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What is the appropriate way to handle financial aid applications for schools where your application is still pending as of late January (when I can submit my FAFSA and Need Access application)? I assume it won't hurt to put the schools down that you have applied to, even if you haven't been accepted or denied yet?

Also, is that timing okay for merit based scholarship consideration at the schools that require Need Access for merit consideration? I have asked my parents and they said that that's the earliest they are able to get the paperwork needed to estimate their 2013 financials.

Not sure about need access but I just sent my FAFSA to all schools I was considering still, even without acceptances.

Good luck!


Eta: this is what I did last year!

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Moonlight wrote:

kay2016 wrote:Not sure about need access but I just sent my FAFSA to all schools I was considering still, even without acceptances.

Good luck!


Eta: this is what I did last year!

Yea I was wondering about this as well. I submitted my FAFSA today but do we need to submit Need Access prior to our acceptances

Also what is considered a high EFC? My friend and I both applied FAFSA today and he was moaning about having a 4500 EFC, but that doesn't seem that bad to me relative to Law School COA..or maybe I'm nuts. Mine was higher so maybe that's why I thought he was complaining too much. Thoughts guys?

In my opinion, a $4,500 EFC is pretty darn low. Good for you for getting your FAFSA done already! It'll be several weeks before I can finally get my parents to do it...

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Moonlight wrote:

berndie90 wrote:

Moonlight wrote:

kay2016 wrote:Not sure about need access but I just sent my FAFSA to all schools I was considering still, even without acceptances.

Good luck!


Eta: this is what I did last year!

Yea I was wondering about this as well. I submitted my FAFSA today but do we need to submit Need Access prior to our acceptances

Also what is considered a high EFC? My friend and I both applied FAFSA today and he was moaning about having a 4500 EFC, but that doesn't seem that bad to me relative to Law School COA..or maybe I'm nuts. Mine was higher so maybe that's why I thought he was complaining too much. Thoughts guys?

In my opinion, a $4,500 EFC is pretty darn low. Good for you for getting your FAFSA done already! It'll be several weeks before I can finally get my parents to do it...

Glad someone agrees with me! Sadly mine isn't only $4,500 lol. And its just estimates right now since we all have to update our stats once we finalize our taxes right?

Aside from the 3 loans, there's no real other aid that the government gives right?

It's funny since the 3 loans are non-need based so our EFC in that regard doesn't matter. It seems like it only matters for institutional need based aid like grants and scholarships.

Yes, it's fine to put in an estimate and then go back and change later. The government really doesn't give much more than loans to most, from what I understand. You're right - I have seen that some schools do base their need-based grants off of FAFSA information (at least Berkeley?). So the lower the EFC the better in that case!

berndie90 wrote:What is the appropriate way to handle financial aid applications for schools where your application is still pending as of late January (when I can submit my FAFSA and Need Access application)? I assume it won't hurt to put the schools down that you have applied to, even if you haven't been accepted or denied yet?

Also, is that timing okay for merit based scholarship consideration at the schools that require Need Access for merit consideration? I have asked my parents and they said that that's the earliest they are able to get the paperwork needed to estimate their 2013 financials.

Yeah, I'm trying to figure this out, too. When I add schools I'm still pending to, it changes my parent form from 100% to 75%, so it's definitely going to affect it. However, I don't want schools to be notified that I submitted a Need Access form to them and have some type of "Who does she think she is? We didn't admit her yet! DING!" reaction. Probably irrational...but still. Do they even see it if they don't admit you?