<p>So all I know about my parents' gross income is that they make over $125,000
I have an older sister who has paid off her own debts so essentially I'm an "only child"
I don't have any extenuating circumstances.</p>
<p>The majority of the income comes from my father's real estate and he has never borrowed money, thus no mortgage.</p>
<p>Will FAFSA give me any money besides loans? I also don't understand these loans. Someone told me there's interest on all of them but I thought there were also loans with no interest?!</p>
<p>When FAFSA asks about real estate, do they factor in mortgage and other expenses? </p>
<p>Also how do colleges know that I'm not applying for FAFSA and factor that in my application? Because obviously, if I don't apply for FAFSA I'm more likely to get in but I personally don't want to go to a college if I need to pay my way in.
Another confusing thing, I applied EA to 4 colleges and let's say I didn't apply for FAFSA, how would colleges know because they notify me of my status by December 31st.
I'm just so confused about the connection among college, FAFSA, and my acceptance/rejection decision!</p>
<p>I will take a cut at some of these questions, others can probably clean up where I am not able to or get it wrong…</p>
<ol>
<li><p>FAFSA does not actually give you money. It is a form that is required to be filled out to receive need based aid at pretty much all colleges, and determines your eligibility for federal grants and loans. If you are applying for need based aid, you pretty much always need to do the FAFSA.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a box you check on the Common Application within each school’s supplement saying whether you are applying for need based aid. If the school has their own application (not on Common App), they will also ask this question.</p></li>
<li><p>A school can accept you and then follow that with financial aid information later. They don’t come in the same envelope… or even from the same department. However, if you have a high need for financial aid, it can affect your acceptance at some colleges. Given two equally qualified candidates, some schools will pick the student more able to pay.</p></li>
<li><p>Generally your dad’s real estate will be considered an asset. This is where someone else may be able to help out more, so correct me if I get this wrong. I think what happens is that the value of the asset less any loans is considered in at least some school’s calculations. They figure your dad could take out an equity loan on the property and use it to pay for school. At least, private schools think this. Not sure how FAFSA-only schools treat it.</p></li>
<li><p>Some schools also require something called the CSS Profile, which asks for more info than the FAFSA. And if your parents are divorced or separated, they also want a non-custodial Profile as well. Exactly what the school needs is available on each school’s website in the Financial Aid section. They will tell you all the deadlines for filling out the forms as well. Sometimes you fill out with the previous year’s tax information, then have to do it again in April when your taxes for the next year are done.</p></li>
<li><p>All loans have interest. But some have lower interest, some have interest that is waived until you graduate, and some have some rules about how much you have to pay back (less than the total) if you don’t make a lot of money for many years after graduation. Generally federal loans are better than private loans. This is something I think others can describe in more detail to you (we have avoided loans so far).</p></li>
<li><p>Schools often offer something called Work Study in a financial aid package as well. This is federal money used to pay your salary for an on-campus job during the school year. At many campuses the best jobs are Work Study, so it is a good thing to have. On some campuses it is very hard to get a job if you don’t have work study, on others it is no issue.</p></li>
<li><p>All colleges are now required to have a calculator on their website to help you figure out how much you might pay if you attend their. Your parents would have to help you fill it out. They ask about income, assets, etc., then give you a number of what you might get in grants (do not have to be paid back), loans, work study, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>You’ve already asked this question…the answer hasn’t changed…</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1409969-will-i-get-fa-please-take-look-my-situation.html#post14990235[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1409969-will-i-get-fa-please-take-look-my-situation.html#post14990235</a></p>
<p>The majority of the income comes from my father’s real estate and he has never borrowed money, thus no mortgage</p>
<p>Your parents income ALONG with their substantial debt-free real estate assets will likely translate into NO AID.</p>
<p>Your EFC will likely be too high for work study as well.</p>
<p>FAFSA is used to determine FEDERAL AID. Federal grants are for LOW income students. After submitting FAFSA, your resulting EFC will be way too high for federal grants.</p>
<p>You could get offered unsub federal loans up to $5500 for frosh year.</p>
<p>You need to ask your parents how much they’ll pay each year and made your app list based on that.</p>
<p>For FAFSA purposes, any real estate other than your primary residence will be counted as an asset. It sounds like your family owns rental properties and their income is derived from these. Is that correct? When you apply for financial aid, the income will be one thing that will be included on your FAFSA. IN ADDITION, the equity in those rental properties will also be counted as an asset. Since you have no mortgages on these properties, the FULL market value of these real estate holdings will need to be listed on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>So…if the properties are worth $500,000 total (this is an example) it will add about $25,000 per year on to your expected family contribution. That would be in addition to the amount based on your family income. Your family income would likely generate an EFC in the $25,000 a year range as well. Adding those together, you would have an EFC of $50,000 per year…and that would not translate into having need.</p>
<p>I would suggest you do an online financial aid calculator for a GUESTIMATE of your EFC. I’m not sure the net price calculators do well with rental incomes as the sole sources of income, but you could try that too.</p>
<p>With regard to your EA applications, did you check to see if any of your EA schools require the Profile? Often I’d they do, there is an early priority deadline for filing this. Some schools have their own financial aid form that they want completed by an early date. If not, you will complete your FAFSA and will get your financial aid award sometime before you need to make your matriculation decision.</p>
<p>As someone who owns rental properties, I would guess that if those no-mortgage rentals are creating $125k+ per year in income, then their value is very high. </p>
<p>I think Thumper’s EFC estimate for an income of $125k for a family of 3 seems low. I would guess it to be closer to $33k. Then adding about $5k for every $100k of equity will significantly raise the EFC to much higher.</p>