If you will be starting college in the Fall of 2008, you will need to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid – www.fafsa.ed.gov) and, if required, an in-house application from the college.

The 2008 FAFSA will not be available until after January 1, 2008; in-house applications are usually available around October/November.

Most schools will have a “priority” or “on-time” deadline sometime in the spring (March/April) for your financial application to be submitted and complete. So, while the FAFSA is available in January, you and your parents have time to complete the tax paperwork that will be required for filling out the FAFSA.

The FAFSA will generate an EFC (Expected Family Contribution) and schools will use that in conjunction with the COA (Cost of Attendance) to determine what financial aid you will be offered (grants, institutional scholarships, loans). You can aslo start applying now for outside scholarships. Some sites to begin your search are here:

College Board Homepage

www.collegeboard.org

FastWEB

www.fastweb.com

Free Scholarship Search

www.freschinfo.com

Gates Millennium Scholars Program

www.gmsp.org

If you already know the school(s) you want to apply to, go ahead and get in contact with a finanical aid officer for more information (forms that need to be completed, application deadlines, etc.).

Good luck!

You should apply for fin aid as soon as you can starting in January 08. You will need to have your parents file a tax return first and then apply for federal aid at fafsa.ed.gov. Have your colleges in mind by then so you can send them the information, you will need to eventually get accepted at the school, but they should already have that information, so that they can award you when you get accepted and not have to wait for the forms to get in. Everything should be done before you graduate and the earlier the better, especially if you qualify for state grants which can go quick since most schools only have an allocated amount to give out each year or so. Also never rule out scholarships, most schools offer scholarships and you should always apply, you never know.

So, As soon as possible from January 08, before you graduate, and the sooner the better.

P.S. Applying for financial aid is free, never pay to apply for financial aid; if someone ask you for money to apply, you’re not at the right site or right place.

When you apply there should be a question asking if you are going to apply for financial aid. check yes. Then you apply for financial aid once you are accepted. My son was accepted very late into a college. We applied on line for financial aid and it was sent to the school in a matter of days

Hi

You should apply for financial aid in January 2008. When you apply for financial aid, you can list all the schools you plan on attending on your FAFSA application. I suggest that you do this before you apply to the college, so they can already have your financial aid file created in case you are accepted there. Before you fill out your financial aid, you will need a PIN. If you use one of your parent’s income tax info, he/she will need a PIN too. The PIN is used to electronically sign your FAFSA application when you’re done filling it out. I suggest that you fill it out online, because it is quicker than doing it through the mail. You can get a PIN from the FAFSA website below:

http://www.pin.ed.gov/PINWebApp/pinindex.jsp

This is where you go to fill out your FAFSA application:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Sometimes when you fill out your FAFSA, you may be selected for a process called Verification. This basically means that the Financial Aid department at your school is requesting more info concerning your FAFSA, such as you or your parents’ income tax info. Do not wait until the last minute to begin applying for financial aid. It is based on a first-come, first-serve basis. If you are awarded financial aid, you will receive grants and loans. You do not have to pay grants back unless you resign before a certain percentage of the semester is over. That’s the way it is at my school, but I’m not sure if that applies for every school though. I suggest that you apply for financial aid during the first week of January 2008 so you can have everything completed when you start college. You should use your one of your parent’s 2007 income tax info. If their tax info is not available when you start filling out your FAFSA, just fill out what you can, submit your FAFSA, and then go back when you do have their info, and complete the missing parts on the FAFSA. You do not have to start all over and do another FAFSA. If you do this, click on the link that says, “make changes to processed fafsa” located under the FAFSA follow-up section. I do this a lot, and it doesn’t hurt the process of applying for aid. You should also be aware of financial aid fraud. People will prey upon other innocent people to try and defraud them, especially people who are new to the financial aid process. Here are some sites that will help you understand fraud:

http://www.ftc.gov/scholarshipscams

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/scholarships-and-aid/408.html

http://www.collegeview.com/articles/CV/financialaid/scholarship_scams.html

http://www.collegescholarships.org/scam.htm

I hope this helps you, and I wish you the best of luck in college.

Screw your stupid high school counselor, he’s an idiot.

APPLY NOW! get the balls rolling, it will save SO much pain later.

I think actually august is when you should’ve started working on it.

GO TO THE COLLEGE! pick out a college you’d like to go to, and go there! go to the “admissions office” or “registration office”, and tell them you’re a “prospective student.” they should guide you through the whole process. Also go on Fafsa.ed.gov NOW, and fill it out, get a Federal Student Aid PIN.

Also it’s VERY important, TAKE THE SATS!

if you can get this stuff done, you’ll be miles ahead of the rest of your class.

And good choice picking college!

this will help you immensly

Your counselor gets PAID to know the answer, get you the forms, make sure they are completely filled out right, and help you in any way that you need! I don’t mean to be rude, but it is time for your parents to step up and confront(nicely!) your lazy counselor and get the ball rolling. You need to be already get ting the apps together! Competition for money is fierce! Good luck!

Here is the FAFSA form online… everything you need is on the website… Also, don’t forget to research grants and scholarships too. 80% go unapplied for every year, and you don’t have to pay them back. This means less debt from the financial aid (Stafford/Non Stafford loan.)

first get a new counselor and apply now.

First, you have to go to the conselor office and ask another conselor for help becuase this is your first time, you want them to help you to do it right.

http://studentaid.ed.gov/students/attachments/siteresources/FundingEduBeyondHighSchool_0708.pdf

I found interesting information about your answer, college loans,SCHOLARSHIPS, college grants here. http://all-student-loan-consolidation.blogspot.com/2007/07/scholarships.html Good luck!