<p>I have a dillema dealing with financial aid. </p>
<p>Here is the situation:</p>
<p>My mom owns a real estate company and makes about 110K a year. We have 3 people in the household and I will be the only one in college. My mom basically wants me to lie and put in my father's income because it is signifcantly lower, note that they are divorced. I see the other thread about FAFSA being geneorous to small business owners. Especially since my mom has a small business, combined with a really bad real estate market, you would think the money we would get would be favorable. After doing the calculators and all that, our EFC is about 34,000 which is way more than we could possibly afford. What the heck am I supposed to do?</p>
<p>I dont want to lie because that is not who I am but my mom insists I do it because we just dont have the money to pay for my education....lol. How do I go about getting the colleges to understand that the real estate market is in bad shape and my moms income is affected by that despite what the calculator says. </p>
<p>Should I write a letter, visit them, etc etc?</p>
<p>Help me out please, I dont know what to do. LOL</p>
<p>Colleges don’t expect that your parents pay out of current income alone, they expect that they have saved and may have to borrow.</p>
<p>Only you can decide if you’re willing to lie. You are subject to criminal prosecution if you get caught as is the parent who signs the FAFSA with you. Does your father also live in your school district–it would be a red flag right there if he doesn’t. Or if he has paid your mother significant child support which would suggest you lived with her.</p>
<p>Bottom line is that kids need to go to college someplace their family can afford. That means a state school or community college for most. If your stats are strong, focus on schools offering merit aid.</p>
<p>My dad does not pay child support, but lives in a completely different state. No college would actually take my dads income but my mom wont listen.</p>
<p>EDIT: Thanks hmom5. My mom did not save that much money for college. My brother and his 5 years took all of it, and of course graduates in December which is bad for the FAFSA.</p>
<p>There is a high likelihood of getting audited in this process and being required to provide the supporting documents, namely the tax returns. If your FAFSA does not match up with tax records (which it won’t, and will be glaring with your dad living in a different state) you will be sunk.</p>
<p>No offense, but what your mother is asking you to do is illegal and unethical, besides just plain stupid because it’s bound to fail.</p>
<p>MikeFos123 – I know your EFC is daunting, most people are shocked when they first see theirs. But don’t lie on the Financial Aid application, that isn’t a good idea at all for the reasons other posters have already given. There are many ways to finance a college education and you’ve still got some time to figure out the pieces.</p>
<p>Also you need to be aware that 30% of FAFSA applications are required to be verified by each school. Some schools verify more that the minimum 30% (I think my son’s school verifies everyone). There is a *very *high chance that yours will be selected for verification even without the red flags raised by the discrepancies between your State of residence and your father’s. (between 3 students in the family we have been verified 5 out of 6 FAFSA applications so far). It is very likely you would be caught if you did this.</p>
<p>Another point to consider…FAFSA isn’t “giving” you anything…it simply computes what your EFC is and then its up to the individual schools you apply to/plan to attend to offer an aid package. </p>
<p>Also realize that “aid” comes in in many forms, and most significantly can come in the form of loans that someday, you and/or your mother will have to pay back.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as a free lunch, and starting out this process by lying can hurt you a LOT more than your mother may realize.</p>
<p>The posters are correct. You are probably between a rock and a hardplace with regard to using your father as “the parent.” Make sure as you put your target list of colleges/unis together that you have options that are finanically feasible. You will be able to take out Stafford loans so have a heart to heart conversation about exactly what your mom can afford so you have some sort of idea what your “budget” really is. It’s better to have a plan than to find out next summer that she cannot afford someplace you have your heart set on. Look at the “stickies” at the top of the forum for schools that have good merit aid. Also make sure that you both did the caluculations correctly in the estimators for FAFSA (federal methodology). There is also the institutional method (Profile) that can have different results.</p>
<p>He would not even need to be audited to get caught if his father lives in a different state. When the parent he ‘lives’ with does not match up with the high school attended, it’s over.</p>
<p>I would print off the consequences for getting caught lying on the FAFSA for your mother and tell her you’re hoping to be in college, not jail. They even have an 800 number for turning people in.</p>