<p>So, I, as a junior, am beginning to formulate the list of colleges to which I will apply this fall. However, I know nearly nothing about my family's finances - my father has refused to speak with me about them in the past. Fortunately, he has agreed to talk with me about paying for college in the near future. Neither of us know much about the factors taken into consideration by colleges when they decide what FA package to award. What information (besides his yearly income) is it important that I have about my family's finances to make a judgement about how much aid we are likely to receive? Is it relevant that my mother passed away years ago and that my household has only one income? What is NOT taken into consideration when applying for financial aid? Thank you!</p>
<p>When you fill out FAFSA which is the form for government aid and required by almost all colleges, and PROFILE which a number of private college require, you will need your family 2011 tax return or the 2010 one with items changed to reflect the 2011 year if the 2011 is not done yet. You need the return because the forms ask for line items off of them. You also need the balances and market value of all assets as of the day you do the forms. It is wise to do the forms after payments have been made for the month so that large balances are not sitting in your checking accounts. If you are selected for verification, you will have to come up with statements verifying the numbers. You will need the market value of your home less any loans/mortgages it is securing for PROFILE but not for FAFSA. You will likely need all of your dependent siblings bank account and assets too for PROFILE. </p>
<p>I’m sorry about your mother’s passing. A rough time for all of you, I’m sure. It is relevant in that only one income will be reported, but there is no line item to put in there giving you a break of any sort. Though in PROFILE you can report extenuating factors like medical bills and perhaps having to get someone for younger siblings due to your mother’s death. It depends on the individual PROFILE school as to how they treat such info.</p>
<p>You can sit with your dad and run an estimate using an on line FAFSA EFC estimator to get some idea what your Expected Family Contribution is. Unless you are very low income, it is unlikely you will be eligible for PELL money, I can tell you. Most students are eligible for $5500 in Stafford loans the first year. Most any other loan will have to be taken by your Dad or cosigned by another credit worthy adult. </p>
<p>The EFC will give you some idea where you stand, though PROFILE goes deeper into the finances. Top costs for the most expensive college including room, board , expenses can run to the $60K range. If your EFC is up there, it is unlikely you will get any aid from all but the most generous colleges like HPY. Most schools that just use FAFSA will not meet 100% of need anyways, so the number really isn’t sacrosanct in the least. </p>
<p>When starting your college list, make sure you start with the schools very likely to accept you and that you know you can afford. Your local state colleges, your state flagship schools should all be checked out in terms of what they cost. Ask your Dad what is affordable? Can you consider going away to college in state if you don’t get financial aid or scholarships? The sure things are your safeties and should form the first layer of your list. Then you can start looking at schools that you might be able to afford with aid or scholarships. Look on websites to see which schools have some merit awards that you may qualify for. Look at College Board stats or USW lists to see which schools meet financial need if you look like you qualify and where the merit money is. You have a better chance at schools where you are in the upper 5-10% in test scores out of the applicant pool. </p>
<p>Also talk to your GC and ask for any info on local scholarships that you might be eligible to get and schools that s/he has noticed are generous to kids like you from your school. </p>
<p>No reason why you can’t add reach schools to your list once you have the safeties and some schools with some realistic chances in terms of admissions and affordability… We’ve always had a few nice surprises, and sometimes some not so nice ones in terms of acceptances and denials.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear about the loss of your beloved mother. </p>
<p>It’s a good thing to have this talk with your dad now. </p>
<p>Find out how much he thinks he can contribute each year for college.</p>
<p>Most schools do NOT give a lot of aid, and most do NOT meet need.</p>
<p>If you have high stats, you might want to consider also applying to some schools that will give you big merit scholarships for your stats as financial safety schools. These can be your “back ups” in case your other schools don’t work out or are unaffordable.</p>
<p>How many people are in your family? Having only one income won’t matter. With only one adult in the household, your EFC will likely be higher. </p>
<p>Your dad’s savings/investments will also be considered. </p>
<p>What kind of schools will you be applying to? </p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Also keep in mind that your EFC may well be the minimum amount your family (you and your dad) is going to be asked to pay, since very few schools guarantee to meet “full need” and instead leave a “gap” between the school’s Cost of Attendance (COA) and the EFC. And schools that do say they meet full need will have different definitions of what your “need” is. You can read through some of the old threads here on CC to find out about others’ experiences with this issue.</p>
<p>There are several college sites that have calculators that will give you a ballpark estimate of your EFC. You might suggest to your father that he run his numbers through one or two of them just to get a better feel for what kind of need-based aid you might receive (and even more importantly, what you probably won’t receive, if his income/assets are deemed to be high).</p>
<p>Kudos to you for thinking about the financial aspect before you even start putting your college list together. Now is definitely to have the financial talk with your father so you can target your applications appropriately. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>You and your dad can read through some of the information at [FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org) and then run a couple of the calculators there. This information will help you start sorting everything out.</p>
<p>I don’t know about all the calculators, but some don’t seem to work well when there is only one parent in the home. </p>
<p>It seems like when a one parent home family uses the real FAFSA, the EFC is higher than when using calculators. </p>
<p>I know that a 1 parent 2 child home will have a higher EFC than a 2 parent 1 child home with the same income/assets because a greater “allowance” is given for that second adult in the other household (because I guess the formula assumes that adults are more “expensive” to a household).</p>
<p>Anyway…this student and his dad need to have a real understanding about how FA works (and how it doesn’t work), so that there aren’t major disappointments next spring.</p>
<p>I see that the OP is considering U Chicago - which some have posted that they’ve been unhappy with UChi’s FA packages…don’t know if it’s because of UChi’s formula or what.</p>
<p>Since the OP’s mom is deceased, there could be some factors like lump-sum insurance savings…or a 401k or some other payout that is now not in protected savings. Or the family could have a lot in equity. </p>
<p>This student needs to make sure that he has some financial safeties that he LIKES, just in case the FA at his favorites don’t work out. If he has the stats for UChi, then he has the stats for some merit scholarships for “back up” schools.</p>
<p>Here is the link to the FAFSA formula for this year. You and your dad can work through it on paper, and see which aspects of your financial situation most affect it. The formula does change a bit from one year to the next, and the new one will be available sometime in the fall, and there surely will be a link in this forum as soon as it appears.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf[/url]”>http://www.ifap.ed.gov/efcformulaguide/attachments/101310EFCFormulaGuide1112.pdf</a></p>
<p>Take CLEP tests to quiz out of as much credit as possible and then pay your own way through the rest at a cheap state school. Juggling those responsibilities will set you up for success in the real world much better than a free ride from your father. It will also probably impress him.</p>