Your Result: Blind Spot

WHAT THIS MEANS

Your family has significant financial aid blind spots that could result in attending a school you can't afford — or missing aid you were entitled to. The most common version of this outcome: a family focuses entirely on admissions without tracking aid deadlines, misses the CSS Profile requirement, and receives far less aid than expected. This isn't a permanent situation — but the financial aid calendar is unforgiving, and the window to fix these gaps narrows with every passing week.

WHY THIS MATTERS

The FAFSA opens October 1 each year, and many schools award aid on a rolling basis — families who file late often receive less, even if they qualify for more. The CSS Profile is required by most highly selective private colleges and takes significantly more time to complete than the FAFSA — families who don't know it exists often miss institutional deadlines. Not knowing your EFC or SAI means you can't evaluate whether a school's aid offer is accurate, generous, or worth appealing — which puts you at a systematic disadvantage in April.

WHAT STRONG APPLICANTS DO DIFFERENTLY

• —They file the FAFSA as early as possible after October 1 — not because they expect to qualify for need-based aid, but because filing is required to receive any federal, state, or institutional aid.
• —They look up every school's financial aid requirements on that school's aid page — specifically noting whether the CSS Profile is required and what the institutional deadline is.
• —They run the net price calculator on every school on their list before finalizing it, so cost surprises don't arrive in April when options are limited.