Back to Financial Aid              FINANCIAL AID FORMULA and TYPES OF FINANCIAL AID
APPLICATION TIPS and "EXPECTED FAMILY CONTRIBUTION"

1. Estimate your EFC before applying for financial aid. Can be done on-line, by us, or by colleges.
   
2. Scholarship Search. Focus on college Merit/Talent scholarships and local private scholarships.
   
3. FAFSA form – submit in January using estimated figures. CSS Profile form (required by some private colleges) – submit after September 1 of your senior year. Parents’ & student’s income/assets are reported.
   
4. FAFSA’s Student Aid Report (SAR) and CSS Profile’s Verification . Confirmations sent to you in 1-2 wks (if on-line) or in 4-6 wks (if hard-copy). The clearinghouses send copies to the colleges you applied to.
   
5. Special Consideration letters. February/March. If factors unusual to you affected your family’s income or assets, send a brief, factual letter to each financial aid office. This can affect your award letters.
   
6. Award letters. March/April. The financial aid offer ("award package") sent to you by each college you are admitted to. Know how to interpret each college’s offer, and know the packaging history of each college.
   
7. Appeal letters. March/April. If an offer is not what you expected, write a direct, yet tactful, letter to the financial aid director. Directors are allowed to use "professional judgement" to adjust awards.
   
8. Decide which college you will attend. May 1 is the colleges’ universal deadline date.