You should apply by
Mar. 1st if at all possible. The Academy needs your
information by to help make decisions about awarding aid, so
earlier is better. Like the FAFSA, the
PROFILE
is based on previous year's income and asset information. You
may use estimated information, but it then must be corrected
when you have filed your tax information. This may cause a change
in your award according to how close your estimate was to your
actual figures.