Well, I completed the fafsa application this week-end--and it was not so bad. For those of you who don't know, it is the federal application to see if you can get student financial aid to go to college. They even have "fafsa help" meetings you can go to so as to get help filling this thing out. My daughter, Lauren, will be going to college in the fall. (I hope). Anyway, you fill out a bunch of personal info..All about her name, dob, address, when she got her license, when you got your license, are you a resident of NC, is she...What did you pay in taxes last year..what is your yearly pay, and what schools is she interested in going to. That's pretty much it. Oh, before doing any of that I had to get a "Pin" for me and her..which is just an easy way to sign the form (The pin form is right on the fafsa website). You fill our your ssn info on a form, make up a pin number, hit send and now you can use the pin. That way when you fill out the fafsa you can just put in that pin number instead of physically signing it..and you are done. Well, don't make the same mistake I did. The first time I started filling out the fafsa I didn't realize I was at a site [fafsa.com] that charges you to fill out the form. It is a commercial site and I didn't realize that I was not at the government website until I had already intered some info--so beware. So now that is done and I hope they approve a "buttload" of money (LOL) so she doesn't run me into the poor house!
The other "gripe" is how expensive a kid's senior year is. There are key chains and tassels and sweatpants and sweatshirts and invitations and senior portraits (they cost a pretty penny) and it seems everyone want to get ahold of your hard earned $. Oh let's not forget the "Prom".
It will soon be over--But wait--her sister, Madeline will graduate next year...YIKES!!! :)
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This is the greatest hassle besides filling out your taxes. Have you seen where they are thinking of cutting out you senior year of high school and college because it is becoming so expensive??? Yes the senior year of college is expensive and I am sending out facebook request to all my family members so I can send out my invitations!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI know a lot of colleges have seminars on how to fill ot FAFSA that don't cost anything.
I'll be doing that next year for Kelsea! Yikes, not looking forward to that. I hope she gets some scholarships, because I sure don't want all that college debt for her or us! Thankfully she wants to go to a public college so it won't be as expensive as a private one. We will have to start checking out scholarships! I think you have to do a lot of writing to get those though. She already barely has time for homework!
ReplyDeleteI use to work at a photography studio and was always amazed at the cost of senior portraits. You would think the school would sit down the parents over the summer and tell them what they need to save up for. The cost to graduate is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe truly sad part of spending all that money is that I don't remember really wearing my class ring after the first year or so. And my senior pictures were really bad (in my opinion) so a number of them never got handed out. At least the sweat pants and shirt have some additional use. :)
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine having to do this two years in a row. It is almost like someone has to get a second job just to pay for senoir year expenses. Don't forget all of those college application fees that occur too. It is rediculous the amount of presure that is put on getting your senior everything with their school name plastered on it during that final year. I don't even know where my class ring is and I haven't seen a senior picture of mine in ages. I still have all of my school yearbooks, under a bed in my house. I never look at them anymore but gee did I "have to have it" back then.
ReplyDeleteWell Bless your heart! (southern slang) That is alot of things to consider in getting your daughter enrolled and FASFA approved. It can be challenging at any shcool. What college is she enrolling in? You can truly have anxiety just over competion of applications.
ReplyDeleteI've had to help quite a few student-athletes navigate to that site and do the same thing. The paper trail to apply for college is extensive. The cut-off date for many of the financial aid programs was March 1. Many students wait until its too late and only qualify for the Pell Grant. There's a lot of help out there if one is willing to do the paperwork. Though it is often that the paper work is filled out and yet one may still not qualify, it is still worth it to find out one way or the other. Many people qualify that go in thinking that they won't. I'm glad to see that you're not too proud to see if there's government aid out there for your family. As tax payers we deserve every return we can get. I hope the best for your children in college.
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