Hello!
So I just got accepted into Johnson and Wales, CUNY College of Staten Island, and Long Island University Brooklyn.
I got into the verification pool about my citizenship. I went to SS and fixed the issue but LIU and Johnson are asking for some form of proof. I’m a naturalized citizen, but my only form of identification that I have as of now is an expired passport that expired 6 months ago, but they won’t accept that. I issued for a new passport today, but I don’t think it’ll come 'before the May 1 deadline. It’ll hard for me to pick a school without any form of an award letter because I can’t get aid since they won’t accept my expired passport as identification, even though I’ve read on the government website that an expired passport in decent condition is valid.
What should I do?
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You are correct, the school can accept an expired passport … but if you read carefully, you’ll see that they don’t “have” to accept that. Do you have a certificate of naturalization? That would definitely work. If not, you should appeal to a manager to request that your expired passport be considered acceptable documentation.
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If SSA fixed your status, you can also request the schools to reprocess your application. It sometimes takes a while for SSA to fix things (and sometimes they never do!) but it’s worth a try.
How were you naturalized? Through your parents? Through the Child citizenship act? You might want to present these documents to the schools. They should NOT make a determination of citizenship, but sometimes piling on, presenting stacks of papers (parents’ citizenship papers, old passports, SS card, copy of the law making you a citizen) the school might believe you. Also, your new passport might come. Some issuing offices are only taking 3 weeks.
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I was naturalized through my mother when she took her citizenship test. I don’t have a naturalization certificate with me; my mother forgot to issue one for me when she got naturalized, but we’re going to get one when my new passport arrives sometime in May.
I just turned in my application for a new passport on Friday, and I talked to an admissions/financial aid officer about my expired passport, but haven’t gotten a reply back.
So, twoinandone, if I were to present to the office of financial, my mother’s certificate of naturalization, her passport, etc. Would they believe that I’m a naturalized citizen while my passport is processing?
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Why didn’t u expedite the passport processing?
My mother just got surgery and another $60 would hurt us. She’s a single parent and I don’t have a part time job.
Wouldn’t it hurt more to not get financial aid if you don’t meet the May 1 deadline?
It makes sense that you can’t receive aid without proper verification . . . but why would any school need verification simply to issue an estimated award letter? That makes no sense to me at all!
Go back to both schools and explain that expediting your passport application would be a financial hardship. Ask if they will accept your expired passport for the limited purpose of issuing an estimated award letter, with the understanding that NO aid will actually be awarded until you provide a current passport.
Get the name of every person you speak with. If you don’t get a satisfactory answer, ask to speak with the financial aid director, and appeal to him/her to make an exception. Make clear that you have already applied for a current passport and will provide it to the school as soon as you receive it.
What you should do is make sure that your stuff is in place for CUNY. Johnson & Wales and LIU are known for having horrible financial aid. Don’t get all hyped up over the private vs. public school thing. Among the choices you listed, the private school is better than the public and will most likely be affordable if you are receiving Pell and TAP (which you cannot use at Johnson & Wales).
I have students accepted to both this cycle; they have 0 EFC and the parents are required to take a 28L parent loan in addition to the max $5500 student loans. Unless money is no object, then go with CUNY, which is the more affordable option. If you don’t want to be at CSI, then go for a year, accumulate 30 credits and a 3.2 gpa and then transfer to one of the other 4 year schools.
Were you accepted to SEEK or College Discovery anywhere? If yes, I would drop CSI and follow the money. Even if it is CC at BMCC, Hostos CC, BCC, I would go there. Your College Discovery would convert to SEEK at the 4 year CUNYs, EOP at the 4 year SUNY and HEOP at the 4 year privates in addition to paying for Grad School tuition at the CUNY/SUNY schools.
I believe @sybbie719 meant to say that the "public school is better than the private” - and not the other way ‘round! 
If true, don’t waste the $60 to expedite your passport.
The naturalization certificate will cost you a lot more than $60.
Yes, I think if you take your mother’s certificate of citizenship, a copy of the law that makes you a citizen because you were a minor child when your mother became a citizen, your expired passport, your SSN that has been updated as to status (did you get a new card that no longer says ‘non-resident alien allowed to work’ on it?) and anything else you can think of to the FA office, as stated above you may get a preliminary approval for financial aid.
And take a smile. Be nice, ask for their help, admit you just have a whole pile of paper and don’t know which they need to see.
Go with the public school as CSI is a better school in addition to being a more affordable choice
I was considering CSI, actually.
I’ve tried contacting LIU’s financial office, but I never get a call/email back and it’s horrid. I’m working with an officer at JWU, and she’s being really courteous and helpful, actually.
I just got admitted to CSI, so I’m still waiting on an official letter to come through about my academic plan and the sort.
A naturalization certificate is $600 and takes a while to process compared to a passport. To answer your question twoinanddone, I was a legal resident before I was naturalized, so I have the same SSN card that I started with. I updated the citizenship status, I would like to say sometime around February 25. I reprocessed my FAFSA through, and within 3 days, the notice about SS not being able to prove that I’m a US citizen was cleared.
I wasn’t accepted into a SEEK program.
Thank you all for your input and advice, it’s helping a lot to relieve my stress and worry. Just wanted to put that out there.
Also! I forgot to mention that LIU keeps asking for a 2014 Tax Transcript, but I’ve already synced with the IRS. Should I still send in a transcript, or should I just ask them to reprocess my FAFSA?
No matter what school you attend, you will not get funds without the transcript. So you might as well order one. If your mom has filed her taxes
start here:
http://www.irs.gov/Individuals/Get-Transcript
If you can get it on line right now, great. If you can’t I would recommend calling or fill out the form to get it by mail, it is a touch tone system and you will have it in hand in ` 5 days.
If you got admitted to CSI, they had an open house on last week. Just call, and ask if you can do your placement test. You can literally do it at almost any CUNY school, just coordinate it with CSI. Were you admitted to any other CUNY schools?
You can t make an academic plan until you commit. Everything is done through CUNY first and you have to be committed to a school to access your CUNY first account. If your FAFSA EFC is less than 3k you can send your commitment letter in with a copy of your SAR and you will not have to pay the fee. If your EFC is more than 3k, you will have to pay $100 to hold your spot.
If $$ is going to be an issue and there is a possibility that you may not have enough tap/pell to pay for CSI, then I would recommend going to one of the CUNY CCs and applying for ASAP. If you get picked up for ASAP< your tuition, books along with a metrocards will be covered. Same scenario, if you complete the AA with a 3.0 you will get an auto admission to one of the 4 year schools.
I only got the confirmation email from CSI that I was admitted. I haven’t gotten a formal letter. I don’t live in New York City, actually, but I have a sum of scholarships that’ll cover the tuition and such.
I issued for a transcript. Thank you, Sybbie.
Where do you live? If you go to CSI are you planning to live in the dorms?
You will not have any scholarships; you will have pell and TAP (if you are a NYS resident). Even with your loan, you may need some extra money if you are living in the dorms, which are 12k a year
You may have to consider the cost of attending if you are out of city. My bad, I thought that you lived in NYC where the tuition would be 3k for the 2 year program and 6k for the 4 year program.
What is your home state? Where would you live if you attend CSI?
DO you live in NYS? if yes, are you within commuting distance to a SUNY school
The fact that you didn’t receive a new SS card, even though the information is exactly the same on the card, indicates to me that the SSA did not update your information. Usually the system will issue a new card if any change is made, even if the information on the card is the same (same name, same number). When my daughter’s citizenship was updated, I received new cards about 2 weeks later. They look exactly the same.
It’s a hassle but check to see that the SSA really did update your status. Until that SS number shows you as a citizen, you’ll have issues with colleges and financial aid.
No, no! You’re perfectly fine; I forgot to state that when I posted my issue. I live in Illinois. My father lives in NYC. I might live with him or either the dorms. I do plan on becoming a resident if I move over there.
Hm. Can I call SSA or have any other means of checking? The nearest SSA is all over the other side of town.