Mason Families
The final weeks of the semester can be hectic for students and families. We hope that you are able to enjoy quality time with your student during this winter break. From all of us here at Orientation and Family Programs and Services, we wish both you and your student a fun and restful vacation! We look forward to serving you in the New Year and are thankful you and your student are part of our Mason Family.
Orientation and Family Programs and Services
On January 1, 2015 the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the 2015-2016 academic year will be available to complete online at www.FAFSA.gov.
Students, both returning and prospective, who wish to apply for financial aid will want to submit the FAFSA by George Mason University’s priority filing date of March 1. It is never too early to start this process by having conversations with your student over winter break. It is important for students and families to ensure they are completing the FAFSA accurately and on time. See below for more information on the priority filing deadline and resources designed to guide students and families through the filing process.
What is a priority filing date?
The priority filing date is the day that Mason begins processing FAFSA applications for the upcoming year. Due to the increasing number of financial aid applicants at George Mason University, combined with a limited amount of state and institutional aid available, this is the date used to determine who will be considered eligible to receive such awards. To ensure that your student is considered for these types of aid, please encourage them to submit their FAFSA prior to the March 1 deadline.
The FAFSA requests completed tax information. What if my student has not yet not yet filed his or her taxes?
On the FAFSA application there is an option to choose “will file”. Both students and parent(s) can put estimated income information into the FAFSA to submit the application in a timely manner. Each year, in order to meet the priority deadline, a number of our applicants choose this method to ensure that the FAFSA is submitted before this deadline. Once you and your student have completed and filed taxes, both of you will need to go online and make corrections by using the IRS Data Retrieval process within the FAFSA application to input the accurate tax information in order to ensure an accurate financial aid package based on actual income and data.
What if my student needs help completing the FAFSA?
There are many tools available to assist both students and families with completing the FAFSA. For example, on Mason’s Office of Student Financial Aid website there are videos with step-by-step instructions to assist with the process. Also, you can visit the U. S. Department of Education’s website for more helpful information to assist your student when completing the FAFSA.
Heidi Granger
Director
Student Financial Aid
Whether your student is entering their first winter break since beginning college, or preparing to start their final semester before graduation, the time off during winter break can be an adjustment for the entire family. Your student is probably feeling a great sense of relief now that final exams have wrapped up, but they may need some down time between semesters.
Determining how your student wants to spend their break can be difficult, so we asked current Mason students to tell us a little more about how they want to spend their break to give parents and families some helpful hints about how your student may be feeling.
What is one thing you want to do over winter break?
Each of the students we spoke with said they want to spend time with their family and relax over winter break. They are feeling tired after finishing final exams and want some down time before committing to a packed schedule of family plans.
“The number one thing I want to do over winter break is spend time with my family while decompressing from the past semester. Especially in my first week or so home, I do not feel like committing to any large plans.” -current Mason sophomore
What is one thing you want your parents/family to know about how you feel entering winter break?
Students want their families to know they are just finishing a stressful couple weeks, and they may not want to talk about how difficult the final weeks of the semester have been. The biggest misunderstanding that students expressed was their family interpreting their desire to rest as laziness. Students used the word “stress free” most frequently to describe how they want to feel during break.
“I want my parents to understand that for the last couple of weeks prior to entering winter break I have been working hard to study for final exams so as soon as I get home I don’t want to be filling out scholarships or doing a lot of activities. I would rather just relax for the first couple of days of winter break.” – current Mason sophomore
If your parents/families are wondering what you want to do over break, what would you like them to do?
All of the students we spoke with expressed that they just want to be asked what they want to do over break. Instead of over-planning because your student has additional free time, or avoiding planning activities because you are not sure how your student feels, open the lines of communication and discuss your students’ expectations over break.
We hope these tips are helpful as you transition to some additional free time with your student! Communication and understanding is key to enjoying a restful and fun winter break.
Kristen Wright
Graduate Assistant, Family Programs and Services
Orientation and Family Programs and Services
| December 4 | Family Webinar: Career Planning Tips for Freshmen- noon EST (https://masonfamily.gmu.edu/webinars/) |
| December 6 | Last Day of Classes |
| December 10 | Final Exam Period |
| December 18 | Winter Convocation |
| December 18 | Campus Residences Close at Noon (see http://housing.gmu.edu/moveout/winter.cfm for exceptions) |
| December 22 - January 2 | Administrative Offices Closed |