<p>My parents are divorced and I'm being supported solely by my mom (but there is shared custody between both parents) . My dad doesn't pay for my regular expenses and doesn't show any interest in financial support for college. We have a college consultant, and it's taken my dad six months just to send in the paperwork to the consultant.</p>
<p>So i have two concerns:</p>
<p>My dad might not even complete the FAFSA forms (and we've talked to schools that have said that without both parents' submitting information, financial aid will be very difficult to recieve.)</p>
<p>and..</p>
<p>how can we get collleges to look at just one parent's income under such circumstances. (my dad doesn't make much anyway, but it will be a problem for financial aid.)</p>
<p>I don't fully understand. The FAFSA only requires financial information from the parent with whom you reside, not the other parent. You would have to ask an "expert" but I would think this would mean your mom...unless, of course, you live more than 1/2 the time with your dad. Schools that use the Profile will require the information from both of your parents regardless of their marital status.</p>
<p>i like 99% of the time with my mom, but my parents both happen to have shared custody. But my dad probably wont send in information to FAFSA, so how can i get financial aid?</p>
<p>I hope dendankin was joking. Do not falsify ANY information on any college applications, finaid or admissions. It is fraud to do so. The FAFSA is clear...they require info from the parent with which you reside, your custodial parent. You can call their help line to ask for sure. But my understanding is that the FAFSA requires only custodial parent. If the custodial parent is married, then the stepparent information is required as well. But financial infor from the non-custodial parent is not required. Perhaps Sybbie will chime in. She also knows a lot about these forms.</p>
<p>Two things to do: Make sure your safety schools only look at FAFSA. Those schools will only need financial info from your mom. But go ahead and apply to the schools that require both FAFSA & PROFILE(PROFILE is the one that requires the non-custodial parent complete the form). If your father refuses to file PROFILE, most schools have a process through which you can explain to them the circumstances and why your father won't file. There are lots of kids out there with no father or with a father they've never met or only had minimal contact with. And the schools may ask for verification of your circumstances from someone outside the family. I'm a single mom, and my son does not know his biological father, nor do I and we've just been through this.</p>
<p>While the fafsa looks at only the income of your custodial parent, some schools request that in addition to the FAFSA you must also file the CSS profile or the school's institutional forms, which in this case they will need the financial information of your non-custodial parent (father). </p>
<p>Looking over your list of schools</p>
<p>UC Berkely a & NYU only use the FAFSA to determine need. Keep in mind that as id you are out of state attending UC Berkley is going to cost you close to 40,000 a year with the bulk of it left to you and your family to pay. NYU is close to 50,000 a year and again you will get no where close to the amount of money you will need to attend.</p>
<p>Wharton, USC, UMich all require the CSS profile along with information from your non custodial parent.</p>
<p>Schools look for your parents to be the first person in line to pay for your education. what your father wants to or doesn't want to pay does not fit into the equation.</p>
<p>I would suggest sitting down and talking with both of your parents to find out how much they are willing to pay/borrow for your education and adjust your list according.</p>
<p>It is very true that schools have a process for students who have no way to get information from the non-custodial parent. However, the OP says that her parents have joint custody, and she has contact with her father. That being the case, the schools requiring the CSS Profile will not exempt her from providing her father's information. Clearly, this student knows, has contact with and sees her father. That he does want to complete the forms or neglects to so is irrelevant. Simply put, if this was all it took, many non-custodial parents would just simply decide not to fill out the forms. The waivers that schools have for non-custodial parents are for parents with whom the child has no contact (as in the post above)...not for non-custodial parents who have contact with their children. I agree with Sybbie. If this is going to be an issue, look for schools that require the FAFSA only. There is no shortage of schools that do this. AND if financial aid is an issue, this should be for all of your schools, not just your safety school.</p>
<p>the problem is that both parents are technically custodial. i dont have residence with one or the other :( so that means my dad will have to send in info as well?</p>
<p>Your situation with joint custody is one that is becoming more and more common. However, even with joint custody, your primary residence is probably with one parent or the other. If you attend school where your mom lives, that would be your primary residence. If your dad lives in the same school district, I don't know what to say to you.</p>
<p>when FAFSA is referring to the parent you reside with, they mean the one where you spend the majority of you nights -- not what is on the official custody papers. From what you have said, it is clear that your mom is the parent whose info will need to be on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Is your mom remarried? Stepparents income is counted in the profile, so that is going to make a real difference.</p>
<p>If your dad is being so lax about filling out the paperwork, can your mom take him to court to order him to fill out the paperwork so you can be elibible for FA?</p>
<p>you probably need to really take a look at your school list -- if you are looking for real Financial assistance, NYU and Berkeley out of state should be taken off the list, they are notorious for poor FA packages.</p>