forms. If you find the websites confusing, call the colleges financial aid offices in early January and ask what needs to be completed and submitted when.

 

You will definitely need to fill out the FAFSA. If you and your child don't already have an online PIN to electronically sign these, you can apply for the PINs now. The FAFSA for 2013-14 can't be completed & submitted before Jan 1, 2013. Make sure you use the free federal official FAFSA website (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/). There are copycat sites, like fafsa.com that charge you to submit the form. These often show up if you do a google search for FAFSA. If your taxes are pretty straightforward, it's a good idea to file the FAFSA as "will file" with estimated numbers in January. Then, once you've gotten in all the W-2s and other paperwork and actually completed your taxes, you can log back into the FAFSA and update the status to "already filed" and change any numbers accordingly. The reason for this is that I've read that some colleges (mostly state colleges, I think) prioritize their financial aid applications by the date the FAFSA is filed. They might have a limited amount of aid to award, and some types are first-come, first-served, so you want to get your child's form in the cue early.

 

Also, some colleges require their own separate financial aid forms, and others require the CSS Profile, administered through the College Board. Again, check your son's college websites for what they require.

 

Some colleges automatically consider all applicants for scholarships, other require a separate application. You'll have to check the colleges' websites. Some colleges notify of scholarships and/or financial aid with the acceptance letter, others send scholarship notifications and/or financial aid information later.

 

Once you've gotten a handle on the colleges' required forms, you might want to invest some time in looking for local scholarships. These are often listed by the guidance department of the local high school. The amounts are often smaller ($500 - $1000), and they are usually only for one year, but the student's chances are often higher of winning one than trying to win something in national scholarship competitions. These are often from local clubs, like the women's auxiliary, your church, your local VFW, etc.

 

Best wishes,

Brenda

 

 

Brenda, thank you so much for this advice. It has been very helpful. DS and I took your advice, began researching the college websites Wednesday, and discovered lots of information. We also found some outside scholarship sites and DS has applied for one already.

 

JFSinIL - your advice about searching the college websites carefully to find ways to "win" money is great advice. I'll let DS know about that immediately.

 

Thanks to everyone for your advice. You've all put us on the road to answering our questions.

 

Val

[AngieW in Texas]

I checked the fine print on my dd's scholarship and it actually says that they deduct 3rd party scholarship amounts only if they are earmarked for tuition/fees. The scholarship actually covers all tuition and fees for 8 semesters, so this does make some sense.