What about people who get off the waitlist in late July??

[labrat]

I am currently on a waiting list..What will happen to my financial aid if I am accepted a few weeks before class starts? Will I get any aid? The school where I am waitlisted won't let you apply for financial aid (obviously) until you have been accepted, but since it's a private school, I'm worried that I won't be able to get enough aid soon enough to go (I really can't come up with $20,000+ on short notice on my own.) Any people in the same situation last year?? How did it work for you?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Whisker Barrel Cortex]

I got in off the wait list in late mid July. Don't worry about financial aid too much. If they won't accept an application until you are accepted, they most likely have procedures set up for you to apply quickly. They will not leave you hanging.

You might want to put in you FAFSA now and don't put a school on it yet. That way, if you get in you'll be ready to go.

 

[paean]

Fill out the FAFSA now with the name of every school where you are waitlisted. Call the FAO and ask if they will send you all their forms so you will have them ready "just in case." Make sure you have a photocopy of your, your spouse and your parents 2001 signed income tax forms with all schedules ready to go.

Double check with someone in financial aid that you can't presubmit everything. I was originally on 8 waitlists, and 6 of them said that all waitlisted students should submit a complete financial aid application. Four of them hold the applications and don't look unless you get in, 2 sent me estimated offer letters, When I call the 2 schools who didn't ask for waitlisters to submit applications, one of them said to go ahead and do so if I planned to go there if I was accepted. So only one school didn't actually want a complete financial aid application in advance.

 

[paean]

If your school uses the profile or need access form, you should also have that filled out and ready to submit. The profile requires that you pay for one school before filling it out but the need access requires you pay only if you submit. The need access is very long, and had me scrambling all over my parents records (and I work as a bookkeeper, so theoretically should be fast at this stuff) for 8 hours to fill out every question. The profile is not as long. They give you a list of papers (including taxes for both 2001 & 2000) that you will need. If you want to avoid paying the fee, at least check the website, and gather all the documents they list, so you will be ready to go if you are accepted.