<p>I am 17 and my mother passed away when I was 7 and my father when I was 13. I lived with my 22 year old sister for about 3 years with my little 9 year old brother (now 11). My sister gave up custody of both of us so he now lives in a group home controlled by the state and I am living with a close friend of the family. </p>
<p>I read somewhere that I can claim myself as independent because my parents were deceased at age 13 or younger. Is this true? </p>
<p>I am really worried about tuition prices. The colleges that are on my list are extremely expensive and I do not want to have to take out student loans until I am 50, because I know too many people who are in that quandary right now. </p>
<p>Do you think I will have to worry about tuition given my past and my incomes? </p>
<p>If I cannot claim myself as independent, then my household income was around $50-60K a year with 2 dependents and social security included. </p>
<p>The colleges that are on my list are Carnegie Mellon Univ. - Rutgers Univ. - Stevens Institute of Technology - New Jersey Institute of Technology and University of Pittsburgh. I live in NJ.</p>
<p>It does sound that you will be independent due to the unfortunate circumstances of your childhood:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>My worry for you is that simply being independent does not guarantee aid. Your FAFSA may end up showing you as having a $0 Expected Family Contribution depending on your income but most schools will not give you a full ride just for that reason. I would look for schools that provide full need (not too many of those) as well as schools that will give you scolarships based on your GPA, SATs/ACT, etc.</p>
<p>Sorry about your parents. You sound like a mature and responsible student. Yes, you qualify to be independent. HOWEVER, unless you have very very high stats, I don’t see how you get to school without loans unless you have friends and family helping. You will get Pell grant of about $5600. Maybe some state grant depending what state you live in. None of the schools listed will meet full need, and in many cases you will need to take out the loans and will STILL be sort by quite a bit. There are solutions though! Can you share your state/GPA/tests scores? Many people here can point you to excellent opportunities. Good luck!</p>
<p>Yes, you can claim yourself dependent. That does not mean that you will get need met, even with a FAFSA EFC of zero as others have told you. NONE of the schools you have listed guarantee to meet full need. They tend to gap, and sometimes very badly. Here is a list of schools that meet full need AS THEY DEFINE IT: <a href=“List of Colleges That Meet 100% of Financial Need”>http://www.thecollegesolution.com/list-of-colleges-that-meet-100-of-financial-need/</a> . They do not define need by FAFSA EFC and many have a required student contribution right from the get go. Also, some of the schools may have changed their policies this year, so make sure you double check that on the website and calling their financial aid offices before sending off an application. Albright college is another I would check out .</p>
<p>if you are only going to apply if the school does indeed meet full need. Also run NPCs for each school to get an idea of what they will expect you to pay. Albright’s NPC is not working the way their fin aid office is saying it should work, by the way. Also look at the info at the top of the FIn Aid board here and see what full tuition, full ride possibilities could work for you.</p>
<p>lleeoo66
I am sorry for your loss. Based on the situation you described you will be independent. But as others stated, it does not mean that you will go to college for free especially since the schools that you have listed do not meet 100% demonstrated need. Right now, the only thing you would be eligible for are Pell Grants ~5600, NJ Tag grant ~6800 and direct loans at the independent student level of $9500. The grants alone will almost cover your tuition and fees at Rutgers ($13, 397). </p>
<p>DId the family friends apply for court ordered legal guardianship of you? Court ordered legal guardianship would also make you an independent student.</p>
<p>DId they become your foster parents? You should find out if this is a possibility.</p>
<p>If your family friends are also your foster parents, if you were an eligible student, you may receive grants up to $5,000 per year for up to five years or until their 23rd birthday. ETV funds can be combined with other grants and scholarships to minimize or eliminate the need for student loans.</p>
<p>Colleen Otremsky,
ETV Coordinator
Department of Children and Families
<a href="mailto:colleen.otremsky@dcf.state.nj.us">colleen.otremsky@dcf.state.nj.us</a>
Phone: (609) 888-7158
50 East State Street
PO Box 717
Trenton, NJ 08625-0717</p>
<p>As others have stated, YES, you will definitely be considered an independent student. You may need to provide documents to their Financial Aid Office on request, so begin to make copies of any death certs you may have.</p>
<p>So as to not repeat anything from the very accurate comments above, be aware some schools have special circumstance forms to adjust your fafsa, but this will be a dead end since you’re at zero efc already. Ask if you can contact their director by email to appeal for additional aid (Financial Aid Director, or equivalent).</p>
<p>Definitely do some searching for third-party scholarships. I know for a fact there are some specifically for students who have lost one or both parents.</p>
<p>I am very sorry if I seem repetitive. I keep leaving small and compulsory information out each time I ask a question. </p>
<p>am 17 and my mother passed away when I was 7 and my father when I was 13. I lived with my 22 year old sister for about 3 years with my little 9 year old brother (now 11). My sister gave up custody of both of us so he now lives in a group home controlled by the state and I am living with a close friend of the family.</p>
<p>From my previous question, I concluded that yes I can claim myself as independent but I still will probably not get a full ride just given the circumstances of my past. </p>
<p>Colleges applying to:
University of Cali - Berkely
Carnegie Mellon University
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Rutgers University
University of Pittsburgh</p>
<p>SAT Scores
Math - 590
Reading - 570
Writing - 540
Total - 1700</p>
<p>GPA - 3.5</p>
<p>Circulars/work
County Science fair participant
Freshman and sophomore baseball and football
Worked all of junior year
Senior year robotics club
senior year italian club
senior year sat club
40 hours of community service</p>
<p>My question is, given my academic status AND my past, can I get a reasonably good price on college?
Also, will colleges grant me money themselves (separate from State and Federal Aid)?</p>
<p>Again, sorry if I seem repetitive. I seemed to have left out information. </p>
![https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/dependency-status.png]FAFSA[/url](https://studentaid.ed.gov/sites/default/files/dependency-status.png%5DFAFSA%5B/url){kind=link}
