Complicated FAFSA appeal situation- please help!

Paying for College
1

<p>I have a very complicated situation with my FAFSA appeal. I started college last year and didn't do very well my first two semesters, with FAFSA. I took two summer classes (that we paid for out of pocket) and did fine in one but didn't participate in the other. Now 1st semester this year I had my FAFSA taken away because of poor performance and we had to take out a loan to pay for school this semester. I thought I could succeed this semester but I am only doing exceptionally in one of my classes, and ok or subpar in the others (when I assume I need to be outstanding/exceptional in all my classes to earn my FAFSA back) </p>

<p>The reason my situation is complicated is because of the reasons I haven't been doing well in school. (I attend a great community college!) I love learning and I want a lucrative career but I have been struggling with very serious depression since I can remember. I have been diagnosed or recommended medications multiple times but my mother does not believe in depression, therapy or medication. She has punished me and reacted violently in the past for being diagnosed or offered a prescription and while living under her roof I have been terrified to try to seek help on my own. I have been on the verge of suicide multiple times and had a habit of self harming in the past. Recently I admitted myself to the hospital for the first time, they wanted me to stay for up to a week but I could not for fear of the details of my stay showing up on my insurance/facing the consequences with my mother. Now I am living in an apartment (with a lot of financial help from my parents, though I work two jobs/full time in the summer) but the reason I haven't been doing well in school has been my severe depression, family issues, and recovering from my own abusive relationship as well as the consequences of witnessing my mother's physically abusive relationship. I know I have gone three semesters of messing up but I feel that I am on the right track to getting myself help (I am attending a support group and about to start seeing a therapist) and I would like to continue my schooling but cannot continue another semester without the aid of FAFSA. I can probably hunt down one of the therapists that diagnosed me in the past to get a letter from them, but is there anything I can do to get my FAFSA back for second semester?</p>

<p>I am desperate at this point.</p>

2

<p>You need to contact your college an inquire about an appeal for lack of Satisfactory Academic Progress. Each school has its own procedure for dealing with this. I do know you will have to demonstrate that you have taken serious steps to correct the situation that got you in this situation.</p>

<p>Bottom line, the federal government and the school will not give you aid if they feel you are going to continue to do very poorly.</p>

3

<p>In kindness, perhaps this is a time when you should focus on doing whatever it takes to get healthy, and not trying at the same time to stay in school, particularly since your mom has not been supportive of mental health treatment. If you are 18 or over, you are an adult, and should be able to make your own decisions on the mental health care front. </p>

<p>Many communities have low cost mental health clinics – please seek out the help you need, and don’t let someone else’s beliefs about the effectiveness of mental health treatment control your options. </p>

<p>Is there a counselor at school with whom you could talk about a medical withdrawal, even at this point?</p>