Beware of Financial Aid Deadlines

Financial AidI recently met with a family who was extremely frustrated by the lack of money that they received from the school that their daughter was going to attend.

The student scored a 33 on the ACT Test, however she was awarded zero dollars in financial aid.

She was attending a state school and therefore a 33 should have been more than enough to receive quite a bit of merit based financial aid.

In discussing it further I came to realize that the family had missed the December 1 financial aid deadline for submission of transcripts.

While I completely understood their frustration in receiving no money with a 33 score, the deadline was the deadline and the school showed zero mercy.

This should be a lesson to all families seeking financial aid whether it be need-based or merit-based. Every school has different deadlines, the government has a different deadline, different schools require different things at different times.

Just simply going through the process or filling out the paperwork, Is not enough. Managing the financial aid process includes and is certainly not limited to, being WELL aware of deadlines.