FAFSA: submit now or wait a month to have a lower, more accurate reflection of household income?

[IllTakeOneMedSchoolPlease]

I am far from an expert on financial-related things and could use some insight on this situation I'm in. From what I've gathered, it's best to submit the FAFSA as soon as possible to be considered for school-specific scholarships. Also, even if you're completely independent, you have to list your parents' financial info. However, I'm in a bit of a pickle where my parents both took all of their money out of their retirement accounts this past year to essentially give me an interest-free loan for some of the cost of medical school (I'm super blessed here). Their household income is not very high, but on paper, taking this money out makes it seem like they make way more than they actually do. If they wait until they file their new tax returns in late January, it will reflect the actual amount they make, which is significantly less than what it would currently reflect. Basically, what I'm asking is, is it beneficial (beneficial referring to getting school-specific need-based scholarships) to wait until January to have an accurate reflection of their household income that is much lower, or to just submit it as soon as possible, i.e. today?

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[deleted1054719]

The FAFSA will NOT accept tax data from 2020. It will ONLY accept data from 2019. Unfortunately, even if you wait till January, you will not be permitted to use that new tax data. You will need to contact individual schools to appeal for a change in circumstances and it will be entirely up to them whether or not they wish to factor that into your EFC.

That being said, I'm a bit confused on your timeline. If your parents made a significant financial adjustment in 2020, then it should not matter for the FAFSA as the income data on there is from 2019. In January, they will be filing their 2020 taxes and in that case, there should be a significant change in "income" reflected.

 

[IllTakeOneMedSchoolPlease]

The FAFSA will NOT accept tax data from 2020. It will ONLY accept data from 2019. Unfortunately, even if you wait till January, you will not be permitted to use that new tax data. You will need to contact individual schools to appeal for a change in circumstances and it will be entirely up to them whether or not they wish to factor that into your EFC.

That being said, I'm a bit confused on your timeline. If your parents made a significant financial adjustment in 2020, then it should not matter for the FAFSA as the income data on there is from 2019. In January, they will be filing their 2020 taxes and in that case, there should be a significant change in "income" reflected.

Bad wording on my part. By this past year I meant they did it in 2019. Thanks for the info!

 

[KnightDoc]

Bad wording on my part. By this past year I meant they did it in 2019. Thanks for the info!

The point remains the same. FAFSA is based on an academic calendar -- October of the year prior to enrollment through June of the academic year, but the tax info is for the PREVIOUS year, no matter when you file (i.e., for 2021-22, the form opens on 10/1/20 and closes on 6/30/22, but, no matter when you submit it, it includes information from 2019 tax returns). Confusing, but true. It's to make sure everyone is using information from the same year, and 2019 information is the latest info available when the form opens in October of 2020. You can't game the system by drastically reducing assets or income just before submitting the form. You have to do it at least a year ahead of time! Check the FAFSA website for details.

 

[NoEyeEyeGuy]

how does fafsa impact admission decisions? for example we have to add 10 schools. now would all of the schools see each other? and if so, wouldnt it be wise to wait til you secure at least one acceptance? (sorry if this is unrelated to the thread's original poster intent....i am confused on how to start a new topic)...really apologize in advance.

 

[OfMiceAndWomen]

how does fafsa impact admission decisions?

It's not. Financial aid is made independently of admission decisions.

for example we have to add 10 schools. now would all of the schools see each other? and if so, wouldnt it be wise to wait til you secure at least one acceptance? (sorry if this is unrelated to the thread's original poster intent....i am confused on how to start a new topic)...really apologize in advance.

Schools won't be able to see other schools on the list.

It's advisable to submit FAFSA asap because it's free (so you could just list all the schools you're interviewing at), and because some schools require you to submit financial aid documents before you even get to find out about acceptance. Check with individual schools what their deadlines/policies are.

 

[NoEyeEyeGuy]

It's not. Financial aid is made independently of admission decisions.


Schools won't be able to see other schools on the list.

It's advisable to submit FAFSA asap because it's free (so you could just list all the schools you're interviewing at), and because some schools require you to submit financial aid documents before you even get to find out about acceptance. Check with individual schools what their deadlines/policies are.

thank you, what if you have silence from most of your schools? are we able to just pick the 10 we think we have the highest chance at? what happens if I get an interview at the 11th school for example...would I be able to tweak the list? (im not saying i anticipate close to 11 interviews, just asking as a worst case scenario if i predict the wrong schools on the intial list) thank you

 

[KnightDoc]

thank you, what if you have silence from most of your schools? are we able to just pick the 10 we think we have the highest chance at? what happens if I get an interview at the 11th school for example...would I be able to tweak the list? (im not saying i anticipate close to 11 interviews, just asking as a worst case scenario if i predict the wrong schools on the intial list) thank you

It just doesn't matter. You could literally just add every school in the country if you want to. Nobody looks at it until after you are accepted. You can add all the schools you want, for free, 10 at a time, but there is REALLY no reason to send it to anyone until after you have an A.

Edit: if some school actually says they want it with your application materials, just send it to them. It's free!! Even then, they are not going to do anything with it until after you are accepted!

 

[NoEyeEyeGuy]

It just doesn't matter. You could literally just add every school in the country if you want to. Nobody looks at it until after you are accepted. You can add all the schools you want, for free, 10 at a time, but there is REALLY no reason to send it to anyone until after you have an A.

ohhh i see what you mean. so right now i should just do the FAFSA and it wont send unless i add schools ?

edit: never mind, i gotcha now, thank you!!

 

[3.1415927]

Sorry if this has been asked before (I know very little about the financial aid process) but as long as you have an acceptance, can you submit a FAFSA app with the name of the school you've been accepted to asap, even if you're not sure if you would go there and are waiting on other schools?

 

[KnightDoc]

Sorry if this has been asked before (I know very little about the financial aid process) but as long as you have an acceptance, can you submit a FAFSA app with the name of the school you've been accepted to asap, even if you're not sure if you would go there and are waiting on other schools?

Absolutely, and you should. It will give them information they want in order to decide what kind of package, if any, to put together for you, and it costs you nothing. You can do it even without an acceptance. It still costs nothing, but it really isn't looked at by the school unless and until you have an A. The big reason not to is simply not to share personal, financial information that might never be used.