<p>Hey guys!
Im a us citizen but ive been in Pakistan for the past 10 years. I wanted to know if i can file the fafsa if my parents haven't done any tax payments in the us. Id be glad for some advise by some fellow Pakistani us citizen that has gone through the process.</p>
<p>Yeah im one too. I filed it early this year and it was successfully processed and sent to all the colleges i applied to. Just write your family income after converting and the rest of the stuff will probably be like 0:00 because we dont receive their food stamp benefits and other loans and blah blah. I got into UVA btw and I plan on going inshaallah</p>
<p>Oh congrats:)
So is your father or mother currently paying taxes in the us? If not, how did you fill the irs tax returns portion of the form? And how much financial aid do you think you can get?</p>
<p>Nah they just filed 2012 tax returns so that we could fill in the fafsa. The tax returns, were, of course, zero. (Because were not earning there and when you convert our paki income to usa income its non taxable) .
So basically if I remember correctly the IRS tax returns were nil.
Well UVA says they meet your full need. I hope that’s true. I expect their fin aid within a week or so.</p>
<p>So are your parents also us citizens? If yes ask them if they filed or can file the tax returns for 2012. (Because us citizens even when living abroad have to file us taxes) Uh wait actually its too late for now for thus year.
what unis did you get into? And which state are you from?</p>
<p>No they arent us citizens or else i wouldve filed the form probably.
I was born in new york and came to pakistan at the age of 9.
I got into uiuc, stony brook, and florida tech with a 20,000 scholarship.
I wanted to attend uiuc but the full fees without any aid or scholarship is just ridiculous.</p>
<p>wow thats cool! I also got into stony brook. uiuc is pretty good but yeah I didnt apply to it because its fees suck. </p>
<p>oh. well if your parents arent citizens then im not sure what to do actually. sorry. in my case, my parents and I were citizens so it wasnt really an issue. </p>
<p>ive lived in chicago, wisconsin and maryland. I liked maryland the most. </p>
<p>so, what are your plans for university now?</p>
<p>I’m not sure. I’m gonna wait for my LUMS admission decision before deciding on where to go. If I don’t get into lums i guess my parents will just have to pay up for uiuc. What major do you plan to pursue at UVA and what are your stats?</p>
<p>well I applied for Biomedical engineering though I think I’ll change it to mechanical once I get there, dont know but I think its a little hard for BME’s to get a job.</p>
<p>well to be honest I think I was admitted because of sheer luck. my SAT 1 score was a mere 1910 (a friend of mine, another US citizen had 2100 and he was rejected) and my SAT 2 was 2080. I had 2 As and 2 Bs in AS. my extra curriculars were a little cool though, they showed leadership and a lot of community work so I guess that gave them reason to accept me. I was also into quite a few sports and other activities.
so these days I’m doing research on how life for a student there is. I’m not sure if I wanna go still because I’ll have to leave my family behind here. </p>
<p>Oh I see well thats a good idea but are you sure your parents can pay that much? if they can then thats awesome. UIUC is well known for its strong engineering programs though I’m not sure what major you wish to pursue.
I’d suggest applying for independancy once you go there so that they count you as a an IL resident next year and so that your fees is reduced by nearly half.</p>
<p>Hmm. Thats a good idea. Ill look into it and see if i can file for independancy.
My parents can afford the fees but i just dont think 2 crores is worth a mere undergrad degree, even if it id uiuc. I mean what if my parents spend so much and i dont even get a suitable job after i graduate and end up burger flipping in some fast food resturaunt the first year out of college?
I applied for chemical engineering but i might change to computer science if i go there.</p>
<p>wow thats cool I think you could go for engineering and dont worry youre bound to get a job, because uiuc’s engg is like in the top 20 or 30 and thats good. I know a guy who graduated from there and now he’s got a pretty good job.
so now money is the only thing, youre right its not really worth it but see if you can become a resident and it’ll be much easier after 1 year.
good luck</p>
<p>Thanks:)
Best of luck to you too</p>
<p>thanks
btw would you mind if I asked you your stats?</p>
<p>also, did you get an aid offer from stony brook? one of my friends was also accepted and and he got a package he didnt like much. for some reason they’re asking for my passport. dont know why.
so, any possibility of you going to stony brook? I dont think I can</p>
<p>I had 5A*s and 4As in o levels.
3As and a B in As
Still have to give my A2s, not expecting them to go well though.
2000 sat score and 700 math2, 720 physics and 760 chem
My ECs were the weakest aspect of my application. I only participated in a handfull of interschool science competitions.</p>
<p>I didnt apply for any financial aid from stony but I got a meagre scholarship of $2500. Im not exactly sure about attending it because it will cost me just under 30 lakh, which I dont believe is worth the uni.
Did you get your aid package from UVA yet?</p>
<p>Pretty good credentials! Which city are you from btw.
I got a pretty good financial package from uva (was bound to with their 5 billion endowment) and I’ll probably be depositing my enrollment fee tomorrow. Gulp.
I keep imagining how my life is about to change</p>
<p>Not to mention dreading. Please tell me your feelings too so that I know I’m not alone 
And what about your LUMS decision btw?</p>
<p>You have no idea. I spend half the day on the internet looking for people going to stony brook/ UIUC I agree that college will be extremely fun but the fact that i’m the only one attending uiuc or stony from Pakistan is really daunting 
Do you know anyone else going to UVA this fall?
And I got into SBASSE at lums, but I wont be going. My parents want me to experience abroad and are willing to pay, so I cant really argue with that:P</p>
<p>Wow congrats onto getting into LUMS, its a really good uni in Pak, but yeah I guess the abroad experience will be better
My parents also want me to go abroad so I have to go to UVA. Nope I don’t know anybody else going the only thing I have to comfort myself is the fact that my relatives live in UVA, else I’d never go :D</p>
<p>But don’t worry about it I’d say. I’m sure you’ll find plenty of Pakistanis in Urbana Champaign because there are sooooo many of them in nearby Chicago. Wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. But yeah one does feel anxiety before he goes, I can understand that :/</p>