Starting FAFSA and scholarship process for 2025 graduate - need timeline guidance

Good news! The 2025-2026 FAFSA will open in December 2024, but don't wait until then to start scholarship hunting. For a 2025 graduate, here's your timeline: - NOW: Start applying for private scholarships. Fastweb.com and scholarships.com are legitimate sites. - August-November 2024: Check college-specific scholarship deadlines (many have early deadlines) - October 2024: Gather your 2023 tax info for FAFSA - December 2024: Submit FAFSA as soon as it opens - January-March 2025: Submit CSS Profile if required by private colleges Also, make sure she's applying for scholarships specific to Upward Bound/TRIO students - there are several that are only available to them!

My daughter just started college this fall & we went thru this last yr. you can definitely list multiple colleges on the fafsa (i think up to 10?) and add more later if needed. we applied to like 50 scholarships and only got 4 but those 4 added up to almost $10k so DO IT!! most scholarships have essays that take like 30 min to write but its so worth it.

Very important - since your daughter will graduate in 2025, the FAFSA will be using your 2023 tax information. This is due to the new FAFSA Simplification Act. Many people don't realize this and try to use more recent tax info, which causes problems. Also, the updated FAFSA will no longer use Expected Family Contribution (EFC) and instead uses Student Aid Index (SAI). Another tip: if your daughter is in Upward Bound/TRIO, she might qualify for application fee waivers for colleges. This can save hundreds of dollars during the application process. Have her talk to her TRIO advisor about this.

I went through this nightmare last year with my son. The most frustrating part was trying to reach someone at Federal Student Aid when we had questions about our SAI calculation. We kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours. Finally found this service called Claimyr that got us through to an actual human at FSA in about 20 minutes instead of the usual 3+ hour wait. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/TbC8dZQWYNQ and their website is claimyr.com. Definitely bookmark it for when you start filling out the FAFSA - trust me, you'll probably have questions since the form changed completely last year.

Don't forget to check what the SAI (Student Aid Index) requirements are for each college. My daughter qualified for a ton of aid at one school but barely anything at another because their formulas for calculating institutional aid are totally different even though the FAFSA SAI was the same. Some private schools are actually CHEAPER than state schools depending on your family income because they have bigger endowments.

OMG THE TRIO PROGRAM IS AMAZING!!!! My son was in it too and they literally walked us through EVERYTHING. Make sure your daughter is taking FULL advantage - they have special college visits, essay help, and even FAFSA completion workshops where they'll sit down with you and help fill it out. Some TRIO programs even have their own scholarships!!

One more bit of advice: Create an FSA ID for both you and your daughter now. You'll both need one to sign the FAFSA electronically. It can take 1-3 days to verify your information before the IDs are fully functional. You don't want to be scrambling to set these up when the FAFSA opens in December. Just go to studentaid.gov and click "Create Account".

BE CAREFUL with the FSA IDS!!! I messed up and created mine with the wrong email and it was THE BIGGEST HEADACHE EVER to fix!!!! Make sure you use emails that both you and your daughter check regularly and WRITE DOWN ALL THE INFO SOMEWHERE SAFE. And use different emails for each person - don't try to use the same email for both IDs.

Also worth mentioning - when you're looking at scholarship applications, pay special attention to the requirements beyond just the essay. Some require specific recommendations, portfolios, or community service documentation. Start collecting these materials now so you're not scrambling at the last minute. And keep a spreadsheet of all the scholarships your daughter is applying for with deadlines and requirements so nothing falls through the cracks.

oh I forgot to mention! for some of the bigger scholarships theres multiple rounds, so the deadlines might seem far away but theyre actually for the FINAL round. like the coca-cola scholarship has regional deadlines way before the main one everyone knows about. double check everything!!

Welcome to the scholarship journey! As someone who just went through this process with my oldest, I wanted to add a few more tips. First, don't overlook your state's specific scholarship programs - many states have really generous merit-based aid that people forget about. Also, since your daughter is in TRIO/Upward Bound, check if your state has any first-generation college student scholarships - those can be substantial and less competitive than national ones. And here's something I wish I'd known earlier: some employers offer scholarships not just to their employees' kids, but also to kids of their vendors or customers. So think broadly about any organizations you're connected to through work, church, community groups, etc. The smaller, local scholarships often have way fewer applicants than the big national ones, so your daughter's odds are actually better! Good luck - you're asking all the right questions!