Learning Curve: FAFSA

Hey guys!

One of the most important pieces of paper you will fill out for college is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA. This is an application that you'll need to fill out for federal & state grants, work-study, and loans.

Your school conselor should have paper copies of the FAFSA forms. You can also find itonline. I find the online version a lot more convient to my lifestyle. It's easier to check on what's been processed & what I still need to fill out or send in. Also, filling it out online can speed up the time it takes for them to process your paper work. So you get to "Go Green" and find out how much money you'll get for school faster. :D

A few things you'll need in order to fill out the FAFSA:
1. Income Tax Returns: most grants, loans, and financial aid in general is based on income; either your's, your parents', or both. My mom files her taxes online and when she does that they always ask her if she has a dependent that will fill out the FAFSA (or something along those lines, I'm nor 100% sure what it actually says). Talk to your parents to determine if this is something that you'll need to do.
2. PIN: if you decide to fill the forms out online it is recommended that you apply for a PIN number so you can go through and make changes, if necessary,check the status of your application. They usually ask a lot of security questions so be sure to write all this information down in a secure location so you have it when you need it.

The first day you can fill out the FAFSA is January 1 and it's recommended that you fill it our early rather than late because of other scholarship deadlines that might be tied into your FAFSA.

Be sure to check with the colleges you're applying to for their list of deadlines.

Again, if you need ANY kind of college information, check out collegeboard.com, previous columns of mine on here or, just ask ME in a comment & I'll come up with the best answer I can find.

Good Luck to everyone! I hope you're all enjoying whatever fall weather is in your area. It's nice & cold here today, PERFECT Friday Night Football weather. Getting the coat, gloves, blanket, and hot cocoa out at the game tonight. :)

Just a bit of a heads up, I won't be here next week. Next Thursday I'm going to Tulsa, Oklahoma with some friends to see Honor Society!!! I'll be spending the entire weekend with them since I don't get to see them much any more. I'll be back the next week though with more tips, tricks, and stories about college life.

Have a great weekend guys!

♥ Jen