High School Class 2013: Picking Colleges..Check in Here!

[Christine]

I haven't updated my FAFSA yet. No reason I can't but I'm just horrible about that sort of stuff. I don't really take out any loans anyway, but there is a good chance I *might* need something this year since I will have two in college starting in the fall.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Anyone ever asked/had a CPA/tax preparer do their FAFSA forms? I don't do my own taxes and honestly don't have a clue about any of it. Just thought it he was going to do our taxes we could ask him to do that as well.

 

[LisaR]

Honestly, I don't understand what all the fuss was about FAFSA. I have read on message boards about people taking classes in how to fill it out and it seems to be a huge topic of discussion.

DH and DD filled it out for the first time yesterday and had it submitted in about 1.5 hours. DH had gathered up everything needed the day before. I guess if you don't know where everything is and you have to stop every five minutes to find paperwork, it could be a real pain.

 

[PlutoPony]

This is our first time through FAFSA and would like to make sure I understand the process ..... We won't have everything needed to file taxes until early February, so rather than wait for that it sounds like we would be better off estimating (which we can do pretty easily). That essentially means we're filing an estimated FAFSA statement with the individual schools - and they know it's an estimate, right? Then when we have our final 2012 tax figures, we can go in and update finalize the FAFSA? Do the universities respond to estimated FAFSA's in the same way they do to those that are more finalized?

Am I missing some basic part of this process?

Thanks!!!

 

[Christine]

Anyone ever asked/had a CPA/tax preparer do their FAFSA forms? I don't do my own taxes and honestly don't have a clue about any of it. Just thought it he was going to do our taxes we could ask him to do that as well.

I"m not sure how it would work. You have to get a personalized PIN to enter figures and you have to do digital signatures. I'm sure someone else could prepare it though.

Like LisaR above, I'm not sure about all this angst over the FAFSA. I was scared to death the first time I did it and then after I did it I was scared to death again because it was one of the easier things I've ever done and I figured I must have done something wrong.

 

[ugadog99]

I never do FAFSA until I get my taxes finished. I will have them done by the end of January, so that will be FAFSA time, too. I hate doing it just because it is tedious, and I always worry about making a mistake. Since my D was rejected at CMU, I don't think we have any Profile schools.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I think the "big deal" with the FAFSA is, they make it sound scary because they keep offering to help you with it, offer classes, etc. We were surprised that it was relatively easy and painless. I'm hoping the CSS will be easy, as well.

 

[marcyinPA]

My DH worked on the FAFSA last night. You can file it in a way that they know you are going to update it. I forget what it was called- "will update" ? No, that's not it. Anyway....

This is our first time filling it out, and it wasn't too bad. I think the less "stuff" you have, the easier it is. We have a meager income, our assets fall WAY below the $39K mark (or whatever that figure is), we have no investments, CDs, etc. My DS doesn't have a job, he has very little savings.

Let's see if it really helps us to have "nothing"...

(I say that tongue in cheek, because I certainly realize that we are way better off than a lot of people, and we never have "want" for anything. We are very, very accustomed to living on a low salary and it has always worked for us. My DH has gone through multiple lay-offs because he works in a volatile industry, so saving for retirement and investing has not been a top priority. Living day to day has been. Hopefully that will change in the near future!)

 

[tmq2766]

FAFSA scares the poo outta me!!! I have my tax appointment set for 2/5 and plan to do FAFSA immediately after that... I have heard that one wrong move can be the difference between getting money and getting NOTHING! :confused

 

[ugadog99]

Well, well, the cast list for spring musical has been posted.

A little back history: in our town the spring musical has ALWAYS been known as the senior musical. Many, many, many years ago the musical was a "gift" to the town from the seniors. It was seen as a way to thank the community for the support from elementary school to graduation. My town is very big on tradition, and most people here still refer to it as senior musical. Now that didn't mean that it was cast with all seniors, but seriously, it's their "last" show, so most of the major roles went to seniors.

Mr. High and Mighty, otherwise known as drama director, is not from this town, but he well knows the history of the show. He has stopped calling it Senior Musical and gets MIGHTY angry when others do that. Instead, he has made it his mission the last four years to purposefully "screw" the seniors and fill the major roles with underclassmen. All of this, among many others, is why my D decided to move to a new theatre group at the conclusion of One Act competition this fall.

Her "friends" have not been supportive and some of them have completely cut off contact with her over this decision. (They don't know the entire story.) Cast list was posted last night, and in true Evil Man form, he has filled his leads and principals with underclassmen. There is much heartbreak today, but I can sit back and say "Told you so!"

My D tried her best to explain her decisions to some of these seniors, but they thought she was a traitor. No, she just saw the handwriting on the wall long ago. I hate it for some of them, but they've been down right ugly to my D about her choices. Now, they are in bit parts their senior show. This is what I despise about this man the most. He sets these kids up just to watch them tumble at his whim. He feeds off the drama that HE creates and continues. Honestly, he has no business "teaching" high school. Thank goodness we are DONE!

 

[lurkernj]

How on earth have I not seen this thread.

Our past year has been consumed by visiting and applying for colleges. This is our first rodeo and we're feeling our way through all of this.

I did the FAFSA this past weekend and it was really easy. I was surprised they don't want home/mortgage info along with retirement savings.

We needed to do the CSS profile for two schools that had to be applied for early, and that was much worse as they needed all of that other stuff. They even wanted to know what my younger son has in his bank account.

I've only read the last page of this, so I'll go back and check some more out, but here's where we are at, at the moment: We applied early decision to DS's number one choice/reach school(UPenn) and got denied, but got accepted to the safety school(Rutgers). We have 5 more applications that we are waiting to hear from(Boston University, Northeastern University, Brandeis, Tufts, and Wesleyan University), but I'm not expecting any news until later March as they all said April 1 (though I've heard it's usually mid/late March).

All of his school choices (except the safety) are in the $55k range, so if he doesn't get some money, he isn't going to be able to go.

Oh, and he wants to study bio-chemistry (he's a science nerd).

 

[ugadog99]

Welcome, lurkernj! Your S has some great schools on his list!

Profile is definitely more frustrating than FAFSA. We don't have to do Profile anymore, thankfully. I will be working on FAFSA for both the girls soon.

Wishing your S the best as he waits on the remainder of his decisions.

 

[TLuvsD]

Good Luck and best wishes to all who are waiting for college decisions. We were waiting last year, D is a happy college freshman. Enjoy this nerve racking time, all too soon they will be off at school Do your best to not "talk college" until you get some decisions. Be there when the mail/email arrives if possible. Keep your emotions level, it will help your kid (ok, I completely failed at this one for her top choice--DH had to come home and open the mailbox, I just couldn't do it. Happy news, but I just couldn't be the one to open the mailbox.)

One thing I didn't think of early on was how to include the college info in the grad announcements.I didn't know this was "done" until I received a couple. I ended up doing a photo card from Smilebox (you can do the same thing from a number of places). Just a picture of D with the information (Minnie Mouse will be attending Disney U majoring in happy, smiling faces). In some cases I included them with the more traditional invite/announcement, in some cases I just mailed the picture. In a couple of cases, D included it with her thank you. It worked for us!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Well, my DD got accepted to her #2 choice today! At least, that's what I think the large envelope that says, "Congratulations" on it means! It'll be interesting to see her reaction--this was her #1 school (Loyola), but she's been having very mixed feelings about being so far from home. Plus, BU just seemed perfect to her. We won't be hearing from BU until March, so we'll just have to see how things pan out.

On a good note, Dh has finished the FAFSA and the CSS, finally. The FAFSA really wasn't too bad, but the CSS was very involved.

I had never thought about grad announcements including the college information. Of course, DD17 is my oldest, we've been way out of the loop. I would say the announcements are better for parents' friends and family, versus Facebook, which is what the teens will all use.

 

[lurkernj]

Welcome, lurkernj! Your S has some great schools on his list!

Profile is definitely more frustrating than FAFSA. We don't have to do Profile anymore, thankfully. I will be working on FAFSA for both the girls soon.

Wishing your S the best as he waits on the remainder of his decisions.

Thanks ugadog. We've tried to get him to apply to some mid-range schools, but he says go big or stay home. Rutgers is ranked 25th in the nation for it's biochem program, so he says if he can't go where he wants, he'll just go there(it's 10 minutes from our home).

Well, my DD got accepted to her #2 choice today! At least, that's what I think the large envelope that says, "Congratulations" on it means! It'll be interesting to see her reaction--this was her #1 school (Loyola), but she's been having very mixed feelings about being so far from home. Plus, BU just seemed perfect to her. We won't be hearing from BU until March, so we'll just have to see how things pan out.

Congrats on your daughter's acceptance! BU is at the top of my son's current list, he loved it when we visited in the spring, and just loved Boston in general. Sucks that we have to wait so long. Unfortunately, all 5 of our pending applications won't have responses until late March

 

[tar heel]

Mentioning where he/she is going to college is a perfect thing for the student to include when he writes his/her "thank you" notes.

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

My dd is finishing her first semester at Muhlenberg and loves it.
The school is bascially split into sciences/theatre (she is a bio major).
She said everyone is very friendly and all get along regardless of the major.
I was worried the school may have been a bit too small for her but she never has complained. She received the tuition exchange scholarship, which we knew before she applied since they did an early read on her, so it was a no brainer, we applied ED and she had her acceptance about 2 weeks before Thanksgiving last year.

Good luck to everyone! It's a fun and stressful time!

My dd was accepted Early Decision. We did the early read and they came up with the money we needed to send her there. She is thrilled beyond belief. She will be majoring in Dance and English. Any suggestions on the dorms? She is thinking of Walz and Brown.

She had applied to Ithaca (accepted early action), Binghamton, (early action - will hear this week) Purchase, Geneseo, and University of Richmond. I know we have to decline all those, but she still wants to know if she was accepted or not lol.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Do kids have less of a change of being accepted to college if they go in as "undecided"? It seems most people's children on this thread know exactly what they're going to school for yet my daughter (class of 2014) is completely undecided and probably will apply that way. We're looking into NJ schools (in state) and wondering if there are some more likely to accept her if she applies as undecided than others.

Thanks.

 

[marcyinPA]

My dd was accepted Early Decision. We did the early read and they came up with the money we needed to send her there. She is thrilled beyond belief. She will be majoring in Dance and English. Any suggestions on the dorms? She is thinking of Walz and Brown.

She had applied to Ithaca (accepted early action), Binghamton, (early action - will hear this week) Purchase, Geneseo, and University of Richmond. I know we have to decline all those, but she still wants to know if she was accepted or not lol.

Congrats on her acceptance to Muhlenburg! Great school! I live in the neighboring city

 

[Christine]

Do kids have less of a change of being accepted to college if they go in as "undecided"? It seems most people's children on this thread know exactly what they're going to school for yet my daughter (class of 2014) is completely undecided and probably will apply that way. We're looking into NJ schools (in state) and wondering if there are some more likely to accept her if she applies as undecided than others.

Thanks.

It's a crapshoot and depends a lot on the individual school, the student, etc.

I will use Virginia Tech as an example. Engineering at Virginia Tech is VERY competitive. If you are a good student, but not good enough for Engineering, the school will place you in University Studies (undecided). If you are an applicant and meeting the minimum requirements of the school, but you really WANT to go to that school (say Va Tech), it sometimes better to pick a less popular major for that school versus going in undecided. My friend's daughter did this. She picked English because that's not a crowded major at that school and she had a better chance of getting in that school as an English major than an "undecided" because "undecided" was getting a lot of high scoring kids placed into it that didn't quite make it into engineering. It's a really convoluted process and you have to be very familiar with the school's stats, how you match up as a student, and what the popular majors are.

My son has applied in many different ways. He has been accepted into Engineering at West Virginia University. He doesn't have the scores to realistically get into Virginia Tech so he applied to a major at Virginia Tech that closely matches his scores/grades but isn't necessarily what he wants to do. If he does good his first semester, he can move into the major that he wants. I think, at least at Va Tech, even "undecided" is pretty competitive. But there are some schools he applied to that he did choice "undecided." Did I make that confusing enough?