Just filled out the CSS Profile for my son who will be entering college this fall

[Pitt Chick]

Originally Posted by Suncc49

Hopefully it isn't being financed with student loans

???
Hopefully WHAT isn't being financed???

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by Pitt Chick

???
Hopefully WHAT isn't being financed???

He/She is going with my house buying analogy.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Suncc49

Hopefully it isn't being financed with student loans

Why not...it's better than not going to college. I financed a good portion of my college education with student loans, had them all paid off in under 5 years after graduation. It isn't that big of a deal really.

[stevo6]

Originally Posted by oldhousegirl

Well, the FAFSA for one thing is FREE!!! The CSS costs $9 bucks for the "registration", and then $16 bucks per school thereafter. You don't necessarily have to do both forms. It is not considered the next step.

Each college has their own means of determining you aid/scholarship, etc, and some of the private colleges ask you to do the CSS in addition to the FAFSA. The CSS asks many more financial questions. More detailed than the FAFSA.

Example: My son has applied to six schools. Out of the six, they all required the CSS in addition to the FAFSA. One of the schools had their own financial aid form which asks questions about your investments, housing, etc. which could be used instead of the CSS. Yay!! Another one of the six schools required the FAFSA, The CSS, AND their own financial aid form, and of course they ALL want copies of your signed income taxes, along with ALL attachments!! Whew!!

OK- its coming back to me now! Funny how the brain erases those painful moments.

[oldhousegirl]

^^funny!!

[shiru]

One of the colleges my son is applying to asks for info on primary and secondary cars. I get that, But then they ask for info on how many cars you own or operate or lease by the family. Should this include the primary and secondary cars or this is apart from those two?

[Tinawina]

The CSS is a pain but it does take more into consideration than the FAFSA, and that usually results in more money coming your way. So it’s worth the annoyance IMO!

[grad_student200]

Originally Posted by oldhousegirl

Please note that this thread was started in 2012

Wow, I fully expected and was prepared for the financial questions. No problem at all with that. Have to admit, I was a bit surprised that one of the colleges wanted to know how many cars we had as well as the year, make/ model, year of purchase and purchase price!!!! They didn't ask if the cars were financed or not. Thankfully our cars are not. They also asked if any of the cars belonged to the student.

Submitted data to five different schools, and it was one out of the five that wanted to know about the cars. FYI - for all of the schools he has applied to, tuition, room and board is $50K and up. I guess they figure if they're investing in your child financially, via scholarships or school specific grants, they want to see where your money goes.

Overall this has been a very exciting time. I can't wait to see where my son ends up for college. He has worked hard throughout his school years and has done very well. I liken it to being pregnant. I couldn't wait to "meet the baby". Now I can't wait to see where the baby (man) will be going to school! Wherever he is will be wonderful I'm sure.

Best wishes - that is very exciting. When I was in HS I excelled in AP calculus and had my heart set an a very elite private Catholic school far out-of-state. In hindsight, that was a mistake. If I knew then what I know now, I would have stayed in-state for community college to (1) save money and (2) get work experience. Then as a junior I would have transferred in-state to a major land-grant university (public). Then for graduate school I would have gone out-of-state because the RA or TA pays for tuition with a major stipend. That would have been a lot better in hindsight. Also, note that those schools you mentioned are probably a lot harder than high school. It is not uncommon for 4.0 or 4.0+ HS seniors to see their gpa take a hit as freshmen in a major STEM program of an elite, private or public school with expensive tuition. Expect 15-20 hours per class per week of study in STEM - for 4 classes that can get absurd. I have witnessed students breakdown crying in the middle of major exams. One girl was sobbing horribly in the final exam for biochemistry. The stress can also lead to binge drinking to "unwind" on weekends. Hence, a lot of freshmen switch majors after their first year. Many STEM majors switch to business and see the number of hours of study go down while the gpa goes up compared to their time in STEM.

Hope all goes well.