FAFSA and CSS are the two forms you use to submit your parents’ income and taxes to colleges you apply to so that they can give you lots of money. They’re usually the first thing you spend a lot of time on during the application process, and it’s incredibly tedious, I will not lie. Tedious yet important. 

Though they are both similar processes, the FAFSA is something you have to fill out for all your schools, whereas the CSS profile is only for any private colleges you apply to, and the CSS tends to be a bit more in-depth than the FAFSA. 

Unfortunately for this step, you really can’t do it on your own, you need to sit down with your parents or guardians and have them fill out most, if not all, of it. Since it’s all about taxes and household income and things like that, students can’t really do anything, so for this step, you just get to sit back and relax! 

Here’s a website to help you fill out the FAFSA: https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out 

Here’s a website for how to fill out the CSS Profile: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-basics/css-profile/how-to-complete-the-css-profile