<p>I hope I came to the right place for this, but I'm in dire need of help at the moment.</p>
<p>I'm a senior in high school, and will be graduating in August of 2009. I messed up badly in my sophomore year preventing me from graduating with my class in June, but fortunately I'll only be a summer late. I currently live in Illinois and after I graduate I plan to move to New Jersey with my girlfriend - who is currently living with her parents - and hopefully start college a year from now (January 2010).</p>
<p>Now my main concern is applying for financial aid. I'll admit, I've only briefly looked into it as of now, but there is one thing I don't understand. How will it work if I'm living with her in her parents house? I'm 18 (19 this October) and since they're not my legal guardian, but I'm living with them will I still be eligible for financial aid? Not sure if this matters, but they only have one income (her parents that is), because they're receiving social security due to her father being unable to work. To sum it up her dad had surgery and the surgeon messed up badly having some long-term effects on him. So they took them to court and ended up winning the case; but he is still unable to work. I honestly have no clue if them receiving social security matters in any way to me, but I know it affected my girlfriend and college in a few minor ways. Also, once I move there I obviously will be unemployed for at least a few months since I'll just get to settling in. Not sure if that matters when I'm applying or not.</p>
<p>I know this is an odd position to be in, but I appreciate any help. Also, how long in advance should I apply for financial aid? If I graduate high school in August and want to go to college in January, that shouldn't be much of a problem, right? I'm assuming at least 6 months in advance, but I'm taking a shot in the dark there.</p>
<p>Thanks very much, looking forward to some responses! Sorry for the long story :P</p>
<p>If you're 18/19/20, etc, you will be a dependent of your parents, as far as I'm aware. It doesn't matter if you live with your girlfriend's parents. I'd tell you that getting married would make a difference, but I have gone on record as saying that it's a TERRIBLE thing to do for financial aid purposes. I know, because I did it.</p>
<p>You are a dependent of your own parents for FAFSA, not your girlfriends parents. You will have to report your parent's information on FAFSA. </p>
<p>Have you applied to a college yet? The 2009-2010 FAFSA, which is available now, will cover the semester that starts Janusary 2010. But it is the school that makes the financial aid award based on your family financial information that you enter on FAFSA. You need to check with them when they would want your financial aid application to be submitted.</p>
<p>No, I have not applied for college yet in New Jersey.</p>
<p>I'm 90% sure as of now what I want to major/minor in, but just to be safe I plan on going to this community college only 15-20 minutes away from her house (which I checked out personally while I was there) to get my basic classes done to at least get started and get my foot in the door.</p>
<p>Transferring to another school for my major/minor is an option in time, or even if that college has what I'm looking for available just take it there. Either way though, no I have no applied yet.</p>
<p>As I've stated my goal will be to start in January 2010 since I'm graduating a tad late, I kind of figured I could apply for College/FAFSA in the April-June time period, once things become more definite and settle.</p>
<p>Should I get a jump on this right now or do I still have around that time period to apply and such? </p>
<p>You will be dependents of your parents for financial aid purposes. You will also be an out of state (OOS) student, which will affect your tuition. </p>
<p>I looked up a couple of NJ community colleges and the cost per credit hour is a lot more for OOS students. For instance, at Cumberland County College it is $365 per credit hour for OOS vs. $89 for county residents and $178 for other residents. At Brookdale Comm College OOS is $108 per credit for Monmouth County residents vs $241 for other NJ residents and OOS students. (See links below)</p>