<p>Alright heres my situation hopefully you can give me some insight:</p>
<p>I am going to be applying to schools for the Fall of 2010, and I was wondering how the finanicial aid worked.</p>
<p>My parents are comfortable, my dad makes about 100k a year and my Mom and my step dad make about 150 together. </p>
<p>I am not currently living with either of them, as i have an apartment with my friend with the lease in my name, and his dad pays the entire rent.</p>
<p>I would like to claim independent on my applications so that schools will help me out more with FA, but i dont know how this works, like what does it take to not have to put your parents information on it and only your own. </p>
<p>have any of you claimed yourself for college?
RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE GREAT! THanks</p>
<p>I googled “independent student fafsa”; always go to the primary source when possible:</p>
<p>[Independent</a> Students](<a href=“http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc03k.htm]Independent”>http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/help/fftoc03k.htm)</p>
<p>you’re not quite independent. :p</p>
<p>Haha im living on my own and i pay for everything and that will include all the loans for college, if thats not independentt what isss lol</p>
<p>As an independent student, I am all too familiar with the process. Unfortunately, from the information provided above, your situation does not make you an independent student in the eyes of the financial aid office of the school you will be applying to.</p>
<p>The actual process of declaring yourself as independent (unless you’re over 24 or an orphan/ward of the state) is rigorous. Though each school has their own process, they will all request similar documentation. This documentation includes your taxes, a personal statement, usually two statements from professional third-party individuals backing your statement, and death certificates of your parents if they are deceased. </p>
<p>Simply living on your own, even if you pay your own bills, at your age, does not make you independent. If you can provide proof that you are living on your own as a result of extreme circumstances, then you have a shot. The independent application is completely subjective, though, and your status is completely contingent on the school’s committee and their opinion. </p>
<p>Beloit, George Washington University, Kenyon, and New York University all accepted me as an independent student. Personally, I live on my own. However, this is a result of the untimely death of my father (when I was 18 so I wasn’t an orphan, something these schools have a difficult time understanding) and being estranged from my mother for the past decade due to her “addictive habits”.</p>