FAFSA submission begins- FAFSA (the Free Application for Federal Student Aid) will evaluate your financial information, mostly based on your family income, and will qualify a student for various amounts of federal student aid.  It will calculate an “EFC” (Expected Family Contribution) to tell the colleges how much your family should be able to afford for the coming year to fund college expenses.  Go to www.fafsa.ed.gov to learn the details and complete the free application.

Send in remaining admission applications-  Most deadlines for regular admission are between Jan 1 and Feb 15 so start wrapping them up. 

Take a look at the college to which you have already applied and if you failed to pick a backup school or “safety” school, select one now and get the application in before the deadline.  Some students resist applying to a safety school but it is an important “insurance policy” to make sure you can get into one school for sure, even if it isn’t your top choice.  If all else fails, you can attend your safety school for one year and then try to transfer to one of your more preferred schools.

PROFILE applications can begin-  While FAFSA qualifies a student for federal aid, a similar process will qualify a student for non-federal student aid. And need-based scholarships.  Go to www.collegeboard.com/profile online for complete information.  Not all colleges consider information from PROFILE so it is not necessary that all students fill out a PROFILE application.  (Visit the PROFILE website noted above to see a list of participating colleges.)  Try to complete your PROFILE application by
Feb. 1st.

Early Decision-  If you were accepted to a school based on Early Decision, you will need to contact the other schools to which you applied and withdraw your outstanding applications.

Merit scholarship interviews continue-  Private schools often hold scholarship weekends to allow students to interview for a variety of scholarships.  Large merit scholarship semi-final interviews are around this time as well.  Prepare for the interview by practicing the most common interview questions, reviewing current events, researching the school’s history and planning an appropriate wardrobe. 

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