<p>My father is not in any financial shape to help, but will fill out all forms. My mother re-married and while she is disabled, he makes a lot of money. Nonetheless, he is not responsible for my tuition.</p>
<p>How much is my stepfather's income going to impact my financial aid? My two older siblings are in college, so that may help.</p>
<p>Love the guy, but my mother's timing...not so much : )</p>
<p>Who do you live with? The income and assets of the parent (and any applicable stepparent) with whom you live will be considered on the FAFSA. </p>
<p>The income and assets of all parents and applicable stepparents will be considered on the Profile. </p>
<p>Some schools have their own forms in addition to the FASA. </p>
<p>Fafsa-only schools generally do not meed need. Profile schools do meet need but define need however they want based on the information you gave them.</p>
<p>How are your siblings affording college?</p>
<p>Sorry to say but if you have PROFILE schools on your list, they are going to want both parents and stepdad’s financials whether stepdad will pay or not. THere are a few PROFILE schools that will consider non custodial parents, that you might want to check out, but for the most part they will look at your step dad.</p>
<p>Your best bet is for your dad to be your custodial parent. Depending on his income and assets, you might get something from FAFSA only schools. If he is truly low income/assets, you may qualify for some PELL. Problem is that most FAFSA only schools do not cough up a lot of aid.</p>
<p>Start looking for safety options now, financial as well as admissions wise, and then work upwards. No reason not to put the lottery ticket schools on your list as long as you understand what your chances are with them in terms of admissions and getting an affordable package. You might want to move in with dad and establish him as your custodial parent if that will get you PELL eligible.</p>
<p>The questions about your siblings, I have as well. Did mom just marry? That may impact their aid drastically. If step dad doesn’t make all that much, maybe it won’t be such an issue for you.</p>
<p>Sit down with stepdad and mom and run a sample quick FAFSA estimator and see what it says. Get info from your dad and run it as well. Since your mom has had to have gone through this before, she must know the drill. Talk to your siblings about options.</p>
<p>*My father is not in any financial shape to help, but will fill out all forms. My mother re-married and while she is disabled, he makes a lot of money. Nonetheless, he is not responsible for my tuition.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>You may not qualify for for the aid that you would need with all 3 parents’ incomes and assets being considered. </p>
<p>**The problem that I see is that you will have an expected “family contribution” and yet no one is going to pay for it. Your mom can’t, your dad can’t, and your step-dad won’t.</p>
<p>So, even after splitting EFC amongst 3 kids, you could still have an EFC of - say - $20k…with no one paying it.**</p>
<p>That said, you can go ahead and apply to some of these schools and see what happens…BUT PROTECT yourself and ALSO apply to a few schools that will give you LARGE merit scholarships for your stats. LARGE scholarships…like full tuition or more. </p>
<p>Are you a likely NMF? </p>
<p>Do you have strong stats?</p>
<p>When you say that your dad “can’t help”…does that mean that he has an income, but can’t contribute? </p>
<p>Is your dad…
“low income” (like under $30k?)
“lowish income” (like around $50k or less?
“middle income”? Like $50k - 80k
upper middle (like 80k - 150k)
upper income like above 150k</p>
<p>What were your siblings’ FAFSA EFC</p>
<p>When will they be graduating?</p>
<p>My siblings are at state schools with partial aid (scholarships/pre-paid).</p>
<p>My father is in the mid-range. My stepfather is upper. They have been married two years.</p>
<p>As I will be 18 in Nov, should I emancipate? I live with both parents, but if it helps to kive with one over the other, everyone is ok with that.</p>
<p>HELP!</p>
<p>I am looking at all Northeast schools.</p>
<p>You can’t just “emancipate” and become independent for financial aid purposes – otherwise everyone would do it.
To be independent for financial aid you must be one of the following: 24 years old, married, supporting a dependent, served in the military or someone who has been a ward of the court or orphaned.</p>
<p>For FAFSA you would need the information from the parent you live with most and his/her spouse. If you live with them equally, it would be the one who provides the most financial support. Some people try to fudge it by saying they live with the poorer parent, but if your high school is in one town and your official address is in another, I think this would be a red flag for the financial aid officers.</p>
<p>If you plan on applying to schools which require the CSS Profile (and many private schools do) you will include the information from all of the adults – parents and step. If your father is in the “mid range” as defined by mom2college, and your step dad is in the upper range, there will be in the neighborhood of $200K in money available. This is going to be a problem.</p>
<p>As suggested above, you should either look for merit aid, if you have high stats, or affordable schools such as your in state publics – or both.</p>
<p>Exactlly which schools are u considering. If they are elite it won’t matter which parent u live with because everyones income will still count. </p>
<p>You will not likely qualify for any or much aid. You need 2 mentally prepare 4 that. What r your stats. </p>
<p>I know it is upsetting but you can’t emancipate. These incomes will count and needed aid won’t be given. Like I said earliar, you’re going to have an efc that no one will pay. It sounds like your siblings dealt with this by accepting merit.</p>
<p>Who is paying for what is payable on your siblings’ college costs? Someone is. Unless they are commuting or have full rides. </p>
<p>You need to sit down and talk to your mom and to your dad and ask what the budget is for college for you. Then you can start looking for schools that fit that budget.</p>
<p>If sibs have a prepaid that pays state tuition and some merit, then the sibs may be paying the rest themselves. Or as u say they might be commuting. They may also have student loans. </p>
<p>It sounds like the op has high stats. </p>
<p>What state do u live in</p>
<p>I live in FL. One commutes. The other is away. Mom and Stepfather pay for both.</p>
<p>I was looking at Babson, Clark, Bates, Lehigh, Bucknell, RPI, F&M…</p>
<p>Just another obstacle to overcome.</p>
<p>I don’t view cost of attendance as just an obstacle. It is what shapes the entire discussion. What are your stats? We might be able to make some recommendations that will help in some merit $.</p>
<p>ECs–Captain of both Varsity Golf (4 yr V) & Baseball (3 yr V) Teams Junior year (Senior, too) Co-Founder & Treasurer, Economics Club. Established Credit Union at school</p>
<p>Public school ranked in the top 10 in country
IB Diploma
3.4 UW
SAT 2020</p>
<p>Interned for Commercial Bank. President of bank is on Fed. Reserve Board
Interned for top utility company at their energy trading desk.</p>
<p>I may have to do a year or two at state school and transfer OR I can talk my mom into divorcing my step-father (for the next few years) … kidding! He’s a good guy. Mom & Step-father pay for my two siblings.</p>
<p>I am looking into a possible baseball/merit scholarship, as all or most of the schools I’m looking at are DIII.</p>
<p>Any help is truly appreciated.</p>
<p>I had a feeling you were in Florida. Florida instate tuition is very inexpensive. Do your parents have a prepaid for you? You can use your prepaid out-of-state but it would only net you about $3K a year I think. It will be very hard to come up with the difference between that and an out-of-state northeast college. Talk to your parents about their plan for you and then target schools with merit. You may have to fall back on your idea of transferring but it’s hard to find merit scholarships for transfers. Check with the specific colleges in which you’re interested.</p>
<p>You have Bright Futures for certain. Look at some options where you can commute, layer on some of the state publics to board, and then go to town on your wish list and see what shakes down. Include some baseball schools, schools with merit possibilities, good financial aid possibilities. You have some good picks there RPI gives good aid and the geographics are favorable. U Rochester is another good possibility to add to the list. You may have to include a few more schools than other kids whose parents are more set, but I think you’ll have some good choices.</p>
<p>I will have Bright Futures and have 4 year pre-paid and 2 year dorm.</p>
<p>It’s hard to realistically say “no” to that, yet I am going to see what shakes out.</p>
<p>I’m a legacy at RPI multiple times, but have you been to Troy??? </p>
<p>U of Rochester is on the list.</p>
<p>My outside-the-box, get me out of Florida school, is U of MN/Twin Cities. Great school in a terrific city(cities). OOS isn’t too painful, either.</p>
<p>Any other suggestions? My mother thinks she can do $30K/yr. Here’s hoping!</p>
<p>Thank You, all.</p>
<p>For $30K out-of-pocket, you may want to consider some Canadian universities. I realize it may be a temperature shock to a Floridian, but if you’re considering MN, you may be interested in that option.</p>
<p>I think most/all of the SUNYs are under $30K/year.</p>
<p>*I live in FL. One commutes. The other is away. Mom and Stepfather pay for both.</p>
<p>I was looking at Babson, Clark, Bates, Lehigh, Bucknell, RPI, F&M…</p>
<p>Just another obstacle to overcome. *</p>
<p>If your mom will pay $30k per year, and you can use your pre-pay, that might give you about $34k per year…then add a 5500 loan…you’re almost at $40k.</p>
<p>Is your mom sure that she can pay $30k per year in addition to what she’s paying for your siblings???</p>
<p>That said, you still need to protect yourself and apply to some schools with big merit…just in case those privates expect you to pay $55k+</p>
<p>*3.4 UW
SAT 2020
*</p>
<p>You need to retest…also take the ACT.</p>
<p>What is your rank? Your GPA is lowish…is that weighted? Right now, your stats aren’t that “merit worthy”…if your SAT was 2100+ and your GPA were higher, you’d be in a better situation.</p>
<p>GPA 3.8 weighted IB Diploma
Re-taking SAT and will take ACT</p>
<p>Looking at D3 schools for baseball as I would love to play.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how much $ is given for sports? </p>
<p>I have the impression that families think it will be a lot, but the reality is that it is rarely substantial. It is more a matter of getting you into a school that might have been a reach academically, than it is a financial windfall.</p>