Hi all,
So I was recently accepted to Swarthmore, and I’m so incredibly happy since it’s one of my top choices. However, I was offered no FA. My parents are divorced. My dad, the non-custodial parent, is quite wealthy and makes about $250k, and my step-mom makes even more at about $500k. However, my dad and step-mom are not paying for my college tuition. My mom, the custodial parent, makes about $70k a year, and she and I are the ones trying to pay for my college, so Swarthmore’s total cost of $68k isn’t very affordable for us.
The only other school I’m been accepted to thus far is my local state school which I really don’t want to go to. I hate to sound rude, but I live in the Intermountain West, and it’s not a great state school—by no means close to state schools like UVA, UMich, or the UCs. As well, I just really want to get away from home regardless, and considering the campus is a 5min drive away from home… Granted, I am waiting to here from quite a few more schools, but I do really love Swarthmore given that it offers most of the things I want in a school.
So I wanted to ask if anyone has some advice or suggestions about going through the FA appeal process? I know it’s relatively similar at many schools which is why I decided to post it here rather in the Swarthmore specific forum where not as many people would see it.
You don't have a basis for an appeal. Really, this is a discussion to have had last year, not now. As your various parentals have told you the facts (that only your bio mum is on the hook for your college $) then applying for expensive schools was a mistake. No schools with CSS/profile will give you FA, your only escape route was merit, did you leverage that?
Plenty of married parents won’t pony up for full pay privates, let alone divorced remarried units. Your situation more common than not. Any CSS/profile school will consider your various income revenues.
What is your home state? What other schools have you applied to that won’t require FA? What are your stats?
The cost always going to be full pay, did you talk to adults about your applications? Did they give you a budget? Your bio dad is not contributing anything for college (or how much will he contribute)? Do you not have a relationship?
Does your mother get alimony? that counts as income too.
You may have to settle for a FAFSA only college that does not look at non-custodial parent’s income.
If you’re parents are not contributing any amount to your college education then you may want to consider becoming tax independent. It is probably too late for this year however I don’t think it ever hurts to write the school a personal letter explaining your circumstances. You have absolutely nothing to lose except maybe an hour of your time.
tax independent<<<<<<<<<<
@schroegang, What are you talking about?
@schroengang @TomSrOfBoston @Sybylla Thank you all for your thoughts and comments!
To address them: My mother stopped getting alimony two years ago, and the child support my dad paid stopped in January when I turned 18 (would that be grounds for an appeal given that it was close to 10k a year). I actually did have the “paying for college discussion” with my parents last year. My dad told me not to worry about it and that he would pay for my college tuition (as he did for my older sister). However, I came out as gay to my dad a little over a month ago, and he told me to forget about him paying for college and that until I stopped being gay, he wants nothing to do with me.
As for my stats, I attend a private high school in Wyoming (that my mother works at so we get discounted tuition). I have a 33 ACT (a 35 super scored) and a 3.93 GPA—I have a 4.0 for my Sophomore and Junior years, and I currently have a 4.0, so only my Freshman year I didn’t get straight As. I took 9 AP courses during high school out of the 10 my school offers (the other one being French—I took Spanish). I got 4s and 5s on all of them. I also took SAT 2s. I got an 800 on Math 2, an 800 on Chem, and a 790 on Spanish.
I applied to Swarthmore, UChicago (more on that later), Princeton, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Middlebury, Haverford, Reed, Carleton, Georgetown, and the University of Wyoming (accepted + merit scholarship covers everything, but I can’t stand this school, and I really NEED to leave WY).
I actually found out I got into UChicago about an hour ago. I hadn’t checked my portal (plus I kind of assumed I got rejected). UChicago offered me $40k in FA, so I’m unsure why Swarthmore didn’t offer me any. Granted, I also know that UChicago didn’t take any info from the non-custodial parent. While I do like UChicago, I still would prefer to go to Swarthmore given that I’d really like to go to a LAC, but if I can’t get more aid from Swat then I’d be happy to go to UChicago.
Meaning your parents do not claim you on their taxes. You would not be their dependant. If you pay for over 50% of your expenses I would seriously consider this route. You will still be covered under their health insurance until you are at least 25 Im sorry your dad is being an A$$. Id make sure he isnt claiming you on his tax for the child tax credit. We are essentially in the same boat as you. We make too much money to qualify for federal aid. Got accepted to both UVA and Michigan, neither offer merit scholarships except to a VERY small percentage and they are also need based. While UVA (in state for us) is arguably just as good if not a better school than U of M. My daughter really wants to go to U of M. Our income changed by $85,000 for 2017 so I wrote the financial aid office a letter this morning with tax transcripts for 2016 and 2017. I will let you know how it goes but I would highly recommend sending a letter to the aid office and tell them your story EXACTLY the way you presented it here. Does Swarthmore require the CSS?
@schroengang Thank you! It’s certainly worth a try. It’s definitely tough for us since my mom really wishes she could pay for my college, but she can’t afford it. My sister feels awful too considering my dad paid for both her undergrad (at Duke) and is now currently paying for her grad school (at Stanford).
I’ll definitely have to check if my dad is claiming me as a dependent. I haven’t lived with him since my parents got divorced back in 2006 (when I was 6 years old). In hindsight, I probably should have known that he’d be upset with my sexuality since he’s an incredibly conservative politician and very religious, but I guess I thought it’d be different since I’m his son, but oh well. I have a mother and sister who care for me deeply and that’s what matters.
Good luck with your daughter! Both UVA and UMich are wonderful schools. UVA is actually my dad’s alma mater as he grew up in rural VA. Wonderful school, but definitely don’t let your daughter end up like him if she goes there! This financial aid process is definitely worse in my opinion than the actual application process—especially since it was sprung on me about a month ago that I actually had to start worrying about it more.
And yes, Swarthmore does require the CSS, as do most of the schools I applied to with the exception of University of Wyoming and possibly Georgetown (I have no idea how their FA works given that their application doesn’t make any sense either).
Your best hope of a positive appeal result would have occurred had this been an ED acceptance. At this point, even if a CSS school like Swat were to say you could get some aid, they have already allocated the bulk if not all of this year’s available aid. Haverford will likely say the same thing since they will likely have allocated aid based on the paperwork that applicants have submitted. Sorry you father and stepmother are so small-minded; you are better not to have them around. You are lucky to have a mom who accepts for who you are. UofC is an incredible school and would offer you a great education plus a welcoming community; Swat and Haverford likewise. Going to UofC would likely require add’l loans; could you afford that? You could also request a deferred enrollment to the next entering class at your preferred schools citing your current situation (be sure to check with each school regarding their rules for this); that might give you an opportunity to get your finances in order. You could go to Wyoming for a year and take care of basic required classes.
I know there was a recent case in New Jersey where a young women sued her parents to pay for her college bills; not sure how that went. My gut tells me that it would be difficult to compel your dad to pay even if he can claim you for tax purposes and CSS counts his $ against you as a possible family resource. You might want to pursue a deferment to preserve your acceptance to Swat while you consult a lawyer or college admissions consultant about your options on filling out your aid paperwork.
@schroengang, It doesn’t matter if the dad claims OP on his taxes or not. Students have limited options for being considered independent for financial aid, and the requirements include things like being married, being in the military, or being 24. How the parents file taxes has nothing to do with it.
If the college requires the CSS, they won’t care that the dad says he won’t pay. They aren’t going to ignore ~3/4 of a million dollars in income. I think OP needs to consider FAFSA only schools or the state college if they can’t qualify for enough merit aid.
@austinmshauri @o2bdownsouth @schroengang @Sybylla @TomSrOfBoston As for an update, I reached out to my FA counselor that I was assigned at Swarthmore, and he said I have a very good case to waive the non-custodial parent’s information—plus apparently, my dad did not claim me as a dependent on his taxes nor am I under his health insurance—which only helps my case.
I was accepted to Davidson yesterday and they offered $35k in aid.
As for UChicago, I’d be willing to withdraw some loans. My grandparents are offering to pay for my room+board, so that takes another 10k off a year which leaves as at about 20k a year. I believe my 529 has about 40k in it, and then work-study could take off about another 2.5k a year which leaves me at about 30k over the course of four years which isn’t too bad. My mom said she can contribute about 5k a year given that’s how much she currently pays for my school tuition, and that brings me down to 10k in loans which isn’t too bad. In fact, if I worked every summer I could probably cover that and graduate with no debt.
Good for you! Sounds like you have some great options. Glad to hear Swat might be willing to work with you. If you get into Haverford, they might be willing to do the same (you never know if you don’t ask). Best of luck!
If your non-custodial parent/step-parent are not involved in your life, look into the possibility of a non-custodial waiver. Every school must have a policy in place, as some divorce parents are not involved in their children’s education. You can definitely appeal. If accepted, Swarthmore would use only your custodial parent’s income.
http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/389549-noncustodial-parent-waiver-petition.html