“First, she has to get in. We’ll worry about how to pay for it later.”
I often hear parents say that, usually when the family is in the throes of college application-related stress. It’s not a bad strategy if used correctly. Students don’t know their financial aid packages until they actually apply and are accepted. So kids have to choose colleges without really knowing exactly how much they’ll cost Mom and Dad. Yes, the net-price calculators on colleges’ websites let you estimate your costs, but those are still just estimates. If a dream school is way out of the family’s budget, a kid can and probably should apply anyway and see what happens on both the admissions and aid fronts.
But you can’t wait until your student is accepted to submit financial aid paperwork. The FAFSA should be submitted as soon as possible after January 1. Many schools require that the Profile or their own school-specific forms be submitted now, especially for students who are applying to early admissions programs.
So parents, step away from the applications and the essays. Your kids should be doing those themselves anyway. A good job for parents is to dive into the financial aid sections of the colleges’ websites now and find out what needs to be submitted—and when—to apply for financial aid.