Comments on: The #1 Thing FAFSA Filers Get WRONG http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-blog/2008/05/21/different-fafsa-advice/ Get FAFSA Form & Financial Aid Form help and tips! Fri, 05 Dec 2008 03:20:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Christopher Penn http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-blog/2008/05/21/different-fafsa-advice/#comment-3083 Christopher Penn Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:14:22 +0000 http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-blog/2008/05/21/different-fafsa-advice/#comment-3083 That's a great tip, Sharon - thanks so much for contributing! That’s a great tip, Sharon - thanks so much for contributing!

]]> By: Sharon P http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-blog/2008/05/21/different-fafsa-advice/#comment-3044 Sharon P Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:10:14 +0000 http://www.fafsaonline.com/fafsa-blog/2008/05/21/different-fafsa-advice/#comment-3044 While it is important to try to list accurate tax information on your FAFSA, it is MORE important to make sure that you file your FAFSA prior to the priority deadlines that schools post. If you don't file your FAFSA until you have filed your taxes and you didn't file your taxes till say April 1st, you could be missing out on ALOT of potential aid. That is because many grants are given out on a first come, first serve basis. Schools are delegated a certain amount of aid by the federal government. To help them decide who gets the money and who does, they set a deadline that students must meet to potentially qualify for these grants. If you miss the deadline and file your FAFSA later...sorry, you miss out. My recommendation as a Financial Aid Counselor is that you should file your FAFSA using estimated info (maybe use the prio years taxes to estimate amounts) so that you can file early, say by January 15th. Then later you can log back into your FAFSA and UPDATE your tax information after you file your taxes so that the schools will recieve an update regarding your application. Filing your FAFSA with estimated information will not hurt your eligibility as much as filing LATE will. Do yourself a favor and set a reminder on your email calendar on January 1st to file your FAFSA that weekend. While it is important to try to list accurate tax information on your FAFSA, it is MORE important to make sure that you file your FAFSA prior to the priority deadlines that schools post. If you don’t file your FAFSA until you have filed your taxes and you didn’t file your taxes till say April 1st, you could be missing out on ALOT of potential aid. That is because many grants are given out on a first come, first serve basis. Schools are delegated a certain amount of aid by the federal government. To help them decide who gets the money and who does, they set a deadline that students must meet to potentially qualify for these grants. If you miss the deadline and file your FAFSA later…sorry, you miss out.

My recommendation as a Financial Aid Counselor is that you should file your FAFSA using estimated info (maybe use the prio years taxes to estimate amounts) so that you can file early, say by January 15th. Then later you can log back into your FAFSA and UPDATE your tax information after you file your taxes so that the schools will recieve an update regarding your application. Filing your FAFSA with estimated information will not hurt your eligibility as much as filing LATE will. Do yourself a favor and set a reminder on your email calendar on January 1st to file your FAFSA that weekend.

]]>