Notification Time Frame for Financial Aid

[goldberry]

How long after you receive an acceptance letter are you notified of the financial package?  I was reading somewhere that sometimes you can be notified in waves?  So you might get a notification that you qualify for x,y loans, then later get another letter about a merit or other scholarship?

 

This seems ridiculous to me!  How do you even know if another letter is coming?  Are you just supposed to wait around because another letter MIGHT come?  How do you know when you are clear to make a final decision?

 

ETA, am I the only one who feels like crying and hiding under a blanket because this is all just way to confusing to me??  

 

 

 

Edited June 25, 2016 by goldberry

[J-rap]

Yes, that's actually how it worked for us.  We got a letter that told us about the typical merit scholarship.  Then a month later, a letter regarding another scholarship, and about a month later, another scholarship.  Once she was at school and auditioned for choir, etc., she received yet another letter for another scholarship.  

 

I think the timing all depends on the school.  They should let you know about the merit scholarship by May 1 (when deposits are usually due), but you sometimes don't hear about the other scholarships until summer.  I don't know -- others probably have a far better understanding of all of this.  We always did things kind of last minute so probably my answers aren't the norm.

[goldberry]

So if your decision depends on the financial package, how long are you supposed to wait?  Is it really best then to wait until the last minute (the deposit/acceptance deadline) before making a decision?

[Starr]

I would call them and ask if this is the final financial aide package and then ask for more grant money, not loans. Often you will get more offered then you can compare. Good luck! It's a pain but it pays off. 

[JanetC]

The way it worked for us was to get merit awards with the acceptance letter and need awards after the FAFSA (and Profile in a couple cases) were processed. Some schools offer their best merit awards to students who attend scholarship competition weekends after acceptance: for those you have to wait until after the competition weekend to find out.

 

This may be changing this year: The FAFSA and Profile will open in October instead of January, using prior-prior year taxes rather than estimating the taxes you file in the upcoming April. The idea is that all financial aid awards can be determined much sooner in the process. However, whether all colleges will also speed up their own financial aid timelines to match the federal government is something to check with your colleges. What is certain is that you will know your eligibility for Pell grants and subsidized loans in October starting this year.

Edited June 25, 2016 by JanetC

[elegantlion]

Ds received an automatic scholarship with his admittance letter, this was in December. Final financial aid did not come until AFTER the March 1 in-house financial aid deadline. It was mid-April I think. 

 

Returning students can get their numbers even later (which freaked me out my first summer). I got notice of my final scholarship acceptance for fall just this week. Most of my numbers were in by June, however. 

[8filltheheart]

Goldberry, it becomes more manageable if you just grapple with it bit by bit (as I say to my kids, eat the elephant 1 bite at a time. Right now, focus on running NPCs on schools being considered. Make sure your student is really researching the schools she thinks are her top contenders. Complete transcripts and course descriptions. (In that order bc those are what most schools want.). Then work on school profile and counselor letter.

 

Your student needs to deciding on essays, doing any test prep they might have left, register for any early fall tests needed. Asking for LOR. Students typically need 2 from outside of family.

 

You can't really turn to FAFSA until Oct.

 

I would also create a running list of deadlines for applications and scholarships.

 

Once you start checking off your list and everything is submitted, there is nothing to do but wait. My goal is for Dd to be 100%'done by the first week of Sept. I want to enjoy this last yr together and have lots of stuff planned to keep her (our) mind off decisions. :)

[goldberry]

Goldberry, it becomes more manageable if you just grapple with it bit by bit (as I say to my kids, eat the elephant 1 bite at a time. 

 

Thank you, 8!  I know I need to just breathe....

 

Thankfully, DD did very nicely on her March SAT and won't be retaking.  We are SO HAPPY the testing part is over, she doesn't have to do any more for that, so that's at least one less thing.

 

2 LOR from outside?  I have one in mind, I didn't realize she might need 2.  Thanks for the info!  I opened by course description doc a couple of days ago... uh, a little behind. That should probably be my priority right now.

[GoodGrief]

If money is an issue (and it was for us), the financial aid part can definitely delay the decision making. My daughter had one major scholarship decision (full ride) come in on April 13! And sometimes financial aid appeals come into play, which delays things more. Just remember, you don't have to make a decision until May 1, though some schools will put the pressure on early.

[goldberry]

 My daughter had one major scholarship decision (full ride) come in on April 13! 

 

Oh my lord....  

 

Is there any way of knowing if they are "done" and you are not going to get anything, or if they are still "in process" and a possibility?  Will they tell you that?

Edited June 27, 2016 by goldberry

[JanetC]

Oh my lord....  

 

Is there any way of knowing if they are "done" and you are not going to get anything, or if they are still "in process" and a possibility?  Will they tell you that?

There is a financial aid notification date, and we did at least get a letter saying you aren't getting any more aid than the merit award in the acceptance letter.

 

Also, there is the net price calculator you can check before applying, to see if you're in the ballpark financially.

[GoodGrief]

For the competitive scholarships, you tend to know they are "in progress". However, we found some departmental scholarships were a bit random

 

[Hoggirl]

Oh my lord....

 

Is there any way of knowing if they are "done" and you are not going to get anything, or if they are still "in process" and a possibility? Will they tell you that?

I'm going to share a story you probably won't like. More merit aid related, but definitely a timing issue.

 

I made a cyber-friend on CC during our sons' admission cycle (she's still my friend, and we have met a few times IRL). They were definitely on the search for money. Because of stats her ds had full tuition at Alabama (OOS). His first choice, however, was Michigan (OOS). He received some sort of money (sorry, I have no idea how Michigan works for OOS with regard to merit/financial aid), but Alabama was more affordable for them. He committed to Alabama in early-ish April. Probably mid-April, Michigan came back and offered him more (again not sure if merit or FA but NOT loans) which would have made it slightly less expensive than Alabama - though probably a wash given distance. She sent me a frantic "OMG - you are never going to believe this" e-mail. I'm sure they could have worked it out, but by that point he was settled on Alabama. So that's where he went, and. he is happy there.

 

This whole process is a marathon, not a sprint. From August 1 to May 1 is nine months (I have also likened the process to a pregnancy). If you allow it, it will consume your entire senior year.

My experience is that kids may not show their anxiety about the process as much as parents do, but I truly believe it's worse for them. I made it a policy (until all applications were in), to purposefully talk to ds about the application process once a week on Sunday afternoons for about half an hour. Just to check in and see how things were progressing. Otherwise, I did not talk about it unless he brought it up. Once the apps are in, there is nothing to talk about - just waiting.

 

I am NOT a patient person by nature. Even though we weren't waiting on aid notices, ds did not have all his decisions until April 1. Then you have to wait while they make the decision. Once all the applications are in there is an awful lot of waiting. Longest winter ever. But going in knowing this is helpful.

 

Here's the good news - you can go through this process with all of us!!! You will find support, encouragement, and compassion from those who have been there/done that. You can commiserate with those who are going through it with you. You can come here just to vent. I promise it will be okay. Hugs.

[goldberry]

There is a financial aid notification date, and we did at least get a letter saying you aren't getting any more aid than the merit award in the acceptance letter.

 

Also, there is the net price calculator you can check before applying, to see if you're in the ballpark financially.

 

I haven't been seeing a "financial aid notification" date.  I will go back and look further.

 

We did run the net price calculator for the schools on the list, but it doesn't ask for student stats.  There is one school in particular (very expensive) known for a very high aid percentage. That school would absolutely depend on merit aid.  Her stats are in the upper percentage for the school, we did check that.

 

We do have the local safety school, that is absolutely both affordable and acceptable without any additional aid.  So, there isn't a panic of not having a school at least. 

 

I like to get things done and settled so I can plan ahead.  I guess we just need to prepare mentally for possibly not knowing until April.  

[goldberry]

Here's the good news - you can go through this process with all of us!!! You will find support, encouragement, and compassion from those who have been there/done that. You can commiserate with those who are going through it with you. You can come here just to vent. I promise it will be okay. Hugs.

 

Thank you!!

[justasque]

Oh my lord....  

 

Is there any way of knowing if they are "done" and you are not going to get anything, or if they are still "in process" and a possibility?  Will they tell you that?

 

I am a firm believer in just calling and asking whatever question I may have (or having the dc do so, depending on the question, the dc, and the dc's schedule).  Schools are generally happy to answer questions, and it shows serious interest in the school which is a good thing.  

 

We recently had a scholarship acceptance deadline before May 1, and before the dc had heard from the dream school.  I called the scholarship school and explained that the dc hadn't heard from every school yet, and they said that was fine, the acceptance wasn't binding.  So we accepted the scholarship.  Then the dc got into the dream school, and wrote a nice letter declining the scholarship school.

[Loesje22000]

This whole process is a marathon, not a sprint. From August 1 to May 1 is nine months (I have also likened the process to a pregnancy). If you allow it, it will consume your entire senior year.

My experience is that kids may not show their anxiety about the process as much as parents do, but I truly believe it's worse for them. I made it a policy (until all applications were in), to purposefully talk to ds about the application process once a week on Sunday afternoons for about half an hour. Just to check in and see how things were progressing. Otherwise, I did not talk about it unless he brought it up. Once the apps are in, there is nothing to talk about - just waiting.

 

 

 

What a wonderfull solution!

I can see, I will make DD crazy with my stress, but this could work for both sides here!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I haven't been seeing a "financial aid notification" date.  I will go back and look further.

 

We did run the net price calculator for the schools on the list, but it doesn't ask for student stats.  There is one school in particular (very expensive) known for a very high aid percentage. That school would absolutely depend on merit aid.  Her stats are in the upper percentage for the school, we did check that.

 

We do have the local safety school, that is absolutely both affordable and acceptable without any additional aid.  So, there isn't a panic of not having a school at least. 

 

I like to get things done and settled so I can plan ahead.  I guess we just need to prepare mentally for possibly not knowing until April.  

 

This isn't what you want to hear, but DS was waiting until March and April just to hear about acceptances from some schools.

 

The timeline for him was getting some major applications done in Sept-Oct.  He was trying to get things in early for NROTC scholarship and max merit aid at some schools.  He had 2 schools that he finished the apps for around Thanksgiving.  

 

A couple of his acceptances were in by Feb.  But the last three responses didn't come in until March-April.  The last response was April 15 (a rejection that he had figured would be coming by that point).  The school he is headed to was one of the later schools to give a response.  It was also one that he did regular decision, so his app was complete around Nov 30.

 

I would recommend that you do what you can to pull the decision cycle to an earlier timeframe.  Get applications in as early as possible.  Understand the difference between Early Decision and Early Action and Rolling Decision.  (We stayed away from ED, because you are making a committment with that style app.  We wanted to see all the offers on the table and then decide.)  Get your FAFSA in as soon as you can.  (That will be much earlier this year, because of the changes in the tax documentation used to support the FAFSA.)  Know which school want the separate CSS/Profile financial aid application (one school wanted this in addition to FAFSA).

 

You can't really control what response time the colleges have.  You can control when you get your paperwork in.  My goal with DS2 is to have the applications finished by mid Oct.

 

FWIW, our friends who were in competition for significant scholarships also had interview weekends in Feb - March, so those decisions came in pretty late too.

[goldberry]

Yes, two schools on our list have non-binding early action.  We will be applying by those deadlines.  Others we will get in early as well.  Does early action still have the same schedule for financial aid, or is that schedule bumped up as well?  Probably varies by school, I will add that to my every growing list of questions.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Yes, two schools on our list have non-binding early action.  We will be applying by those deadlines.  Others we will get in early as well.  Does early action still have the same schedule for financial aid, or is that schedule bumped up as well?  Probably varies by school, I will add that to my every growing list of questions.

 

It partly depends on if you mean merit aid or need based aid.  Merit aid at a couple of ds's schools seemed to be automatic, based on his scores and grades.  In a couple cases he found out with the acceptance or shortly afterward.

 

In one case, a scholarship was based on participation in the Corps of Cadets and had a separate application process.

 

The assessment of need based aid came in late spring (around March-April IIRC) after FAFSA had been submitted.

 

I know that this year the FAFSA will be based on last-last year's taxes (2015 tax returns) but I haven't heard how that will change when need based aid info is provided.

 

I can say that no school offered need based aid to bring cost below the EFC.  However, some of the merit based aid did drop costs significantly for us.  Obviously if you have a lower EFC than ours, your results could be quite different.  We weren't gapped, because every school determined that we could pay full price.   :crying:

[goldberry]

Here's hoping the new FAFSA timeline will speed things up!