Is it possible to get preliminary financial aid packages from colleges before FAFSA results?

most schools wont give u official packages without FAFSA but u can ask for an estimate. just call financial aid office and say ur trying to narrow down choices. they might use last yrs info to give u rough #s. worth a shot

Financial aid counselor here. Yes, you can absolutely ask for preliminary packages! This is called an "early estimate" or "preliminary review" at many institutions. Here's what you should do: 1. Call each school's financial aid office directly 2. Explain that your FAFSA is still processing but you need to make decision soon 3. Ask if they offer preliminary reviews based on your financial information 4. Be prepared to provide key details (family size, income, assets, etc.) Many selective colleges will do this, especially if they really want your daughter. Some will even use last year's FAFSA data to create an estimate. The preliminary package won't be official, but it can give you a reasonable ballpark. I recommend creating a spreadsheet to compare offers as they come in. Look at the gift aid (grants/scholarships) vs. loans ratio in each package.

We did this last year with my son!!! Called 3 schools and got COMPLETELY different responses: School 1: Super helpful! Gave us a full breakdown with estimated Pell Grant and institutional scholarships. School 2: Refused to give ANY numbers without official FAFSA. School 3: Gave us a VAGUE range that wasn't helpful AT ALL. So just be prepared for different responses. The most expensive school actually ended up giving us the best package in the end!

This is definitely something you can do. I'd recommend approaching it by asking for a "net price estimate based on preliminary financial information." Be ready with your tax returns from last year, as many schools can use that data to create a fairly accurate projection of what your final aid package might look like. Additionally, have you checked if any of these schools have Net Price Calculators on their websites? Federal law requires all colleges to provide these tools, and while they're not perfect, they can give you a general idea of what to expect. I'd run those calculations first, then approach the financial aid offices with those numbers as a starting point for discussion.

I went through this exact situation with my son last year, and it was SO frustrating. We couldn't get through to anyone at Federal Student Aid to check on our FAFSA status, kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Someone on here recommended Claimyr.com which basically connects you with an agent without the wait. They have a video showing how it works here: https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ Not only did we get our FAFSA processed faster after talking to an agent, but we were able to get preliminary aid packages from all the schools once our SAI score was calculated. Most schools were willing to work with us once we had that number, even though everything wasn't 100% finalized yet.

COLLEGES DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL STRUGGLES!!! They just want to extract maximum $$$ from families. We tried getting preliminary packages last year and they all LOWBALLED us then suddenly had "more institutional funds available" after we committed. It's a TRAP to get you to commit to more expensive options!!!

just wondering im in similar situation but were doing the css profile too for some schools. does anyone know if the preliminary estimates include css profile info or just fafsa? thx

Update: I called three schools today based on the advice here. Two were really helpful! They asked for our AGI from last year's taxes, number of people in household, and number in college. One school gave us a rough estimate range, and the other actually walked through specific amounts for different types of aid they'd likely offer. The third school refused to give any numbers without the processed FAFSA. Now I need to call the other two tomorrow. I also tried the Net Price Calculators as suggested, but the information they asked for was pretty basic and I'm not sure how accurate the results will be. At least it's a starting point though!