<p>My father makes 157,000$ and my mom does not work (my dad did not go to college). I have a younger sister in high school and I am a junior in high school. </p>
<p>I live in an expensive neighborhood in Northern VA, DC metropolitan area, so my parents really do not make a lot of money based off the area we live in.
I also do not really understand the whole process of financial aide, so any help is much appreciated.</p>
<p>(I do not know if this info is necessary, but my family did own a beach home before we moved to Northern Va 6 years ago, and my family does NOT own a car--- my dad takes the metro to work)</p>
<p>Based on your income alone, you would not likely qualify for need based financial aid at most colleges. You are so fortunate to live in Virginia where there are many choices of fine public universities at instate rates for you. </p>
<p>I would suggest that you discuss college and college finances with your family to see how much they feel they can contribute annually to your college costs.</p>
<p>As an FYI, the financial aid calculations do not take the cost of living in your area into consideration. They also do not consider any kinds of consumer debt.</p>
<p>The CSS Profile does ask for home equity in your primary residence, but the colleges use this information in varying ways from no use at all to a %age of your income. YMMV depending on the college.</p>
<p>Definately take advantage of each school’s calculator. It’s not an exact science…sometimes they’re pretty off…but of the 15 schools my son applied to, I’d say that about 10 of them were on target +/- 1K.</p>
<p>If you file for FAFSA you will be eligible to get a $5.5K Direct Loan as a freshman. Depending on the college that may be the extent of the FA you see.</p>
<p>Fill out the FAFSA for a sample EFC. That will give you some idea as to what is expected from your family. You’ll need to know if the Beachhouse is still owned and what it’s value is after you take off anything owed on it (mortgage) It’s an asset. Your primary residence is not considered.</p>
<p>The good news is that you live in a state with some great schools at good prices. Look at what the commuting options are for you and then branch out. Also, according to my brother who lives in VA, the smaller private schools are pretty generous with merit money to compete with the publics, so look at them. If your test scores and grades are up there, you could get some money that way.</p>
<p>I am a junior and have a 3.8 weighted GPA, but my school does not count unwieghted GPA and only offers 20 AP’s total in my school.
2070 so far on SAT, but taking ACT soon and SAT again in the fall.
The beachhouse is currently in my Aunt’s possesion completley, my parents do not own it whatsoever.
My home is worth 850,000$ but bought the house around 640,000$
We are living paycheck to paycheck sort of, so I do not think my parents can afford much to pay per year.
They said that I should pay for my college alone. Do you think this is reasonable?
They would most likely pay for some though, approx. around 5 thousand a year and saved about 3 thousand. We pay an average of 6 thousand dollars in mortgage a month!</p>
<p>Here is how it works: there are two forms out there for financial aid. The FAFSA is the one that gives you the government Expected Family Contribution, EFC, which is just a number that tells you the MINIMUM your family can expect to pay and still get subsidies from the government. If your family EFC is $40K, that means that unless a college expects you to pay more than that, you cannot get subsidized federal loans from them. By filling out the FAFSA, you will be permitted to take out unsubidized loans up to $5500 freshman year in your own name. Your parents will be eligible to apply for parent loans through PLUS. That is what the FAFSA does, and with your parents’ income where it is, your EFC is very likely to be at around that $40K level. What you pay in a mortgage does not count and whether you live paycheck to paycheck does not matter either. FAFSA does not ask for the value of your primary home so that will not be an issue. They will reduce your family’s income by the actual income taxes your family pays, so taxes will not be an issue.</p>
<p>The more generous schools will also use PROFILE, another application for aid, and that one will take into acount your home equity most of the time. UVA, your flagship school, does guarantee to meet full need, and does ask for PROFILE. I do not see you getting any financial aid from UVA or any of your state schools, as your EFC is almost certainly going to be above the $25K that Virginia public schools now cost. Though you would be eligible to get some financial aid from private schools, I think, the amount they will have your family pay will still be higher than what VA state schools will cost you.</p>
<p>If you parents are not going to pay for your college at all, or you think $5K is about all they will pay, you need to look at what your commuting options are and some schools where you are a very top applicant that will give you merit money. Like close to a full ride. Look at the lists of school that have guaranteed awards and also look at the old Momfromtexas thread in the archives and start looking for schools that will give you a generous merit award, like practically the full cost. You should talk to your parents about what the situation is, given what they are willing and able to contribute.</p>
<p>That doesn’t sound right. That would be $72k per year. After paying taxes, your family wouldn’t have anything left for groceries, utilities, cars, gas, insurance. </p>
<p>If you’re living “paycheck to paycheck” then your family won’t even be able to come up with the $500 per month to contribute 5k towards college. Kids often throw out numbers of how much they think their parents will pay, but they don’t “do the math” and realize that the family doesn’t have much leftover each month to contribute.</p>
<p>You need to ask them EXACTLY how much each month they can contribute towards college costs.</p>
<p>So, you won’t qualify for the aid that you need. That you already know. You’re going to need nearly a full ride. You’re going to need higher scores. Take both the ACT and SAT…study for both. </p>
<p>What is your major or career interest? </p>
<p>What schools can you commute to?</p>
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<p>It’s hard to know. With the income AND high equity in their home, the family may not qualify for much of anything at privates. And, as you say, even if she’s given a small grant at a $50k school, the family can’t pay the remaining costs.</p>