FAFSA forms?

[hadunc]

I got an email today from one of the schools I was accepted to prompting me to fill out a FAFSA by March 1st. However, funding still hasn't been determined, so I may or may not need financial aid if I choose to go there. I have never filled one out before and I'm pretty sure I couldn't get it done by the deadline anyway. Do most people wait and see about funding first or is it typical to fill out the FAFSA preemptively? Just wondering if anyone else is as confused as I am.

[Batignolles]

I got an email today from one of the schools I was accepted to prompting me to fill out a FAFSA by March 1st. However, funding still hasn't been determined, so I may or may not need financial aid if I choose to go there. I have never filled one out before and I'm pretty sure I couldn't get it done by the deadline anyway. Do most people wait and see about funding first or is it typical to fill out the FAFSA preemptively? Just wondering if anyone else is as confused as I am.

I think most schools actually require you to fill out the FAFSA in advance of your decisions - most of my programs required it to be completed by the end of January.

That said, to be honest a FAFSA is really pretty easy to fill out. It's basically a statement of your income and tax payments from the previous year. You can use a pay slip to do an initial draft, and update your FAFSA later in the year when you get W2s and the like. I completed my FAFSA in under an hour - and I have a foreign tax return and had to convert the currency!

Take a look at it online before you worry - it could be much simpler than you think.