October is here and the FAFSA is open! While every school has its own deadlines for financial aid applications, November 1 is a good date to shoot for. Be sure to review each of your schools’ financial aid websites to see if they have additional requirements like the CSS Profile or separate applications for merit scholarships.

As you start to hit submit on applications you should be aware of what happens next. You can expect an email from each college acknowledging your application and giving you access to its portal. You need this information! The school’s portal is where you’ll check your application status, make sure all documents have been received and processed (recommendations, test scores, financial aid) and in many cases learn your admissions decision. If you don’t see an email come in with login information, be sure to check your spam folder.

I am seeing a lot of students who are not as far along with applications as they expected to be by now. If this sounds familiar, know that you’re not alone. I hope you’ll contact me if I can be helpful in getting you on track.