diff --git a/web/src/components/SchoolApplicationPage.tsx b/web/src/components/SchoolApplicationPage.tsx
index f076a50..4d7cad5 100644
--- a/web/src/components/SchoolApplicationPage.tsx
+++ b/web/src/components/SchoolApplicationPage.tsx
@@ -18,9 +18,10 @@ import { useEffect, useRef, useState } from 'react'
 import { C, MODULE_COLORS } from '../lib/designTokens'
 import { Bar, CollegeLogo, SecLabel } from './moduleUI'
 import JourneyStepper from './JourneyStepper'
-import { TASK_PHASES, tasksForEntry, isSharedTask } from '../data/applicationTasks'
+import { TASK_PHASES, tasksForEntry, isSharedTask, suggestedWaiverDue, WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS } from '../data/applicationTasks'
 import { DEADLINE_TYPE_LABEL, DEADLINE_TYPE_MEANING, daysLabel, urgencyColor, type DeadlineEvent } from '../data/applicationDeadlines'
 import NetPriceFact from './NetPriceFact'
+import { toIsoDay } from '../lib/personalDeadlines'
 import {
   APP_STATUS_META,
   CATEGORY_META,
@@ -60,10 +61,13 @@ const plausibleDay = (v: string) => {
   return /^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$/.test(v) && year >= 2000 && year <= 2100
 }
 
-function TaskDueInput({ due, label, hint, onCommit }: {
+function TaskDueInput({ due, label, hint, suggested, onCommit }: {
   due?: string
   label: string
   hint: string
+  /** A sensible date to open on, as `YYYY-MM-DD`. The student still has to
+   *  save it — nothing is written until they do. */
+  suggested?: string
   onCommit: (due: string | undefined) => void
 }) {
   // null = not editing: show the saved value.
@@ -97,7 +101,7 @@ function TaskDueInput({ due, label, hint, onCommit }: {
     return (
       <button
         type="button"
-        onClick={() => setAdding(true)}
+        onClick={() => { if (suggested) setDraft(suggested); setAdding(true) }}
         aria-label={`Add a due date for ${label}`}
         title={hint}
         style={{
@@ -186,6 +190,9 @@ export default function SchoolApplicationPage({
   const cat = CATEGORY_META[app.category]
   const preSubmission = app.status === 'not-started' || app.status === 'in-progress'
   const urgent = preSubmission ? urgencyColor(daysLeft) : null
+  // A month before this school's deadline, for the fee-waiver task. Null when
+  // we hold no deadline to count back from.
+  const waiverSuggestion = deadline ? toIsoDay(suggestedWaiverDue(deadline.date)) : undefined
 
   const setDue = (task: AppTask, due: string | undefined) => {
     if (isSharedTask(task)) onSetSharedDue(task.id, due)
@@ -334,8 +341,21 @@ export default function SchoolApplicationPage({
                         due={task.due}
                         label={task.label}
                         hint={task.due ? 'Your date for this task' : shared && n > 1 ? 'Set your own date (for every school that needs this)' : 'Set your own date for this task'}
+                        // The waiver is the one task whose date is not a
+                        // preference: the counselor needs the lead time, so
+                        // the box opens on a month before this school's
+                        // deadline rather than on nothing.
+                        suggested={task.id === 'waiver' ? waiverSuggestion : undefined}
                         onCommit={(due) => setDue(task, due)}
                       />
+                      {task.id === 'waiver' && !task.done && (
+                        <span
+                          title={`Counselors confirm waiver eligibility for a whole cohort each autumn. ${WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS} days gives them room, and you room to chase it.`}
+                          style={{ fontFamily: font, fontSize: 11, fontWeight: 600, color: C.textMuted, background: C.surface, border: `1px solid ${C.border}`, borderRadius: 99, padding: '2px 8px', whiteSpace: 'nowrap' }}
+                        >
+                          ask ~{WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS} days ahead
+                        </span>
+                      )}
                       {shared && n > 1 && (
                         <span title="Done once, counts for every school that needs it" style={{ fontFamily: font, fontSize: 11, fontWeight: 600, color: MC, background: `${MC}12`, borderRadius: 99, padding: '2px 8px', whiteSpace: 'nowrap' }}>
                           Shared with {n - 1} other {n - 1 === 1 ? 'school' : 'schools'}
diff --git a/web/src/data/applicationTasks.test.ts b/web/src/data/applicationTasks.test.ts
index 45b30b7..4de25ac 100644
--- a/web/src/data/applicationTasks.test.ts
+++ b/web/src/data/applicationTasks.test.ts
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import { describe, it, expect } from 'vitest'
-import { defaultTasksFor, deriveTaskEvents, initialTasksFor, setSharedTask, sharedTaskSummary, tasksForEntry, tasksForRound, updateSharedTask } from './applicationTasks'
+import { defaultTasksFor, deriveTaskEvents, initialTasksFor, setSharedTask, sharedTaskSummary, tasksForEntry, tasksForRound, updateSharedTask, suggestedWaiverDue, WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS } from './applicationTasks'
 import { withKnownCategory, type ApplicationEntry } from './applicationsChecklist'
 
 const app = (collegeId: string, fields: Partial<ApplicationEntry> = {}): ApplicationEntry => ({
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ describe('shared tasks', () => {
       app('c', { institutionType: '2yr' }),
     ]
     const byId = Object.fromEntries(sharedTaskSummary(apps).map((s) => [s.id, s.total]))
-    expect(byId).toEqual({ recs: 2, transcript: 3, css: 1 })
+    // The waiver follows the four-year schools: 'c' is a community college,
+    // which almost never charges an application fee to waive.
+    expect(byId).toEqual({ recs: 2, transcript: 3, css: 1, waiver: 2 })
   })
 
   it('ignores withdrawn schools', () => {
@@ -38,8 +40,19 @@ describe('shared tasks', () => {
   })
 
   it('does not treat a custom task with a shared id as shared', () => {
-    const a = app('a', { tasks: [{ id: 'recs', label: 'Mine', done: false, phase: 'after', custom: true }] })
-    expect(setSharedTask([a], 'recs', true)[0]).toBe(a)
+    // A real saved list, plus a custom task that happens to reuse the id.
+    const base = app('a')
+    const a = app('a', {
+      tasks: [
+        ...defaultTasksFor(base),
+        { id: 'recs', label: 'Mine', done: false, phase: 'after', custom: true },
+      ],
+    })
+    const [out] = setSharedTask([a], 'recs', true)
+    const byCustom = Object.fromEntries(
+      (out.tasks ?? []).filter((t) => t.id === 'recs').map((t) => [t.custom ? 'custom' : 'default', t.done]),
+    )
+    expect(byCustom).toEqual({ default: true, custom: false })
   })
 
   it('carries finished shared tasks over to a newly added school', () => {
@@ -137,3 +150,53 @@ describe('withKnownCategory', () => {
   })
 })
 
+
+describe('fee waivers need lead time', () => {
+  const idsOf = (a: ApplicationEntry) => defaultTasksFor(a).map((t) => t.id)
+  const phaseOf = (a: ApplicationEntry, id: string) => defaultTasksFor(a).find((t) => t.id === id)?.phase
+
+  it('asks about the waiver before applying, and pays at submit', () => {
+    // One task used to do both: "Pay the application fee (or apply for a
+    // waiver)", in the submit phase. A waiver cannot be a submit-day job.
+    const a = app('a')
+    expect(phaseOf(a, 'waiver')).toBe('before')
+    expect(phaseOf(a, 'fee')).toBe('submit')
+  })
+
+  it('is one request for the whole list, unlike the fee itself', () => {
+    // A granted Common App waiver applies at every Common App school; paying
+    // is per school.
+    const [out] = setSharedTask([app('a'), app('b')], 'waiver', true)
+    expect(out.tasks?.find((t) => t.id === 'waiver')?.done).toBe(true)
+    const [feeOut] = setSharedTask([app('a'), app('b')], 'fee', true)
+    expect(feeOut.tasks?.find((t) => t.id === 'fee')?.done).not.toBe(true)
+  })
+
+  it('leaves community colleges alone', () => {
+    // 611 of the 1,128 schools in the Common App grid charge nothing to apply,
+    // and two-year schools are overwhelmingly among them.
+    expect(idsOf(app('c', { institutionType: '2yr' }))).not.toContain('waiver')
+    expect(idsOf(app('a'))).toContain('waiver')
+  })
+
+  it('counts back a month from the deadline', () => {
+    expect(WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS).toBe(30)
+    // Across a month boundary, which naive date arithmetic gets wrong.
+    expect(suggestedWaiverDue(new Date(2027, 0, 2)).toDateString()).toBe(new Date(2026, 11, 3).toDateString())
+  })
+
+  it('reaches a list saved before the task existed', () => {
+    // Default tasks cannot be deleted, so a saved list missing one is simply
+    // old — a student who added a school last month should not be the only one
+    // without this step.
+    const old = defaultTasksFor(app('a')).filter((t) => t.id !== 'waiver')
+    const topped = tasksForEntry(app('a', { tasks: old }))
+    expect(topped.find((t) => t.id === 'waiver')).toBeDefined()
+    expect(topped.find((t) => t.id === 'waiver')?.phase).toBe('before')
+  })
+
+  it('leaves a complete list exactly as it was', () => {
+    const entry = app('a', { tasks: defaultTasksFor(app('a')) })
+    expect(tasksForEntry(entry)).toBe(entry.tasks)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/web/src/data/applicationTasks.ts b/web/src/data/applicationTasks.ts
index 629ef10..8380187 100644
--- a/web/src/data/applicationTasks.ts
+++ b/web/src/data/applicationTasks.ts
@@ -45,8 +45,17 @@ export function defaultTasksFor(app: ApplicationEntry): AppTask[] {
     tasks.push(t('agreement', `Review & sign the ${app.deadlineType} agreement`, 'before'))
   }
 
+  // Asking for the waiver is not a submit-day job. The request goes through
+  // the counselor, who is doing the same for a whole cohort in October and
+  // November, so it belongs with the work done ahead of the deadline.
+  //
+  // Not for community colleges and trade schools: most charge nothing to
+  // apply, and a step about waiving a fee that does not exist is noise on the
+  // one list that should be shortest.
+  if (fourYear) tasks.push(t('waiver', 'Ask your counselor about a fee waiver', 'before'))
+
   // ── Submit ──
-  tasks.push(t('fee', 'Pay the application fee (or apply for a waiver)', 'submit'))
+  tasks.push(t('fee', 'Pay the application fee, if one is owed', 'submit'))
   tasks.push(t('transcript', 'Send your official transcript (via counselor)', 'submit'))
   if (fourYear) {
     tasks.push(t('scores', 'Send test scores (or confirm test-optional)', 'submit'))
@@ -84,9 +93,26 @@ export function tasksForRound(app: ApplicationEntry, deadlineType: ApplicationEn
   return app.tasks.filter((t) => !(t.id === 'agreement' && !t.custom))
 }
 
-/** The current task list for an entry — its saved tasks, or the seeded default. */
+/**
+ * The current task list for an entry — its saved tasks, or the seeded default.
+ *
+ * A saved list is also topped up with any default task it is missing. Default
+ * tasks cannot be deleted (only custom ones can), so a list without one was
+ * saved before that task existed, and a student who added a school last month
+ * should not be the only one without the fee-waiver step.
+ */
 export function tasksForEntry(app: ApplicationEntry): AppTask[] {
-  return app.tasks ?? defaultTasksFor(app)
+  if (!app.tasks) return defaultTasksFor(app)
+  const saved = new Set(app.tasks.filter((t) => !t.custom).map((t) => t.id))
+  const missing = defaultTasksFor(app).filter((t) => !saved.has(t.id))
+  if (missing.length === 0) return app.tasks
+  // Each goes in with its own phase's tasks, so the list keeps its order.
+  const out = [...app.tasks]
+  for (const task of missing) {
+    const last = out.map((t) => t.phase).lastIndexOf(task.phase)
+    out.splice(last + 1, 0, task)
+  }
+  return out
 }
 
 /** { done, total } progress for an entry. */
@@ -99,10 +125,30 @@ export function taskProgress(app: ApplicationEntry): { done: number; total: numb
  * Tasks that are done once for the whole list rather than once per school.
  * Teacher recommendations are requested once through the Common App, the
  * counselor sends one transcript that every school receives, and a single CSS
- * Profile goes to all the schools that need it. Test scores, fees and essays
- * are deliberately not here: each school needs its own.
+ * Profile goes to all the schools that need it.
+ *
+ * The fee *waiver* is one request too — a Common App waiver, once granted,
+ * applies at every Common App school on the list. Paying a fee is not, which
+ * is why the two are separate tasks. Test scores and essays stay per-school.
  */
-export const SHARED_TASK_IDS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(['recs', 'transcript', 'css'])
+export const SHARED_TASK_IDS: ReadonlySet<string> = new Set(['recs', 'transcript', 'css', 'waiver'])
+
+/**
+ * How long before a deadline to start asking about a fee waiver.
+ *
+ * The form itself is quick; the counselor is the queue. They are confirming
+ * eligibility for a whole cohort through the autumn, and a request made in the
+ * last week competes with everyone else's. A month leaves room for that and
+ * for a second attempt if the first goes astray.
+ */
+export const WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS = 30
+
+/** The date to aim for, given when the application is actually due. */
+export function suggestedWaiverDue(deadline: Date): Date {
+  const d = new Date(deadline)
+  d.setDate(d.getDate() - WAIVER_LEAD_DAYS)
+  return d
+}
 
 export const isSharedTask = (task: AppTask): boolean => !task.custom && SHARED_TASK_IDS.has(task.id)