<p>My dad is a single dad who has not had a job in like 10 years. we have 0 income, 0 savings, etc. We basically have nothing to call our own in our name and sadly live off of federal welfare and the 2 extra rooms of my uncles house.
If it were not for my uncle I honestly don't know how i would be a functioning memeber of society.
My dad doesn't really want me to go to college but thats all i have dreamed of.
I got a 2000 on my sat, 4.7 gpa, involved in many ECs, asb president, and have more than 500 hours of volunteer services.
I worked my whole life just so I could go to a great college and now im scared I'll be prevented from doing so bc he thinks I need to get a job.
He always tells me I NEED him to give me his info for fasfa or else I can't even get financial aid for college. Why do i even need his info when he is a deadbeat dad who makes literally nothing?
Is there a way I can file a dependency override since he doesn't even make a penny nor has he in years.
Even if i convince him to file it for this coming year, im scared he will not want to the following years bc of his bipolar nature. :/
Need major help...</p>
<p>Member*</p>
<p>Please answer the following questions so people here can give you the best suggestions. There are many people here who can help you, some real experts too. Even if your father won’t fill out the FAFSA you can get the federal loan. But it seems that with filling it, you can get the Pell Grant. And the college will usually require it for their own aid. But maybe there are things to do since he has no income except welfare. </p>
<p>Does he understand that filling the form doesn’t obligate him for anything? You can fill the form and he just signs it. You get free money. That’s how it works.</p>
<ol>
<li>Are you a Sr?</li>
<li>What is your UW gpa? or what scale is that gpa on?</li>
<li>What is your SAT breakdown?</li>
<li>Are you on free school lunch?</li>
<li>What state are you in?</li>
</ol>
<p>I don’t know that he has any info to supply for fafsa but the parent is supposed to ‘sign’ it. If you are on free lunch and even if not, you sound like you are likely under ‘simplifed means’ which mean you have an EFC of 0 so you would get full Pell Grant of 5750 and student loan of 5500 for your first year. </p>
<p>I have to ask: why doesn’t your Dad want you to go to college? Why does he care what you do anyway? If you get free money for college then why does he care if he doesn’t pay anything? Does your uncle have any influence? Does he think a better life is living at your uncle’s for the rest of your life on welfare? </p>
<p>Please understand that all statistics point to college graduates having much better employment rates and much higher earnings, Avg.HS grads age 25-32 make 28k per year compared to average college grads at 45k. The unemployment rate for HS grads is 12.2 vs college grads 3.8. For HS grads, 21.8 live in poverty compared to 5.8 of college grads.
<a href=“Education: The Rising Cost of Not Going to College | Pew Research Center”>http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2014/02/11/the-rising-cost-of-not-going-to-college/</a></p>
<p>So your best bet is to go to college like you want. And you have great stats so you should be very successful in college.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I see the connection with you getting a job and your dad providing information. If, as you say, your dad has no job and no assets, then there really is very little for him to actually provide. The main thing he will need to do is complete a non-filers statement if he does not file taxes. Oh, and he might have to include some of those government benefits…depending on what they are…as income on your FAFSA, and Profile forms (some schools require the Profile as well).</p>
<p>You don’t mention your mom. Is she still alive? If so, very possible that you will need her information to at some colleges.</p>
<p>Re: a job…even the most generous schools expect a student contribution towards college costs. That student contribution can be earned from a part time job of say 10 hours a week. </p>
<p>Are you a HS senior this year? It sounds like you are,mad you mention filing the forms for,this coming year.</p>
<p>Some states have grant aid for low income students. Is your state one of them? </p>
<p>You say you live with your uncle? Any chance he could help your dad understand the importance of completing the FAFSA? Because, yes…you do need his info to complete it.</p>
<p>You reside with your father…you will NOT get a dependency override.</p>
<p>Oh, the reason you need his info is because they don’t know what he has until he files it. Since he has nothing that is good for you. You are eligible for money and you don’t have to be in a situation where you are not eligible because of his income. Deadbeat dad means someone who doesn’t pay child support when ordered to. Doesn’t apply here. Likely your dad has some kind of mental issue. So at least it isn’t a parent with money who doesn’t want to pay, like another thread here. Now you will have to pick schools where you can get your costs covered with what you are eligible for or find schools that will give you university grants too.</p>
<p>We don’t know if the student is eligible for money…or not. We don’t know the “government assistance” his dad is on, or the amount he receives. </p>
<p>Yes, but it sounds likely he will be able to get something if he is on ‘welfare’ only no job 10 years. And he can get his federal loan amount. Also he is seems eligible for some of the automatic merit schools. </p>
<p>If the info in the OP’s post is correct, the student will most likely qualify for a full Pell grant and the full amount of need-based aid at schools (as long as the FAFSA is filed early enough to get in line for institutional aid/SEOG). No income, no assets … doesn’t matter what welfare benefits exist, because those won’t be considered. That said, the aid is not likely to be huge unless the school is one that meets need. While that usually means top schools, there are also state U’s that will give a really good amount of aid to students in OP’s situation.</p>
<p>OP, what is it that you think a dependency override would accomplish? The truth is that the ONLY thing it will get you is the ability to borrow an extra $4000 in unsubsidized loan per year ($5000 jr/sr years). One thing to feel good about is that your EFC will most likely be Automatic 0, meaning that you can earn a bunch of money - or your uncle could give you a bunch of money - and it won’t be considered - if you had a dependency override (which others correctly indicated won’t occur, anyway), that money would be considered.</p>
<p>What is your state of residence? Will Dad complete and sign the FAFSA for you (it’s done online, and his situation will make it easy to complete)? Did you check out the automatic scholarships sticky?</p>
<p>If you want to go to school, you will be able to do so. Don’t focus on your dad’s issues - focus instead on figuring out how to get into a school that works for you.</p>
<p>@BrownParent @thumper1 @Kelsmom I am a high school senior in Southern California
I got a 750 on my math 700 critical reading and 550 on writting.
However i applied ED to pitzer college where SATs are not all that important.
My unweighted gpa is 4.0 on a 4 point scale
Weighted gpa is 4.7 on 5.0 scaled
I am completely aware that college is needed to be successful in life for most people. My dad doesn’t want me to go to school because he wants me to be exposed to “the true realities of life” and support his lazy a**
He knows he doesn’t need to provide money for the fasfa, he just constantly threatens to not give me his social security number or sign the eform to be a jerk.
In addition, Yes, I do qualify free school lunch.</p>
<p>I also dont know if this matter or not, but I am a minority. Particularly a hispanic.</p>
<p>@thumper1 i also forgot to mention my mom is deceased. She died giving birth to me</p>
<p>Yes, being a minority may be helpful in terms of admissions/aid - not guaranteed, but could be. Hopefully, when the time comes, he will assist with the FAFSA … if not, you should enlist the help of another adult to speak with him (your uncle, your guidance counselor, someone like that). </p>
<p>It sounds to me like you are on top of things, and I suspect you will have success in your college search and in life.</p>
<p>Agree with Kelsmom. You can talk to your school counselor and see if they have his SS number on file. We had to give ours for some reason, on a scholarship or something. Your father had to give his for the school lunch program.</p>
<p>If not, can you make an appointment with your Case Manager at the Welfare office? They are busy but if you tell them that your father’s medical condition maybe hindering his help to you they may want to talk to you. BTW: I think when you turn 18, he loses additional food stamp benefits.</p>
<p>I am so sorry to hear that your mom died at childbirth.</p>
<p>Your dad is holding you hostage.</p>
<p>He’s saying that he won’t cooperate with FAFSA (or CSS) filings in order to prevent you from going to college. Yes, it does sound like he wants you to support him.</p>
<p>Others can chime in here, but maybe the approach should be something like: (calmly!!!) “Dad, if you do not cooperate with FAFSA (and CSS) so that I can go to college, I can PROMISE you that I will never help support you in the future. If I do get to go to college, then I’m going to pursue a career that will be well-paid, and then I can help you out. BUT…If I don’t get to go to college, then I’m going to get a job and move out and you won’t ever see a dime from me.” Don’t say it meanly…say it a “matter of fact” manner</p>
<p>Your dad’s mental health situation may mean that he’s thinking “here and now.” And right now he wants you to earn money to SHARE with him. Once you tell him that if you can’t go to college, then there will be NO MONEY shared with him, then that may move him to change. He can’t kick you out NOW, because it’s not his home.</p>
<p>Does your uncle support your college plans? If so, maybe he can urge your dad to agree. The uncle may also want you to go to college so that you can earn MORE money. Appeal to your uncle in that regard.</p>
<p>Um…you applied ED to Pitzer? Pitzer also requires the CSS Profile as part of the financial aid application process. I can’t seem to get into their financial aid section of their website, but most ED schools have an early priority filing date for ED applicants for,the Profile.</p>
<p>Perhaps someone else here will have better success than me getting this deadline.</p>
<p>I hope you didn’t miss this very important deadline.</p>
<p>I tried earlier, too - I think they are probably running maintenance on their website. </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids thank you! Youre advice sounds seemly the most reasonable! Hopefully he buys it lol
Yeah my uncle really wants me to go to college. All throughout my childhood he urged me to go because he said he didn’t want me to have to work back breaking jobs like him to earn a decent living.</p>
<p>@thumper1 @kelsmom i did fill out the css profile before the deadline. It was easy because I typed in mostly 0 due to the fact my dad has no assests, income, and not even a bank account.
The css profile did not require my dads SS number, only mine.
The Fasfa requires his.
It’s funny today when I got home from volunteering he told me " I had a dream I had to fight you for my info because you stole it for fasfa"
It’s almost as if he knew i made this post ._. Lol</p>
<p>Is there any way that you can obtain your father’s SSN?</p>
<p>The way that you electronically sign the FAFSA is with a PIN, which the Department of Education provides to applicants via email. My parents were also less than cooperative with financial aid forms (they didn’t actively prevent me from doing it; they just didn’t want to help at all). So I memorized their SSNs - I don’t remember where I found the information from, but I think my mom might have given them both to me - and filled out the FAFSA on my own every year. I got a PIN for them by setting up a dummy email account and applying for a PIN for them myself. I got selected for verification each year (which meant that the college wanted me to submit my parents’ income tax forms and W-2s), but my financial aid advisor at my undergrad helped me get this requirement waived once I explained the situation to her.</p>
<p>I know your situation is a bit different because your parent is actively trying to prevent you from getting the information, but if there’s a way that you could get access to your dad’s SSN - perhaps with your uncle’s help? - then you can forge forward on your own. If he makes no income and you get free lunch, the rest should be easy enough to fill out on your own. If you have a case worker who does the welfare processing, perhaps you can talk to them and more or less innocently ask for copies of your paperwork, citing that you need it to complete the FAFSA for school.</p>
<p>You may also want to enlist the help of your HS guidance counselor and/or a financial aid counselor at Pitzer.</p>
<p>Julliet, are you suggesting that this student sign his FAFSA FOR his parent using a PIN he gets himself? Um…that is dishonest as well. The PIN the parent signs with is to agree that all of the information provided is accurate…according to the PARENT.</p>
<p>If the student gets the PIN and signs with it without parent knowledge, that would sort of be forgery, wouldn’t it?</p>