When do i fill out the fafsa?

Question

ok so i'm a senior this year and wish to attend the university of texas in austin...so my question is this i when do i fill out a fafsa...i went to a information meeting and they said that their deadline is january 15 2009...and the deadline for scholarships is dec 1st which the real deadline is dec..what do i do??..hope you understand...the fafsa currently is for the 08-09 school year do i already apply?

Answer 1

If you're intending on attending UT Austin next fall, then the EARLIEST you can fill out and submit a FAFSA is January 1, 2009. You'll need your parents tax return on hand in order to fill it out...and since employers have until the end of January to mail them out, you probably won't be able to submit a FAFSA right on New Year's Day.

Scholarship deadlines are different because they are directly through the school and don't have anything to do with the federal aid that filling out the FAFSA makes you eligible for. The only FAFSA form out right now is for THIS school year (2008-09), which won't work if you're attending next fall.

And their deadline isn't January 15 for the FAFSA if you're going next fall. It's just a suggested deadline. Most people don't have their taxes done by then. Granted, the sooner you submit it the better, but as long as you're not waiting til June you'll be fine.

As for the scholarships...those you DO need to turn in asap. Like I said before, those have no connection with the FAFSA form. Scholarship applications get turned in directly to UTA.

Good luck!

Answer 2

No.

The 2008-2009 FAFSA can only be used for applying for financial aid for the Fall, Spring and Summer semesters of the current academic year.

If you're going to enter UT Austin in the Fall of the 2009, you will need to complete the 2009-2010 FAFSA, which will be available on (or very shortly after) January 1, 2009.

I'm a little confused about your UT deadlines, because they seemed rather extreme to me, so I went and looked them up on the school website. According to the information that I found, the Fall 2009 financial aid application deadline is March 31, 2009, which makes a lot more sense than January 15th.

What I think you've done is confuse the financial aid deadline with the application deadline, which IS January 15th, 2009. You'll need to worry about getting INTO Austin before you start worrying about what kinds of financial aid you might qualify for.

You won't be able to complete the FAFSA properly until you and your parents have completed your 2008 tax return. Most tax filers have to wait until late January or early February before they receive their W-2 forms from employers. It's possible to complete the FAFSA before your tax returns have been filed, but you're still responsible for accurately estimating the same information that will appear on your tax returns, so there's really nothing to be gained (but headaches) if you file FAFSA before you finish figuring out your taxes.

As for the scholarship deadline - it wouldn't surprise me if THAT'S in December, like you said - but that's because scholarships are evaluated at the same time as admissions. If you're awarded scholarship money, that's that much less that you'll need in financial aid, so you can see why they work those details out first, too.

So - I hope that helped. Make sure you make all the application deadlines, but don't worry about completing the FAFSA until the new form becomes available on January 1, 2009. Get your taxes done as quickly as you can - your parents' too - and complete the FAFSA.

Good luck to you!

Answer 3

you file for your fafsa as soon as you do your taxes.  That is what I always do then I'm safe for the whole school year