• Peg gives her backstory
• Peg answers the question, should you fill out the financial aid forms if you are confident that you will not qualify for need-based aid
• Mark introduces the topic
• Peg and Mark have a robust discussion of what it means to be “need-blind”
• Peg explains the difference between the FAFSA and the PROFILE
• Peg and Mark begin the discussion, What are the missed opportunities that are common to both FAFSA and the CSS Profile
• Mark and Peg continue to discuss about six more missed opportunities that are common on both FAFSA and the PROFILE, missing out here can cost you thousands or even tens of thousands a year
• Peg lets us know how common it is for the family to list a grandparent on the Profile or FAFSA erroneously
• Peg explains the difference between FAFSA and the PROFILE
• Peg discusses properly representing your secondary properties
• Peg discusses representing the value of your business
• Peg gives her advice about when to submit these forms
• Peg discusses what she means by “a first-come, first-served school”
• Peg discusses the confusion over the school year
• Peg discusses the confusion over the student and the parent in terms of whose FAFSA or Profile is it
• Peg discusses demographic details
• Peg discusses FAFSA-specific missed opportunities, including some new ones now that the FAFSA has been revamped
• Peg discussed the confusion over primary home equity
• Peg discussed divorced, separated, and never married individuals and how the FAFSA policy has changed with the New FAFSA
• Mark shares a very real scenario he encountered last year to show just how complicated things can get with divorced, separated, and never-married families
• Peg talks about the changes from the old FAFSA to the new FAFSA
• We transition to talk about some CSS PROFILE-specific missed opportunities
• Peg talks about questions that you do not have to answer on the Profile
• Peg talks about the exceptional circumstances
• Peg shares her three commandments when filling out these forms
• I share a few stories from my life experience that relate to the point Peg is making
• Peg explains how much flexibility colleges have when interpreting and applying the data from the Profile compared to the FAFSA
• Peg talks about why there are more Pell grant recipients now
• Peg talks about some profile-specific mistakes students make; we start with a conversation on home equity
• Peg talks about not oversharing when you complete the Profile
• Peg gives an example of a question that you don’t need to answer
• Peg talks about the flexibility and subjectivity colleges look at when they interpret a Profile
• Peg talks about how she advises college students to handle the exceptional circumstances section
• Peg talks about the projected income question, and she shares how she advises families to handle this question
• Peg and Mark have a robust discussion about the dreaded question on the Profile that asks, How much can you afford to pay for college and we advise on how to handle this question
• Peg advises schools that have their institutional form
• Peg talks about how the rumor mill from friends and family will get you in trouble with financial aid
• Peg talks about how essential it is to know your SAI and to know the different policies of the schools you are looking at
• Peg and Mark discuss how some colleges keep their policies close to the vest
• Peg talks about parents being willing to talk to students about money and to set the stage. She shares why she feels this is worth millions of dollars.
• Peg gives her advice on whether the student or the parent should fill out the financial forms
• Peg goes on the hot seat in the lighting room
• I ask Peg to explain more College Aid Pro

You can also listen on Episode 557, Episode 559, Episode 561, Episode 563, and Episode 565