College App Fees/Future Aid Questions

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello all,</p>

<p>I'm currently a senior in the process of applying to colleges, but am really confused in regards to fee waivers, financial aid, and scholarships. I live in Virginia.</p>

<p>My family got into a very stressful situation about 2 months ago - basically my stepmother was involved in some serious fraud and crime and was draining the bank account she and my father shared. She's left my dad with very little money, since she took almost everything our family had saved and made more money than he did. According to my dad, my stepmom made a little under $75k per year (in the health field), while he makes less than $35k per year. My stepmom is out of the picture now, but this whole ordeal has left my family in a huge stress emotionally and financially - it's just my dad, myself, and my two younger half-sisters.</p>

<p>I'm in the process of applying to colleges now. I have already been told by my guidance counselor (who also deals with all college related things) that I do not qualify for any fee waivers. I plan on trying to get some fee waivers through the common app, but I don't seem to qualify for any waivers for the other schools I planned on applying to. Is there anything I can do about this?</p>

<p>I planned on staying in-state since Virginia has solid universities, specifically hoping to get into UVa, William and Mary, or Virginia Tech. I was also planning on applying to JMU, GMU, and ODU depending on if I can get fee waivers. Some internet research has told me that my guidance counselor has underestimated me based on my stats and I should apply to ivies, so I'm looking into fee waivers for those too.</p>

<p>My counselor thinks UVa and WM are reaches, but thinks I have a good chance at VT and that it aligns best with my preferred majors (Information Technology, Finance, or Industrial Systems Engineering/Finance Engineering). I have a 3.88 and 2290 SAT. I will have taken 10 APs by the end of my senior year, so I haven't put much thought into community college. UVa and WM will probably have solid financial aid if I am able to appeal my financial situation, but I do not know about VT - though it is a lot cheaper tuition-wise and for cost of living. William and Mary is the closest school to me, but freshmen are required to live on campus and I'm not sure I can get in.</p>

<p>Anyway, sorry this is so long. My main questions are what can I do in regards to fee waivers if my school will not help me/says I'm not qualified, and are there other schools I should be considering given my financial situation?</p>

2

<p>Yikes, bad timing, although I suppose there isn’t exactly a good time. </p>

<p><a href=“http://college.usatoday.com/2012/08/10/how-to-avoid-college-application-fees/ere”>http://college.usatoday.com/2012/08/10/how-to-avoid-college-application-fees/ere&lt;/a&gt; is never a good time.</p>

<p>Does your GC know that your father is now separated and on a single income? What is the criteria he uses for awarding a fee waiver? What is the reason given why you don’t qualify based on a 35k income? This may be the key.</p>

<p>Here is a CC article on that
<a href=“http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000270/”>http://www.collegeconfidential.com/dean/000270/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>First of all, I’m sorry your family is experiencing a tough time.</p>

<p><a href=“Income Eligibility Guidelines | Food and Nutrition Service”>http://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>In our school district if your financial situation changes during the year, you can submit an application for free or reduced lunch. Looks like a family of four with income under $44,000 can qualify for reduced lunch.
Then you could get verification from your gc for fee waivers.</p>

<p>Also some schools don’t charge a fee if you apply online or you can contact them what their process is regarding fee waivers.</p>

<p>But you should get these applications in soon, especially if you want to be considered for merit scholarships.</p>

<p>I don’t know how much it makes sense to apply to Ivies, you would need subject tests also and that adds extra cost and you don’t have alot of time left, I think the deadlines are in January (?). Even with your good stats their acceptance rates are very low. And the only way those are affordable is if you qualify for need based aid which I think would be based on income for 2014 which would include you stepmother’s income if I’ m not mistaken.</p>

<p>The biggest merit scholarships are likely from schools where your stats fall in the top of the applicant pool.</p>

4

<p>Hi BrownParent and mommdc. My counselor is aware that my dad is single income. His currently salary ($35,000) is not reflective of his last years salary ($55000). He works for a food distribution company that changed its pay structure at the start of this year. So with all documentation from last year (and including income from my stepmother this year) our family is not eligible. </p>

<p>My counselor said that an appeal would not be approved based on previous year’s income and no real documentation right now. She was also unhelpful with regard to my concerns about financial aid, since I do not know exactly how to reflect my family’s current situation (I also think my stepmother’s income would be counted, but haven’t found anyone to help me figure that part out).</p>

<p>At this rate, if I can’t get fee waivers or am not approved, should I put applying to college on hold? Or go to community college? My dad would be even more devastated if this issue prevents me from even trying to get into some of the schools I’ve been planning for.</p>

5

<p>Free lunch will look at current salary - what’s coming into the household NOW. All you need is a pay stub showing current income. If your GC doesn’t know this, go to the school office and ask for the forms. If you qualify you’ll have much less to fill out on the FAFSA too.</p>

6

<p>^^do that asap, no delay. Once you are on free lunch you may automatically be qualified for 0 EFC on FAFSA.Va info:
<a href=“http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1993”>http://www.benefits.gov/benefits/benefit-details/1993&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I’m not too knowledgeable about situation with separated parents. But it seems to me that your father will be filing ‘married filing separately’ for 2014 given the situation. So when you file the FAFSA in January, you will only use his income and his tax return for 2014. For any forms that require 2013 income you will need to fill out the joint income and explain the separation. If there is anything in your state to legally document the separation get you Dad to do that asap, so you have something to show.</p>