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Being a first-generation college student is a big deal and a huge opportunity. You鈥檒l be the first person in your family to experience the lighter side of college 鈥� like experimenting with ill-advised late-night dining options 鈥� as well as the more serious ultimate goal: getting a degree.

Navigating the college experience is hard enough as it is, but many first-gen students face an even steeper uphill battle: English may not be spoken at home, parents may be working long hours, or affordable tutoring programs may not have been available. Those who do attend college may face higher dropout rates and take longer to graduate. According to the , about 11% of low-income, first-generation students who entered college in 2003 received a bachelor鈥檚 degree within six years, compared with 54% of non-low-income, non-first generation students who did.

But before students can even register for classes, they need to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or , which聽gives access to federal grants, scholarships, loans and work-study. The FAFSA can be challenging for all families filling it out for the first time, but聽for first-gen students it may聽be聽even more overwhelming and intimidating 鈥� and that can have聽a major impact on their financial aid. In fact, in the 2007-08 school year, dependent students whose parents had a high school diploma or below received an average of $2,000 less in total aid than students whose parents had earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree or higher, according to a study by the .

Going into the FAFSA without any background knowledge can put you at a disadvantage, but filling it out is not an impossible task 鈥� and you don鈥檛 have to go it alone.

Here are our top FAFSA tips for first-generation college students and, for that matter, everyone filling it out for the first time:

Use the IRS data retrieval tool

With聽108 questions on the FAFSA, the hardest part will probably be figuring out what each question is asking for, especially when it comes to questions related to taxes.

鈥淚t was incredibly intimidating, because at that point nobody had ever covered taxes with me,鈥� says Rhina Lara, a first-generation student at the University of Florida and director of H1G, a mentoring program for first-generation honors students.

However, if you鈥檙e eligible to use the , the FAFSA gets a lot less complicated. It pulls information from your tax returns directly to your application. The FAFSA opens on Oct. 1, 2016, for the 2017-18 school year, so you鈥檒l be using tax information from the year before to fill it out initially. This will result in just an estimate of your aid, but you can update it after聽you file聽your tax return. Your updated information will be available within three weeks if you filed electronically or within 11 weeks if you filed on paper. Ask your parents to file electronically to speed up the process.

Another tip: before you start filling out the FAFSA.

Your FSA ID is the username and password you鈥檒l be using if you complete the FAFSA online, and it follows you from the Federal Student Aid site and National Student Loan Data System to StudentLoans.gov. You鈥檒l need your Social Security number, and it takes the Social Security Administration one to three days to process your info if you鈥檙e new to the system, so creating an ID before you start your application will help cut down on processing time.

Start your FAFSA ASAP

Since many first-generation college students don鈥檛 have access to the same resources as other students, it鈥檚 vital to give yourself enough . Sarah Place, National Access Program director at Bottom Line, a nonprofit company that focuses on helping first-generation and low-income students get into and succeed in college, says: 鈥淭here鈥檚 a knowledge gap. 鈥� [They] just don鈥檛 know what the college application process is like.鈥�

That means it can take first-gen students longer to complete the FAFSA than those with more experience with it, as Khalil Johnson, a junior at Pitzer College and blogger at I鈥檓 First, an online community for first-gen students, found when he filled out his first FAFSA.

鈥淚t was about a month-and-a-half-long process to fill it out; it did not go quickly at all,鈥� says Johnson, who noted that he spent most of that time clarifying what each question asked for.

The FAFSA also has varying state and school聽.聽For example, your state deadline might fall after an institution鈥檚 deadline.

鈥淢ake sure that you鈥檙e keeping track of each school and each deadline,鈥� Place says, 鈥渂ecause when it comes to financial aid and missing a deadline, there can be major consequences, even missing the deadline by one day.鈥�

Gather your documents

Use this to keep track of all the documents and information you鈥檒l need before you start. This includes:

• Your FSA ID.
• Your SSN.
  • If you鈥檙e not a U.S. citizen and you don鈥檛 have an SSN, be sure to include your alien registration number along with your application.
• Your driver鈥檚 license number.
• Federal tax information or returns from the previous year. (Be sure to mark 鈥渨ill file鈥� on your application. You can correct the information once you get your聽latest tax returns.)
  • For a U.S. tax return, this will be an IRS 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ form (include all W-2s as well).
  • For a foreign tax return (or for a tax return from one of the U.S. territories), include everything.
• Records of your current bank account balances.
• Records of untaxed income (such as child support, interest income and veterans noneducation benefits).

If you鈥檙e a , you鈥檒l need to gather these documents from your parents as well. If a parent doesn鈥檛 have an SSN, input 000-00-0000. The FAFSA does not ask about your parents鈥� citizenship status.

You鈥檒l also have to include at least one targeted school when you first fill out the FAFSA; you can send it to more schools later on. If you go that route, though, you might miss out on first-come-first-served aid, so it鈥檚 best to include all schools you鈥檙e interested in attending (up to 10). Use the to add schools to your application.

Talk to your parents about their finances

First-generation students and their parents may lack experience with the financial aid process, but that doesn鈥檛 mean you should go it alone if you can help it. Get on the same page with your parents and get a realistic idea of your finances. It can be a touchy subject, but the result (aka your estimated family contribution, the amount the government estimates your family can afford to pay out-of-pocket) affects them too, especially if they end up taking out a to finance your education. Johnson found the support from his mother to be especially comforting.

鈥淢y mom was really hands-on. She had no idea what she was doing, but she was not afraid to ask,鈥� he says.

You should ask for basic information you鈥檒l need to fill out the FAFSA such as, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 your gross annual income?鈥� and 鈥淒o you receive any external income like child support or government assistance?鈥� But you should also ask questions about how you鈥檒l pay for school. For example:

• How much do you think we can afford to pay out-of-pocket per year?
• Who is responsible for financing my education? What is a good ratio of financial responsibility? For some, it鈥檚 a 50-50 split between the parent and student. For others, it鈥檚 necessary to leave it up to the student to pay for college.
• Do I have a ? Do we have other savings that we will be using to finance my education?
• Do you expect our financial situation to change over the next four years? This includes changes such as getting a raise (especially if it pushes your parents聽into another federal tax bracket), having a child or changing jobs.聽If your parents鈥� income isn鈥檛 reliable, for example if they freelance or they鈥檙e looking to switch careers, you should be aware that your FAFSA results (and, by extension, your financial aid package) may vary greatly from year to year.

Your parents may have no frame of reference for talking about financial aid, the FAFSA or student loans, but involving them in the process will help you take control of your financial future.

Ask for help

The questions on the FAFSA aren鈥檛 always clear-cut, so reaching out for guidance and support is extremely important for first-gen students. Where can you go for help? Place suggests calling the Federal Student Aid information center at 800-4FED-AID (800-433-3243).

鈥淭hey鈥檙e actually pretty helpful, and they usually pick up the phone pretty quickly,鈥� she says, adding that students shouldn鈥檛 be afraid to ask questions that may seem obvious.

There are other places first-gen students can go for help, too. , for example, offers an extensive list of resources for filling out the FAFSA. Your high school guidance counselor can also offer assistance with navigating your financial aid applications. And this聽 also has information for filling it out, particularly for students who have nontraditional family circumstances, like students who don鈥檛 depend on their parents or who have an unusual immigration status.

Lara, the first-gen student from the University of Florida, suggests leaning on local students and families who鈥檝e already filled out the FAFSA as another source of support.

鈥淩eaching out to other students, especially those who have done it already, that鈥檚 really your best bet. Living in Miami, a lot of my friends were also first-gen, but talking to students who鈥檇 already done it was really helpful. They were the ones who knew exactly what to tell me,鈥� she says.

Next steps

Once you鈥檝e submitted your FAFSA, you鈥檙e in the homestretch, but you鈥檙e not over the finish line yet.

Follow up with each school to make sure it has received your documents. If you don鈥檛 see confirmation within the first two weeks, send the financial aid office an email.

If you get your back and your estimated family contribution seems too high, you can submit additional documents to have it adjusted for your circumstances.

Remember, the federal student aid process doesn鈥檛 end after you click 鈥渟ubmit.鈥� The FAFSA needs to be filled out聽every year you鈥檙e in school.

Devon Delfino is a staff writer at NerdWallet, a personal finance website. Email: ddelfino@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: . This article first appeared at .