FAFSA Question?

[altaskier]

Okay, so I know that you have to wait until your parents file their income taxes to be able to get their income and write it down on the FAFSA form, but here's a question. Let's say your parents are lazy and file late, so you have to estimate their income....then what do you do? For schools like Dartmouth, they need the actual amount your parents make before they can process you for financial aid. So I talked to the lady at Dartmouth and she said to wait until my parents file their income taxes to turn in my FAFSA. She said that if I estimate my parent's income on my FAFSA, I need to add an adendum after they file, stating their true/actual income. Plus, I think some schools require a photocopy of your parent's income taxes for the 2001 fiscal year. But here's the problem, the deadline for FAFSA is in late march and parent's file their income taxes in April. So what do you do ??????? What's everyone doing about this?



Thanks

ps..... I didn't work this year so I have no taxes to file.

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[E'01]

I've been pestering my parents for the last few weeks to hurry up. If I left it up to them, they'd file in April. They're still waiting on all their W-2 tax stuff, so until then, they can't file. I'm going to wait until they do though - I'd rather not use estimates on the FAFSA since some of the med schools I have applied to have stated to use actual numbers.

 

[altaskier]

So what are you gonna do if they don't have their act together before the March deadline (deadline is end of march, right?)
???

 

[E'01]

Oh, I thought the deadline was mid-Feb. I mean you can't do your taxes if you don't have the necessary forms. So worse comes to worse, I'll use estimates, but I'm hoping everything will arrive by the end of next week. I don't even have all my W-2s - still waiting for 2 and unfortunately my stupid tax situation is kind of complicated so I won't be able to do it myself as I had hoped.

 

[altaskier]

Hmmm.......I thought it was the end of march. Crap, I'm in a real bind now. Are u sure the deadline for FAFSA is end of Feb and not end of March?

 

[altaskier]

Actually...I just looked up the deadline for FAFSA and you can file until late June. However, the schools that you are interested in might have different deadlines that you gotta check. It also says that your parents don't necessarily need to file their income taxes prior to you filling out and turning in the FAFSA.

More Confusion!

 

[E'01]

ohhh no don't quote me. I'm sorry I wish I knew the specific date - it was just through word-of-mouth that I heard about the mid-feb date...I think Scooby was the one to tell me that.

 

[altaskier]

Okay....Yeh, I just read a paper copy of FAFSA that I got at an interview and it said the deadline is end of June.

 

[vyc]

i thought each school had their own deadline...?

 

[dukeblue01]

While the FAFSA can be filled out up until July, VYC is right, each school has their own deadline. For example, Emory's deadline is Feb. 15, while Northwestern doesn't even have a deadline. Most schools set their deadline is March so your parents do have to work a little faster, and or you have to use estimates. But check your schools, because some are strict and the deadlines are coming up. This information can be found on the web at med school home pages under financial aid. They will usually say when the fafsa must be filled out by.