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Deadline for Financial Aid
Remember...and take seriously the following application deadline:
The Scholarship Committee and the Director of Admission and Financial
Aid will first deliberate on those students whose files are complete
by the deadline. Students who file materials after the established
deadlines will receive lower awards due to reduced availability
of funds.
Required Financial Aid Materials Checklist
Financial Aid Procedures
Filing the FAFSA: This is a free (no cost) form which asks you
to supply financial data for you and, if applicable, your parents.
Most students and their parents now complete the FAFSA online. The
Web site for accessing the form is www.fafsa.ed.gov
. Before you access FAFSA on the Web, you and your parents will
first have to obtain a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from
the PIN Web site, www.pin.ed.gov
. Your PIN will be e-mailed to you within 1-5 days. If you don’t
provide an e-mail address, your PIN will be mailed to your address
within 7-10 days. This PIN will allow you to electronically sign
your FAFSA. In addition to using a PIN to apply for financial aid
via FAFSA on the Web, students may also use their PINs to sign their
Stafford Loan Master Promissory Notes if their lender uses the ED
PIN as an electronic signature. Students will also be able to view
a history of their federal student financial aid on the National
Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) Web site.
For assistance with either the PIN process or FAFSA on the Web,
you can contact the Federal Student Information Center at
800-801-0576. Our office will also be happy to assist you
with any questions or problems you may encounter during the process.
Once you have successfully completed the FAFSA on the Web and used
your PIN(s) to sign the form, your information will be sent electronically
to Manhattan School of Music. Remember to include Manhattan School
of Music’s Title IV School code – 002759. If this
code is omitted, Manhattan School of Music will not be able to receive
your record. If you do not have access to the Internet, the paper
version of the FAFSA can be picked up in your high school guidance
office or college financial aid office. We would also be happy to
mail one to you if necessary. Please know that if you complete the
paper FAFSA the processing time runs 4-6 weeks. FAFSA on the Web
will turn around in approximately 10-14 days. As you can see, the
Federal Government, as well as financial aid offices, are strongly
encouraging the use of FAFSA on the Web. If you have questions or
concerns about utilizing the electronic method, please feel free
to contact our office so that we can reassure you that this is a
secure method and easy way to simplify the application process.
Filing the CSS PROFILE Form (Manhattan School of Music’s code is
2396): This is not a free form. Manhattan School of Music uses the
information on this form, along with your audition score and your
admission materials, to determine your eligibility for Manhattan
School of Music Scholarship or the President’s Award. Your application
process begins by completing one of the PROFILE Registration methods:
The preferred method is connecting to the Internet at www.collegeboard.com.
On the home page under the link “Important Stuff," click on
CSS/Profile Online, then choose the current year. You can connect
and complete the application immediately any time of day (you will
need a valid credit card). Online registration is $5 nonrefundable,
and $18 for each school that you designate to receive your PROFILE
data.
The College Board will electronically transmit your PROFILE data
to us. The PROFILE application is required of all dependent
students. We will notify you if you are missing information,
but valuable time will have been lost, and any scholarship that
you may be deemed eligible to receive will most likely be less than
if the information had been provided by the deadline.
If you have any questionsabout or need help with the CSS PROFILE,
you may email the College Board at help@cssprofile.org
or you can call 305-829-9793.
Once we have received the processed results of your FAFSA and PROFILE
applications, a record will be created on our financial aid database.
We will track all received materials and send you a letter indicating
all other documents (listed at the beginning of this letter) that
we will require for a complete application.
IT WILL CAUSE A DELAY IF YOU DO NOT...
- SIGN and DATE all application materials. Regulations require
signatures; therefore missing signatures may create processing
delays and may even require that the forms be returned to you.
- Answer ALL questions. If a question does not apply to you, enter
N/A or 0. Questions left blank may require you to be contacted
for the answer and a reprocessing of the form.
IMPORTANT NOTES
- If you are applying for need-based merit scholarship, you are
required to complete the entire financial aid process. If you
want to be considered for the no-need, merit-only President’s
Award (and no other aid), please direct a letter to the Office
of Financial Aid indicating such. Please keep in mind that the
President’s Awards generally range from $1000 - $5000 maximum.
- If you or your parents feel that the family 2008 income will
be drastically different from the reported 2007 income on the
FAFSA and PROFILE, you must submit a letter of explanation to
Amy Anderson, Associate Dean of Enrollment Management. Reasons
for drastic change in income include unemployment, separation,
divorce, serious illness or death. In the letter please project,
to the best of your ability, the new 2008 anticipated taxable
and nontaxable income from any and all sources. Please provide
documentation of these circumstances such as a letter from your
employer, medical documents, a separation agreement, or a divorce
decree.
- We highly recommend that you make photocopies of all application
materials that you submit to the Office of Admission and Financial
Aid. Create a file at home that will resemble the file we have
in our office. This will make any conversations we have more productive
and beneficial.
AND LAST…
Please, ASK QUESTIONS if you do not understand any
part of our application process. We understand that the scholarship/financial
aid process is, at times, frustrating and intimidating. We want
to assist and support you from start to finish. It is our goal
to make applying for scholarship and financial aid as pleasant and
painless as possible. When students and parents ask how they can
speed up the process, we always begin by saying, “provide all the
required information by the required deadline, and be as accurate
as possible when completing your forms – if you do your part, we
are able to do our part.” If you have suggestions or comments,
or if you experience problems, please call our office at 917-493-4463.
Financial Aid counselors are available to assist you. If necessary,
you may schedule either a phone or in-person appointment.
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