<p>I think my daughter has a decent shot at Harvard, Yale and Stanford. </p>
<p>I'm a government attorney earning about 150,000/yr. Two years ago I married a young dentist with her own corporation. She's just starting out so her company didn't turn a profit in 2004 but will probably show a small profit in 2005. The company paid her a salary of $48,000 in 2005 so between the two of us it looks like we make close to $200k. My daughter's biological mom is chronically unemployed and contributes nothing. I have a son who is a Junior at UCSD. When he was a Freshman I wasn't remarried yet and I was making about 125k. The State of California awarded me ZERO aid. (He was also accepted at USC, which awarded a pittance of about $8000. but lucky for me he wanted to go to UCSD.)</p>
<p>So I took out a second mortgage on my condo and have been also paying his UC tuition room and board without any help from his biological mom.</p>
<p>I have an interest only first mortgage on my condo so my house payments look low. But they will rise dramatically in two years. Right now the payment is $1700. I paid less than $400,000 for the condo and its almost doubled in paper value. So last month I refinanced and now I have a $250k line of credit on the 2nd mortgage.</p>
<p>Now I have begun the torture of filling out FAFSA and CSS forms. Stanford has an early deadline of Feb 1. My new wife is NOT HAPPY about having to fill out the Business supplement. These forms are worse than doing taxes! I have to estimate everything because I can't get an appointment with my tax man before Stanford's deadline.</p>
<p>Do I even have a snowballs chance of getting a decent grant from Stanford, Harvard or Yale? Should I just plan on using my line of credit and save myself the frustration of filling out these forms?</p>
<p>As to getting a decent need based grant, Id say no. Merit based, maybe. You might try reading the book Paying for College Without Going Broke by Kal Chany (2006 edition). It will help you with knowing what youre up against. Specifically, read the section starting on p. 230, soap opera digest. Good luck</p>
<p>No merit aid at those schools.
You and your new wife's salary will be used to calculate EFC. I think you are not going to get a single penny. sorry but $200K annual salary? Are you dreaming!
What is wrong w/UC Berkeley?</p>
<p>I realize that I won't get much - if anything. I have already taken the steps to finance my children's college through home equity loans. My question is - should I even bother to fill out the forms? I've been told that some schools - Caltech to name one - are exceptionally generous. Other schools may give ~something~ more than zero $. But if I don't fill out the forms then I am guaranteed of getting zero.</p>
<p>I guess I was just venting. I am going to fill out these forms. According to the calculators at collegeboard my IM EFC is about $28k. So here's another question is need based aid calculated strictly on "tuition" minus EFC or is it "college costs" minus EFC where "costs" might include books, room and board?</p>
<p>Oh and to answer the question above - Berkeley is looking pretty good right now!</p>
<p>College costs include tuition, room & board (which are often the major expense), books, and miscellaneous expenses. When calculating need, they subtract the EFC from the total cost of college to get the 'need' and structure the financial aid package based on that need. Some at 100% of need (grants, loans, and work study), but many at less than 100%.</p>
<p>Cost of attendance - EFC (parent & chld contribution) = demonstrated need.</p>
<p>Your ex also knows that she needs to file her FA info also. Are you the custodial parent or is it your ex? </p>
<p>If your ex makes less money it might be in you D's best interest if she fills out the FAFSA and you fillout the non-custodial parent paperwork.</p>
<p>If the cost of attendance at HYP is 45,000 your IM EFC is 28,000 then you would have a need of $17,000 which the school would meet with a combination of grant aid, work study and a student loan for your D. Remember this is just a preliminary # because they have to factor in your ex-wife's income and assets.</p>
<p>You should never knock your self out of the FA box. Apply because what little you may end up getting will beat a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.</p>
<p>Doesn't FAFSA require that the parent who the child lives with fill out the form? My ex's income is neglible at best, so I'm not too concerned about that but I have already forwarded her the e-mail link for the non-custodial form.</p>
<p>Yeah-- it's not an optional 'either/or' thing as to who is the custodial parent. Either you are, or you are not. If the student lived with you for most of the last year, you're the custodial parent.</p>
<p>Assume hypothetically that my daughter gets accepted to more than one of her top choice schools. If her #1 choice gives her an aid package that is inferior to her #2 choice, is there a point where we will have the opportunity to ask the #1 choice if it might be willing to increase its offer?</p>
<p>In some parents have joint custody of their children where the child spend an equal amount of time with both parent. The parent may agree to alternate years in which they claim the child as an exemption or one may take the exemption and reimburse the other parent. </p>
<p>We don't know OPs situation as to whether or not he is the custodial parent. </p>
<p>If the mom is the custodial parent and he is paying for college as part of the divorce decree then mom should be the one filing the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Negotiating aid depends on the school.</p>
<p>Most schools that grant FA based on need will not negotiate with a school that gives merit money.</p>
<p>Schools that are part of the 568(?) group that commit not to negotiate aid amongst its memeber schools.</p>
<p>Some schools tell you up front that they do not negotiate (brown, wesleyan)</p>
<p>Some schools will give you a financial reveiw if you let them know that you have had a change in circumstances, or they miscalculated something.</p>
<p>Other will only negotiate with "similar" schools</p>