<p>So basically fall of 11 i started my first semester but my mom caused me to drop out without properly withdrawing. I wanted to join the Navy and my mom was strongly against the military and her way of keeping me from enlisting was forcing me to stay home even when i had class. I applied for fafsa and was granted the federal pell grant but I never got to even use it. I was a minor at that time, but the day after i turned 18, in October, i ran away from home and started living with a family friend who i've seen practically as an aunt. She and my mom talked and my mom doesn't want me in the house. Since then i haven't been in any communication with her or my younger siblings. I've been living in my friends house since then. Around that time i didn't have any work to pay her rent so i would cook and do some housekeeping to stay in the house. When i found a job, in the beginning of May 2012, i started paying rent and i went back to my community college but on probation. i passed my class with a "c", but i would have an early morning class and i would work late as a waitress in a big banquet hall. Currently i haven't worked for the last 6 months and i'm still in my friends house. (Job would try to force hours when i was in class, so i quit in November of 12). My overall gpa is low but i have no other ways to pay for school, and my friend isn't going to help either, and I really wanna get to finish school. At least to get my associates degree since i'm in community college. If you're wondering about my father, he abandoned my mom, younger siblings and I in 2000. I wanted to know if i could qualify for a dependency override.</p>
<p>What would you gain with a dependency override if you are already Pell eligible?</p>
<p>@Thumper1 at that time the pell grant was what they would give me with my mom’s information. since i ran away i don’t have any type of information about her nor her tax income or anything.</p>
<p>Are you still interested in joining the Navy?</p>
<p>@arabrab I was disqualified for astigmatism.</p>
<p>I’m hoping Kelsmom will see this. I do not believe that YOU running away or moving out will be grounds for a dependency override. If that were the case, LOTS of students would simply move in with friends Ann ask for a dependency override.</p>
<p>You need to have documentation that you have no home, or that you do. It know where your parent is living. This would have to be supported by an impartial third party like a counselor or clergyman who would attest to this. If you left your home due to abuse, you would need a record from the police or child protective services to support your claim.</p>
<p>Simply running away and living with others will not qualify you for a dependency override.</p>
<p>Your story doesn’t make sense. How did your mom prevent you from leaving your house to attend classes? Did she lock you in a room? if so, did you contact the appropriate authorities to file a complaint?</p>
<p>Astigmatism is not disqualifying for most Navy enlisted ratings.</p>
<p>Go to a homeless shelter and document your stay there. That way you can apply independent of your parent. Look at the FAFSA requirements to be considered as an independent. If you can fit in any of those categories, go for it that way. The homeless shelter is probably the most straightforward way as you would have to have acceptable documentation from people in certain positions of authority to qualify in the other ways.</p>
<p>Otherwise, without your mother’s info, you only qualify for Stafford loans.</p>
<p>Fwiw, at homeless shelters, the OP would NOT be an unaccompanied youth. That designation is solely for minors under the age of 18. That said, they can document your stay there as homeless. Just clarifying terms.</p>
<p>Maybe kels can jump in here about the FAFSA definition but I highly recommend against staying in a homeless shelter while you have an alternative place to stay. It’s not good for you and it’s not good for those who legitimately need the bed space.</p>
<p>OP, what state are you in?</p>
<p><a href=“https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/help/fahelp65.htm[/url]”>https://fafsa.ed.gov/fotw1213/help/fahelp65.htm</a>
Going to a homeless shelter appears to maybe help but depending on where you live, you might have a hard time finding bed space n</p>
<p>
Once you turn 18, it isn’t “running away,” it is just leaving. </p>
<p>You had a place to stay with your parent, but you did not like her rules (she “forced” you to stay home…) so you left. Now you are living with a family friend rent-free (you can’t pay rent because your job tried to “force” hours on you and you quit…). That does not qualify for a dependency override.</p>
<p>The Navy part of OP’s story is not accurate. Astigmatism is not DQ for enlisting. ■■■■■?</p>
<p>I will operate on the assumption this is not a ■■■■■ (although I agree with Iron Maiden that the DQ reason raises questions, if not about the situation itself, perhaps about the details). When I advise students on dependency override issues, I tell them that a D/O is for those situations where it is unsafe in some way for the student to be in the home. If Mom is strict, or if Mom doesn’t want the student to attend college, these reasons do not justify a D/O. However, if Mom restrains the student, or beats her, or something along those lines, it is a different story. The details of the situation are what determines the outcome of a D/O request. All details are required to be corroborated by at least two or three outside people, with at least one statement from a professional generally expected to be submitted. It is possible OP is in such a situation and can provide the necessary documentation.</p>
<p>Simply going to a homeless shelter and getting documentation of the stay will not allow a student to be considered automatically independent due to homelessness (romanigypsyeyes is correct - and the homelessness thing is to assist students from families whose homelessness situation means there is no way the family can support the student in college, including the most basic things like shelter and food). Aid officers are required to collect documentation from students who claim independence due to being an unaccompanied minor. Sometimes they will use the documentation from a homeless shelter visit for an older student as part of a D/O request, but they should be asking for more than just that … they need to know the whole story and document that story.</p>