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<p>Regarding the daughter attending private school, she only attended private school for 4 years which were her high school years, right? I also agree with lavishly spending money (even with the HS fundraiser) to go to Europe as part of the senior trip is a bad idea considering their financial situation.</p>
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Some people on this board know how to use the internet to look things up.</p>
<p>Well I mean if I know the city in question, then I can look up the information too. Iâm asking how do people find out what the city in question is.</p>
<p>Does anyone here remember the Beatles when they started recording that awful sitar music?</p>
<p>Donât clutter this thread with utter non-sense, mom4college. Anyways, the reason I was asking was because maybe the CSS Profile takes into account cost of living depending on the city.</p>
<p>Itâs all about the fit, mom4 ;)</p>
<p>Besides, any school that boycotts USNWR rankings is worth a second look.</p>
<p>vball: Of course. Georgetown could be the perfect school for the OPâs D, but there are so many great schools that it is hard to imagine GU is the only one. She sounds like a fantastic student that many schools would welcome. </p>
<p>The OP mentioned âgenerous friendsâ in her first posting who were giving her a 10% return.</p>
<p>Since my earlier post offended chaospladin or whatever his/her name is, I will just say that this is total speculation, but maybe the OPâs relationship to the high school or to some affiliation is a close one (beyond employer/barterer) and there are other factors and relationships at play. You know, how the Beatles were sort of under a spell during that time when they recorded the sitar-ish parts of Sgt. Pepper.</p>
<p>* So, what did the parents do to prepare to pay for her education during the past 18 years? Maybe part of the $300,000 inheritance was intended to pay for college, and the mom would rather keep it for herself.</p>
<p>And now theyâre spending money in Europe, yet are worried about how to pay for college. *</p>
<p>The OP stated at one point that while her H was alive, they were always in debt. It sounds like the $300k came from life insurance (from Hâs death) and from the sale of her momâs home after her death. So, the money was never intended for college. </p>
<p>I donât know how much the Italy trip is costing, but presumably the OPâs cost was covered because sheâs a chaperone. The Dâs trip was probably paid for by the OP and fundraisers. While itâs a luxury, itâs certainly not costing enough that the money would have made a serious dent in Gâtownâs college costs. Plus, when one goes to a private school and there is a senior trip, itâs kind of expected that the seniors goâŠitâs kind of the capstone of senior year. My kids have very fond and long-lasting memories from their senior trip. </p>
<p>I donât know when the OP first told Gâtown about the sweat equity, but somewhere in an early post, I thought she first mentioned it in the âadditional infoâ section of FA apps.</p>
<p>Oh dear, and here I thought you were referring to the MaharishiâŠ</p>
<p>but presumably the OPâs cost was covered because sheâs a chaperone.</p>
<p>When I have been a chaperone, my trip cost actually was higher than it would have been if I was a tourist, because it was also paying for the teachers to go.</p>
<p>Of course different schools will have different policies, in my case this was a public school, a private school may do fundraisers for chaperone expenses as well as for the students, but since a trip to Italy would be pretty desirable, let alone a trip to Italy that was comped, I think it would be unusual for chaperones to go for free.</p>
<p>I totally sympathizes with OP. Based on her conversation with FA people, she expected a âworst case scenarioâ of $9K. Picking apart her ability to get a job, her chaperoning a school trip, suggesting that she move, etc. is not only off topic, itâs petty. My husband and I were both unemployed for 2 years, and had to live off savings. We have two children both in college, and believe me it was tough. We applied for FA and were given absolutely nothing. We have no mortgage and had savings of 400K, which we were living off. FA did not care if we were living off 5%, 10% or 20% of our savings. Our assets on paper looked good. I spoke to the FA adviser in my daughterâs high school, and he said that with so much equity in my house combined with my savings, the expectation was probably that I could borrow against my house. Even if I could do this, making a monthly payment without any income would only further deplete my savings. My older daughter received a 50% merit scholarship and my younger daughter received a small scholarship as well, but I am still paying $65K a year for both of them, and my savings are rapidly declining. Ironically, when the point comes that I run out of savings, I may be eligible for more financial aid, but I wonât have any money to live on. </p>
<p>The OPâs post was asking for advice, which in her situation is understandable. Yes, discussion about her daughterâs school, her ability to work and all the other dissections may be valid questions, but are really not helpful and are negative in tone.</p>
<p>Bayley- I agree, and Iâm pretty sure that we will never hear from the OP again.</p>
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<p>Nonsense is one word, and you completely missed the reference to Maharishi in Fairfield. You seem to frequently jump the gun in your posts.</p>
<p>They deleted the link (that referenced the MaharishiI), chaos probably missed it before it was deletedâŠ</p>
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<p>Who told you THAT? I do not believe this is true. The Profile schools, like FAFSA schools, look at your income and assets (Profile delves deeper into assets than the FAFSA) to determine financial need. The difference is the Profile schools do NOT (read that again ChaosâŠdo not) use the same formula for computing need from school to school. Each Profile school has its own formula for computing the awarding of that schoolâs need based funds.</p>
<p>The schools using the Profile can use the information on that form in ANY WAY THEY CHOOSE to disburse their institutional money. Itâs their money.</p>
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<p>There are really 2 separate methodologies at work here. Schools use the FAFSA in order to determine if one qualifies for federal aid (federal methodology). If a student qualifies for Pell, it is an entitlement and the student must receive the Pell grant. The CSS profile is used by the school to determine who the school will disburse their own funds (institutional methodology).</p>
<p>gotta agree with bayley:</p>
<p>The only salient fact is that GUâs finaid offer is based on CSS Profile, which is based on Jan-Dec 2010 income and all assets on the date that she signs the paperwork. If the OP decides to spend some of those assets today is not relevant to the discussion. Whether or not mom works in 2011 will have zero impact on 2010 income and thus Profile #s. </p>
<p>but, while we are purely speculating, Iâve wondered if perhaps OP sold âmomâsâ house by taking back a mortgage, or 2nd or IOU. As a riskier investment, that could command a higher interest rate.</p>
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I have no idea where the OP lives. Someone questioned where she mentioned Iowa, and whether (based on the screen name) she was referring herself to Fairfield CT. I found a post where she mentioned the âsmall Iowa townâ and pointed out that there is indeed a Fairfield in Iowa, which might be the location. Itâs entirely possible that they live somewhere else in Iowa and she simply identifies with her former New England background (which she also mentioned somewhere).</p>
<p>Regarding the Beatles, Op also posted this:
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Thank you for that edification.</p>
<p>MIsterK, the way financial aid calculators work is that they take the income from the prior year as the key figure for the expected contribution. If someone is unemployed the following year, the financial aid office is permitted to use professional judgment to classify them as a displaced worker and make adjustments accordingly.</p>
<p>That it is your opinion that the OP should work or that any given person should work is opinion only and has no bearing on the financial aid process.</p>