Happy New Year!
So, have you made any New Year's resolutions?
How about taking a couple of hours to complete your FAFSA 
—the Free Application for Federal Student Aid?
If you're headed for college this fall, you should complete the FAFSA as soon after January 1 as possible. There's a lot of money on the table—more than $152 billion in college financial aid was awarded during the last academic year, according to the College Board—and you want to be sure you receive every bit for which you're eligible.
Keep in mind that the FAFSA isn't just the federal application for financial aid—it also may be used to apply for aid from other sources, such as your state or your school. And financial aid can take a variety of forms: scholarships, grants, work-study programs, and student loans.
Why apply now? Because financial aid programs, like college applications, have deadlines for submission. The actual deadlines may vary by school, but here's a good overview.
Take those deadlines seriously. Remember that episode of "Felicity" when Felicity decides she is going to pursue her art major even though her doctor father doesn't approve and refuses to pay her $8,000 tuition? She goes to the financial aid office and receives a grant check for $75. The counselor tells her that's all she qualified for because she applied too late.
While an episode of Felicity is hardly real-world experience—and what happened to her may only be relevant for some forms of financial aid, not all—my point is this: It's January 2. Resolve to get started now!
You have a great point!! But may I add...When you get the award letter make sure you undertand it completly. One year I receieved an award letter with what I thought was the toatls for both fall and spring semesters. I even had a counselor from the Financail Aid office explain it to me. So I was excited thinking that I was set for the year as far as tuition went. But come spring time...there was no money for me. For some reason... the amount for fall carried over to the spring total. I had to pay out of pocket that semeter! Which left me having to take only a half course load in order to afford my books.
Bummer situation for you, Liliana, but good recommendation for other Student LoanDown readers!
Everyone, please review your award letter information c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y. If you don't understand it, check with your school's financial aid office or ask your parents to take another look.
In the meantime, I'm going to see if I can find out how/why a scenario like this could've happened. Are there any financial aid counselors out there who could shed some light?