Yes as I stated before he does have the means to pay for college but ofc financial aid would be best
NCP is Non Custodial Parent. For college financial aid purposes, for FAFSA purposes, you fill out the financial info only for the Custodial Parent. That is defined as the parent with whom you lived with the most during that year they want the tax and income info. Doesn’t matter who claimed you for taxes or who has legal custody. FAFSA has its own definition. Which is who had you there the most. If equal, then who spent the most on you. Clearly, it’s to your advantage to have your mother as the Custodial Parent from the info you have provided.
For some Private schools, they also require another financial aid application on top of the FAFSA which includes the Non Custodial Parent’s (NCP) financial information. They don’t much care about expenses. Primary home equity values also often included in assets and they don’t much care about other financial obligations of people being supported other than by standard formula. The PROFILE, which is what the other fin aid app is called, also usually wants all step parents ’ info and looks carefully at the value of small businesses.
We don’t know your particulars but suffice to say that a lot of families that get reasonably low EFCs through FAFSA and have NCPs, have step parents through that NCP, own businesses, own a primary home, will get much higher expected contributions. In your case, having divorced parents, not only not a book, but likely to cost you in financial aid.
NPC is Net Price Calculator which is gives you the estimate of cost including likely aid and awards at the colleges. You can find one for each college on their websites. In your case, the result is likely to be WAAAAY off for those schools that require that additional financial aid info on NCP, the Non Custodial Parent , the PROFILE application because of the extra considerations that the other parent, house and business , step parent bring that are not covered on the very simple NPC which is just a general estimate.
So would my circumstance affect my chances of getting into my most desired schools?
Getting accepted? No. Getting financial aid? Yes.
okay thanks I understand
@Hamurtle can you pm me? I’m interested in Washu but I’m not able to send you a message because this is a newer account
OP, I’d just wanted to chime into say that your Senior year schedule looks very tough.
At our HS, that would not be a manageable schedule. AP Euro is the most time consuming and challenging non-STEM AP. So Euro plus two AP sciences at once plus CalcBC would be a GPA killer. Aside from GPA, it would be hard to learn all that material well and would not allow a student to enjoy Senior year. Maybe others will chime in on that.
@3SailAway I’m aware of this and yes the rigor of my classes might be an issue but I’ve met with my counselors about my course selection. At my school euro is known as easier than world and maybe the same level as psych which i have a 99 in right now and i have a genuine interest in both of the science aps. I’m taking calc bc because right now in accelerated pre-calc i have over a 100 and my teacher is highly recommending me to take bc instead of ab
Just curious, how do you work at your mom’s restaurant when you don’t know where she is?
^OP mentioned in another reply that the restaurant owner is his stepmother.
I agree with others. Divorced parents are not a hook.
If your parents can’t pay full private school tuition, make sure you apply to some public schools. There are some with honors programs that award good merit aid. Not sure if top 15% of class will get you in to an honors program, but it’s worth a shot.
@3SailAway - I would say as far as schedule, it really depends on the kid. If OP has not yet had AP Calc AB, yes, that could be a very challenging year. I’m curious as to why 2 AP science courses in one year. That does seem like a bit much.
@Trixy34 Doubling on the sciences is pretty common at my school (many juniors take both ap physics and ap chem or bio). Ap calc ab isn’t offered as a junior class. Based on our grade in accelerated pre calc we have the choice to either take ap calc ab or bc senior year but those are only offered senior year.
Very similar to my child’s schedule Junior year. Its doable.
@Sixant789 glad you’ve talked to your counselor and teachers about next year’s classes.
High schools must be so different because at ours, AP Psych is a walk-in-the-park elective. AP Euro is a serious college level class with a ton of reading every night. To earn an A requires in-depth knowledge of art history and philosophy, significant independent study of primary sources, and three major research papers graded on college level.
Also, most students don’t attempt AP chem and AP bio at the same time. AP Physics 1 is much easier, so with AP Physics, kids might take another AP science.
Of course, in addition to the school, it depends on the kid, and it sounds like @Sixant789 has done his homework on this.
Does anyone want to actually chance me?
Michigan, UNC, and UVA are reaches, as their mandate is to take a certain percentage of in-state students.
With Zell Miller, UGA will be your safety.
If medical school is in your future, then undergraduate costs should be taken into account.
If Auburn is on your list, UA Tuscaloosa should be on your list of schools as well and there might be a possibility of meet aid.
Also, I believe you need to have a certain amount of posts in order to PM or receive PMs.
Try your best on your essays. Chinese male with pretty high grades/test scores is one of the worst demographics for competitive college admissions so you need to diffierentiate yourself.
@Hamurtle since michigan unc and uva are reaches then would emory be a match since im in-state?
Emory is a private school so in-state doesn’t matter.
Emory’s acceptance rate was in the sub-teens this year, so I would advise that you also check the option of applying to Oxford College as part of your Emory app.