Completing FAFSA Forms a Series of Questions & Deep Breaths

Mom on the Run

By LIANNE WILKENS

I take a deep breath, and type: “www.fafsa.gov.”

I am set, and ready. To my right, completed taxes and bank account information. To my left, my precious dark-green folder, containing an inch of papers – virtually everything I have learned about the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, over the past three years.

I first became acquainted with the FAFSA when my daughter was a senior in high school. Despite three “All About Financial Aid” sessions presented during various college tours, that first application took me hours. Hours of reading fine print, and clicking for more information, and running up and down, up and down the stairs finding financial information.

The second year, before my daughter’s sophomore year of college, the process was easier. I had learned what documentation I needed, and kept all the passwords in my vital green folder. And the third time around, last spring, I felt so comfortable with and annoyed with the process that I procrastinated until the absolute last minute.

Which is darned near what I’m doing this year. In 2013, my son is a senior in high school, and a completed FAFSA is required just to apply to certain colleges. We got our taxes done early, because I know the FAFSA is entirely reliant on completed taxes; I have been collecting additional materials as they have popped up in the mail since the first of the year; and now, a week from deadline, is the night.

I type: www.fafsa.gov, and up pops the familiar website. OK, here we go. Um, two big green buttons, “Start a new FAFSA” or “Login.” OK. “Start a new FAFSA.” Next page … Student Information. Name, Social Security number .…” Dang. Up from my chair, trot downstairs, dig through papers, find my son’s Social Security number. Back upstairs, type it in, hit the blue “Next” button.

“Federal Student Aid PIN.” My hand hovers over the green folder. Except … this is the first FAFSA for my son. All previous FAFSA requests have been for my daughter. I need a new PIN for him, right? OK. “Get Federal Student Aid PIN.” Click. Um, input email address. I hate that field. Whose email address? Mine, or my son’s? I’m completing this form, I want any related emails to come to me. So in goes my email address. “Your PIN confirmation will be sent to your email address.”

Sigh. I minimize the browser on my screen, open my email, sit and wait for a minute … ah, the PIN delivery email. Click, copy the PIN, close the email, reopen the browser, paste in the PIN. Ta da!

OK, now I’m in, and really starting. I take my second deep “here we go” breath. I easily complete the first several questions. My name, my husband’s name. My son’s name. Permanent street address. What school year does this FAFSA form cover? Which colleges should receive a copy of the FAFSA? I click on drop-down menus, I fill in open fields. Question by question I plod through, gaining confidence with each answer. Yes, I dread the FAFSA, yes, it is time-consuming and involves a lot of research, but I am doing it! It’s unpleasant, but I’m prepared and experienced.

So I’m feeling good when I arrive at the first financial question. “Income for 2012.” That should be easy enough. I pick up the draft copy of our tax return from our tax preparer. There are two pages per sheet of paper, and the print is teeny. I look and look. There’s the total “wages, salaries, tips, etc.” but … no breakdown of income for me and my husband. Just our total income.

Uh oh. I take my mouse, scroll down, look at the next questions. And I realize, on the very first financial question of the FAFSA … I’ve only got the draft copy of our taxes. Not the final copy. No W-2s, with salary and tax and 401(k) breakdown. The accountant still has all that backup paperwork.

Quickly, I analyze. Quickly, I decide. Quickly, I slide my keyboard in and stand up, victorious. For completely legitimate reasons, I can’t do this today. The FAFSA just has to wait. Yahoo!