<p>Got my parents taxes back today and....we're poor! YAY!
my parents gross income 15845 + I earned 4088.37 :D
Collegeboard estimates my Federal contribution to be a big fat zero
Institutional is 6,264 though</p>
<p>All my colleges offer 100% aid and use both systems. But how exactly do they use them?
Do they average them? (crossing fingers)</p>
<p>What bumped me up with the IM btw is
17000 in parents savings
150000 house
5000 in my savings but I was planning to put it in my older brothers bank account to take advantage of his interest. Is this....legal and does it affect my contribution since the account isn't under my name?
It's basically a loan so I can use his hunk of junk car and he can hold off on selling it/get enough money to fix it</p>
<p>Colleges will also probably consider (I hope) that:
my parents are 64 and 55
about a 1/3rd of our income went to health expenses this year and my dad and I both have huge dental costs coming up. (stupid wisdom teeth:[)
My mom, who earned 14000 this year, has been enrolled in community college part time and will transfer to a state next spring to get her undergraduate degree and become a teacher after 10 years as a Para. Her tuition should be pretty much covered but it's going to impact how much she can work as she is hoping to go full time.
She also was working on a grant with the school district that ran out this year so our incomes going to take a hit. </p>
<p>PLEASE GIVE ME SOME PEACE OF MIND</p>
<p>I'm going to be devastated if I get into my dream school and can't pay. Collegedata.com estimated the Smith College net cost would be under 5k but the calculator only uses the Fafsa formula so I'm scared. Obviously my parents aren't in the condition to take out any loans and I want to support my moms goals without burdening her with mine.</p>
<p>Colleges using the institutional methodology have various ways to use the information provided on the Profile. Because it is THEIR money, they are free to disperse it using any formula they choose. That is why there is some disparity between awards between full need met schools. In most (if not all) cases, the schools DO require a student contribution and that is usually a few thousand dollars which can be earned during the summers or working part time. If you are having a significant change in income for the upcoming year, you could write a letter to the colleges explaining that. But remember that schools expect that college will be paid for by past earnings (aka savings), current earnings, and future earnings (aka loans...although some schools have eliminated loans in their packages for lower income students). Re: the wisdom teeth...I seriously doubt that the schools will view that as a special circumstance since a large %age of college students get their wisdom teeth pulled during college. Re: your savings...it's really too late to do anything with it now. Any "donation" of funds to your brother would have had to take place prior to doing the finaid forms. Plus...to be honest, what you are suggesting doesn't sound particularly honest to me. You are fortunate to have that $5000 that you can tap into for your college expenses if necessary. Since your schools all meet full need, just wait and see what your finaid packages are. And good luck to you!!!</p>
<p>Considering how much my mom has been stressing about how we're going to pay for 4000 something in dental bills I'd say routine or not that makes a difference in families below the poverty level....I wish I could cover that cost instead of transportation but I need it to keep my job soooo....:/
Anyway hopefully it will come out to only the few thousand because I have no qualms about working myself, though I'm limited by health stuff less routine than teeth. I just am worried about my parents involvement. </p>
<p>BTW those were estimates I haven't filled out the real forms yet</p>