<p>Ok so I am sending or have sent a total of 10 college apps, and the price tag for all this is quite a bit. I know that my mom's income gives me no chance to very little chance of receiving substantial financial aid but I was wondering about the fee waiver for the applications. </p>
<p>My friend has parent income similar to one and she applied with fee waiver and got some. I was wondering if I should to or might as well not bother with it.</p>
<p>My context:
Mother, father. I am one of three children.
Ethnicity: Oriental Asian.
Mother: 150000+
Father: Out of work right now
My family does a lot. My sister who is 8 has ballet and piano lessons. My sister who is 15 has golf and violin lessons. I used to have tennis and piano lessons but now focus on taekwondo and some other stuff. Wonder if this helps at all or doesn't even matter??? O.O</p>
<p>No harm in asking. But you’ll need a letter from your school guidance counselor confirming your financial need. Seems a bit of a stretch, but you might ask your friend how she qualified for waivers.</p>
<p>Our school system basically gives them if you qualify for the federal free/reduced lunch program. </p>
<p>Those income guidelines are, for a family of 3, $24K free and $35K reduced. </p>
<p>So I can’t see your family qualifying since even with one income you are about 5 times over the higher limit.</p>
<p>A lot of colleges waive the app fee if you apply online, apply early, use their “VIP” code or whatever, because they want to get as many applications as they can. It can increase their selectivity for USNWR rankings, and get more kids interested in attending (so…not many super top ranked schools do this…but many second tier do). You can also ask a college directly if they will waive it for you, or google “college name application fee waiver” and see what their specific policy is.</p>
<p>The fee waivers are really meant for families with a considerably lower income than yours. If you want you can call each school individually and ask if they will waiver the app fee. Some schools will take an email request. You don’t need anything from your GC. Give it a try. Good luck!</p>
<p>Iron Maiden: Take it easy. This student is just asking if there is anything out there. No need to come down so hard on him. Although for many people 150K seems like a lot of money, if his father was making equal or more, than this family is truly feeling a pinch. Its all relative. I don’t like when people get annoyed at innocent questions asked by kids. Its intimidating. In the meantime, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a school or two to waive the fee, once he calls and speaks to his regional counselor. As a whole colleges don’t want to deter kids from applying. They are victums of circumstance. Cut him some slack…</p>
<p>My son got a lot of fee waivers, but it depended upon the college’s rules for them. Some of them were for applying on line, on the spot, by invitation, by a certain time, etc etc. So there are fee waivers out there that do not depend on financial situations. Also, some colleges may offer fee waivers to all students at a specific high school(s) due to some affiliation. Also directly asking an admissions office for a waiver, might result in aquiesance.</p>
<p>As to whether or not you qualify for a fee waiver due to financial hardship, you need to get the form from your high school guidance counselor, get the necessary documentation and signature for an overall waiver. With the info you have given, my opinion is that you do not qualify for such waivers for financial reasons, but there may be family extenuationg circumstances, so look into it if you think you may qualify. But sidelong looks at classmates’ family finances often give deceiving and incomplete pictures. Trying to count other people’s money is really not a useful endeavor. Asking your friend outright for advice on how s/he got the waivers may be more helpful.</p>
<p>I do know a lot of families here who are in tight straits due to one parent being suddenly unemployed, or business not doing well, even though they are considered high income and their figures show them to be so. There is that transition period when a family has to adjust from being well to do, to job loss. College are aware of that predicament. Financial aid has some provisions as well for that situation.</p>
<p>Really? I think we need to be less “diplomatic” with kids these days. Everyone is too concerned that their kid is never upset, never hears a harsh word, gets a trophy for everything, and is praised for “trying”. Sorry, that’s not the way it works in the real world and it has caused a generation of coddled, spoiled kids.</p>
<p>Parents need to parent, not be their kid’s best friend.</p>
<p>Really, saying “you are kidding” is harsh? For asking about fee waivers when their family makes $150,000+? I’m sorry, but if you have issues with the app fees how do you expect to full pay for college. Wow.</p>
<p>Iron Maiden, as I stated in my post, a family with an income of however high, when hit with an unemployment or other loss of income situaton may “lock down”. In fact if they don’t, they would be foolish. At the same time, it might be wise for the student applying for college at that time to be filling out MORE rather than fewer apps, to cast a wider net for aid and merit. And, yes, some schools will take into account situations like that. FAFSA has a dislocated worker designation that can make a student eligible for federal aid even with a high income reported for the year, if parents are in that category. Also the situation at hand may not be a permanent one, and college admissions directors are aware of that too. If Dad finds a job in the next several months the student might end up being a viable full pay candidate. So in a case like that admissions might well make exception to the app fee. They want as many apps as possible. Whether they give the student aid, is a whole other story and that is a financial aid issue, but IMO, admissions will likely give some waiver. Some of those app fees are waaaay up there. I wince at them, and we are full pay.</p>
<p>I hear what you are saying but the OP in no way indicated extenuating circumstances like you describe. The father being out of work is unfortunate but there remains a $150,000 plus income stream.</p>
<p>I’ve been through the one parent working the other parent laid off scenario but at a much lower salary. Still full pay - no consideration was given. And we did not even think about reduced app fees.</p>
<p>I agree. It’s hard to imagine that a family with a six-figure income that can afford private music, sports, and ballet lessons would be unable to afford application fees.</p>
<p>But - and this is significant - I’m sure that there are also people out there who’d find it hard to imagine that I can afford some of the things that I manage to pay for on my ridiculously low income.</p>
<p>Bottom line is that none of us is in a position to assess (or judge) what any of the rest of us can afford. We don’t know what the OP’s family is giving up in order to pay for those private lessons . . . and it’s none of our business.</p>
<p>Further, it’s not entirely reasonable to expect the OP - a high school student - to be able to assess his family’s ability to pay all the application fees that he is incurring. He is likely not privy to the family’s full financial picture . . . and is trying, to the best of his ability, to keep costs down. That’s commendable, and if he doesn’t succeed, at least he tried. I’d like to think that my kid would do the same.</p>
<p>Our income is more than that, and DH was not unemployed but my son still looked for free apps at schools that interested him. He’d ask and most of the schools did give him a free app. He should look first if there are some free application venues that are listed on the web site, but asking at admissions is fine too. I was surprised that a few schools had some free apps for kids but if you didn’t ask and just applied, you paid.</p>
<p>Ironmaiden I actually don’t disagree with you when it comes to “Everyone is too concerned that their kid is never upset, never hears a harsh word, gets a trophy for everything, and is praised for “trying”. Sorry, that’s not the way it works in the real world and it has caused a generation of coddled, spoiled kids” However, you’re not his parent, so all I’m saying is state your point nicely. No need to be sacaristic. </p>
<p>Like we have all stated there very likely are good options out there for OP. So no need to discourage him. He may very well be able to get some apps for free. And kudos to him for trying.</p>
<p>My friend has parent income similar to one and she applied with fee waiver and got some. I was wondering if I should to or might as well not bother with it.</p>
<p>I think you need to get some clarification from your friend. If she has your income, then she wouldn’t qualify for need-based app waivers. However, she may have gotten some fee waivers from colleges just because she asked. </p>
<p>Or it’s also possible that her family is dong some “hanky panky” with their income and they are somehow qualifying for “free/reduced lunch” or some other qualifier for free apps. If this friend’s parents are divorced and the friend lives with the lower income parent, then she could qualify.</p>