September 2020!

Hello and Happy Fall~

As a former educator and September birthday, I have always loved fall. Yes, I am “that girl” who loves changing leaves, crisp breeze, and pumpkin spice lattes.

I also continue to organize my annual calendar starting in September and ending in August driving my non-educator husband crazy!

“The year starts in January,” he’ll say, as we sit down in September to make our annual plan.

The start of the school year means so many things, and seniors and parents have a very important new task. It’s time to gather info. (September) and submit (October) the FAFSA and CSS Profile.

Each college has their own deadlines and it’s the family’s job to know the specifics for each of the schools on the “yes” list.

Basic rule of thumb is to open the FAFSA and CSS Profile on or close to October 1st (not before to make sure you’re working on the correct forms), and plan on hitting send on these at the same time the student is hitting send on the first batch of early action applications by November 1st.

There is a lot of information and help out there on the FAFSA and CSS profile, so don’t worry!

While I don’t help families fill the forms out, I am happy to answer any questions that I possibly can.

If ever you have questions that go beyond my expertise, remember there are folks who specialize in all things financial related to college. See the Financial Resources page and Spotlight on Financial Resources post on for more links and tips.

Dig in to September’s checklist!