<p>Great story!</p>
<p>Go for it!</p>
<p>Good news. Just be careful about next year. When H is employed again, a lot of that aid may go away. What will you do then?</p>
<p>As long as H is employed we will be fine. Oldest D will be in grad school and independent for FA purposes. This last 11 months has been a real lesson in frugality and learning what we can do without.</p>
<p>About the future, if your oldest is in grad school but you provide support, she may count as a 2nd in college, keeping your EFC down.</p>
<p>Also, if your DD is in the right majors the ACG ($1300 in year2) can become a SMART grant of $4000, but you must be pell eligible for that</p>
<p>Update # 2: Do you ever just ache over your child’s disappointment about something only to find out later that they got over way before you did? D came home from vacation to the news about the revised financial aid offer. After asking some pointed questions about where the additional aid was coming from, she just said " So the school didn’t have any more money for me, it’s from the government and won’t be available next year when dad has a job? Well, I made the right decision." She apparently has moved on already, has made her plans for a roommate and special new student program at the state school and is happy that she isn’t going to have to borrow anything to go there. Wow, she is growing up.</p>
<p>Glad to hear it worked out and she’s happy - sounds like a very mature young lady. Don’t forget to ask for review at your other 2 kids’ schools - they will probably be willing to reduce EFC there too (maybe would have for this semester too). Good luck!</p>
<p>Good news wish I knew. She sounds like a sensible girl. </p>
<p>I am always amazed with my daughter - once she makes a decision she seems to move on with no backward glances. I am a big old second guesser so spend a lot of time agonizing. Perhaps it is an age thing - I really don’t remember being such a worrywart as a youngster.</p>
<p>You’re right sk8rmom. We have filed for special consideration at those schools and haven’t heard back yet. Keeping my fingers crossed! And the suggestion that we should have filed for for special consideration for this semester is right on target. Ironically, my sister is a FA officer at a public school in another state who assumed I had done so. It is interesting how different schools handle their financial aid. She said at her school, for my D’s situation, they would have been using university need-based grants to help meet need. The CDS at the “dream school” seems to indicate that they have no need based grants. Maybe I would have this financial aid process down pat if I had a few more kids with which to learn the ropes!</p>
<p>Good example of the “dream school” phenomenon. It’s best to cast a wide net, and try to discourage the student from thinking that there is only one school that will be great for him or her. Sounds like OP’s daughter figured that out.</p>
<p>wish I knew, your D sounds like a great kid … she is putting her family first. You should be proud.</p>
<p>if you talk to the school and tell them your situation you’ll be surprised at how much they are willing to work with you</p>
<p>this is off topic but I really can’t believe so many parents are willing to pay for their kids college, my mom isn’t contributing a penny, and I’ll have to work crazy hours in order to pay for college, the thing is I don’t disagree with my mom, I’m an adult (legal at that) and I should be responsib;e for my own expenses, besides if I don’t pay for my degree I cant really say that it’s my degree, many it’s because we are not American, but it just doesn’t make sense to me</p>
<p>ThaRussian:</p>
<p>My H’s father also said he wasn’t going to pay for college for any of his 6 children. Only 1 finished college (my H). Three are working minimum wage jobs and need financial help from family members to get by, 1 is in the military, 1 started a business and is doing well and my H has a professional job and is doing well. I don’t want my kids to be 50 years old and earning minimum wage and not having enough money to pay the rent. So I’m willing to invest the money now in their college education so they can support themselves later. I consider it a good investment. When I went to college in the early 1980’s the tuition was cheap enough so that you could work and pay your way through college. Now it’s very hard to do that with the escalating tuition prices. </p>
<p>You sound like a hard-working person and I hope everything works out well for you.</p>
<p>ThaRussian, coming from the same background, I’m absolutely sure it’s not cultural thing, more like your family attitude, which I totally disagree with. As far as I know all my russian friends (in numbers) have paid, are paying or are planing to pay for college for kids.</p>
<p>Talya & desultemeier
My parents were born and rasied in the USSR, under the socialist system tuition was payed for by the state (gov) and they had to work to pay for every other expense (housing, dining), my parents also immigrated to this country with pocket change, and worked their way up, they had to walk to work when they first moved here, but now they both make over $60,000 annually(even though they are seperated and I barely hear from my dad), its not always the cultural backgroud by the experience/background that changes the way one may look at things, at 18(earlier in other countries) you are an adult and you need to enter the real world, so many kids these days are living in a fantasy world where everything is promised and even when they go to college they still dont know what the real world is like, in my opinion those are the ones that are most likely to get a min wage job, if u put your mind to it anything can be done, you just have to work hard, I personally feel that as a adult I am liable for myself and I might as well cont to live in my mom’s house if I’m going to count on her to hold me up, my experiences have taught me that you need be responsible for yourself, because later in life if you dont do something no one else will do it for you</p>