Students wishing to apply for TAP must first file the FAFSA (Free Application For Student Aid), listing the New York State schools they are applying to or they are planning to attend. NYS HESC (Higher Education Services Corporation) will mail students who are NYS residents and whose parents are NYS residents an Express TAP Application (ETA) based on the current information reported on their FAFSA. The deadline date for returning the ETA is May 1 of the current academic year. Students who do not complete their TOTW application when completing the FAFSA should go to https://www.tapweb.org/totw/ to fill out a TAP online application.