<p>My friend wanted to get financial aid to schools. So on his apps he listed his parents as seperated even though they're not. He put different last names for them but they actually have the same last name.Unfortunately he sent the college applications.What should he do??</p>
<p>First, whatever he put on his college applications has nothing to do with the information required for financial aid applications. He could say on his college application that his parents are separated and are name Smith and Jones. This isn’t going to help when he has to provide information on financial aid applications like the FAFSA or the CSS Profile. Both of which are going to ask for specific tax information. Additionally, the schools using the CSS Profile will almost always want copies of the previous year’s tax return, and the FAFSA frequently will during the verification process.</p>
<p>Your friend isn’t going to get any financial aid by just submitting a college admission application. He’ll also have to submit financial aid applications, which require a lot more information and it has to be verifiable by tax returns, wage statements and other documentation. The problem he potentially has now is that his financial aid application information will not be consistent with his admissions application information.</p>
<p>Not much “he” can do at this point. The supporting documents for FA (tax returns etc) will show the schools the true situation. </p>
<p>Perhaps apply to some other schools and not lie on those applications.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think that’s the best bet, swimcatsmom. He should apply to some other schools providing the correct information. That’s probably a better option than calling the schools to which he applied already and saying, “Can you disregard my first application on which I lied, and take this new one instead?”</p>
<p>Should he just forget about financial aid and just apply to scholarships??</p>
<p>Your friend needs to come clean. Did he also make up separate addresses for his “separated parents”? I’m sorry, but at some point this charade is going to come back to haunt him. The names are not going to match.</p>
<p>When he DOES really apply for financial aid, he will be required to put the real, honest information…keep in mind that one of his parents will also need to “sign” the FAFSA with a PIN and doing this indicates that all the information on the form is accurate. Putting false information on the FAFSA is fraud…clear and simple…so that is not a choice.</p>
<p>I will say…Colleges really DO frown on dishonesty in a big way as well they should. Your friend has placed himself in a situation whereby he risks losing his acceptance at one of these schools should his dishonesty be disclosed. </p>
<p>I’m not sure what the best plan is. Perhaps applying to different schools is not a bad choice but if he does so, I hope he has the courtesy to WITHDRAW the current applications.</p>
<p>Even for many scholarships a student has to have a FAFSA submitted, plus there is normally much less funding available overall from scholarships than from financial aid. There are exceptions to that but they tend to be very competitive scholarships for tip-top students.</p>
<p>I think your friend has seriously shot himself in the foot.</p>
<p>He should apply to some different schools and withdraw his applications to the schools he lied to.</p>
<p>Another question… was this on the Common Application? I don’t know how it works now, but as recently as a couple years ago you could only change certain parts of the Common Application to tailor your app to specific schools, such as the essays and the extra-curricular activities. You couldn’t change certain basic information fields once you’d submitted it to the first school. That may have changed, but is something else to consider.</p>
<p>Keep in mind it is very, very easy to catch a liar when it comes to official paperwork. If you look at fin aid forms all day long, every day, then the ones that are just a little odd totally jump out and are set aside for further review. </p>
<p>Any student is far better off to be honest about who they are and be honest about their financial situation. What if your friend did manage to get some great fin aid on a bogus application? There he’d be, every day, stressed out that the school would figure things out and he’d get the boot from campus. Can he really keep a lie going for FOUR years? </p>
<p>Times are hard – and loans are scary and should be minimized. But lying to get ahead is so stupid – it is too easy to get caught and too challenging to sustain. Friend should immediately contact schools and say “I need to make a correction. My mother should be listed as XX XY and my father should be listed as XY XY and their correct status is married.” He doesn’t have to explain why he put down something different the first time (maybe the admissions office will think the couple were going through a rough patch) – but, man, this needs to be fixed before fin aid starts reviewing last year’s tax forms! (which they will).</p>
<p>My friend sent all of these lies about his parents on the common app. He put his mother’s maiden name down instead of her current last name and listed his parents as separated. He plans on now telling the truth on FASFA. So is he really in deep trouble?</p>
<p>It depends on how the information is processed and what kind of cross-referencing might happen. Certainly any financial aid will be based primarily on the FAFSA information (and CSS Profile for those schools that require it). I suppose it’s possible, once accepted, that the financial aid department will be looking primarily at the financial aid application materials and not so much the initial admissions application. He’d better be really careful about telling the truth on the FA application or he’ll get busted for sure. The names… that might be a more flexible area. A lot of women use their married names and their maiden names in different situations. The “separated” part would not be true, but I don’t know if that’s something that would have any bearing as long as the lie isn’t continued on to the financial aid application where it just won’t hold up.</p>
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<p>There is no way of knowing whether he will be caught or not. Is it really worth risking? I think he should contact the schools and say he made an error on the applications and wishes to change the errors. If he’s lucky, no one will wonder about this.</p>
<p>That “friend” is you isn’t it?</p>
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<p>He very well could be because uour friend also lied on his admission application stating that s/he is a child of divorced parents when he in fact lives in an intact househole. so the finanical aid piece is not the only place where he shot himself in the foot. (this information can easly come out in the counselor’s evaluation).</p>
<p>Your friend needs to realize that willful misrepresentation in the admissions process courl be grounds for not getting admitted, having our admission rescinded once you have been admitted or having your degree rescinded leaving you with a worthless sheet of paper.</p>
<p>While what your friend did was very dishonest, I don’t think this is fatal. After all, it’s entirely possible for a family to “separate” for a short time and then reconcile, so if he submits his FAFSA with his family intact, won’t the school just assume the family had decided not to go forward with a divorce?</p>
<p>The student listed his parents as separated, not divorced.</p>
<p>You are right, his parents are separated, not divorced. However, it still does not negate the fact that he has misrepresented his situation, something that can and will easily come out when the school evaluates him.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I don’t quite understand that. What will “come out” when the school processes his FA? All that will come out is the suggestion that his parents separated for a very short time, and have now decided to stay together. FA papers don’t ask for that kind of personal detail about how/why you were separated for a short time. </p>
<p>The school can’t prove/disprove that his parents didn’t separate for a very short time - while the kid submitted his app. And, why would the school go to such trouble to even find out as long as his FA app indicates that his parents are together and their income info is correct. It’s not like he’s going to get more aid because of this.</p>
<p>The school may ask which is correct. But, if the kid says, my parents are together, I doubt the school is going to “get personal” and ask such details about what looks like a temporary separation.</p>
<p>Besides, if he won’t qualify for FA because intact parents earn too much, why should he even apply for aid…except for a student loan?</p>
<p>While none of us like this dishonest approach…if it goes no further, and this kid’s FA apps indicate parents are married, I can’t see why a school just won’t process based on entire family’s income.</p>
<p>I am not writing in regard to the FA process. I am writing in regard to the admissions process where Op has misrepresented his situation there also. He said he wrote on the common app that his parents were separated. It is very likely that the GC will refer to the student’s home situation on the school evaluation (where they probably will state that he lives with both his parents).</p>
<p>[qoute]All that will come out is the suggestion that his parents separated for a very short time, and have now decided to stay together
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<p>BUT this did not happen. It’s all a lie. School admissions assumes honesty as well. This kid falsified information on his application. His parents were NOT separated and reconciled. He lied, including changing his mom’s name on the application. </p>
<p>I think he needs to call the schools and reconcile his “error”. He needs to say that he needs to change two fields…his mom’s last name and his parents’ marital status. He should say that the information on his application is not accurate. And let the school “assume” what they want to. If he’s LUCKY, the school will assume that the parents got back together after a short separation (most folks don’t change back to their maiden names under these circumstances).</p>
<p>Name change is a legal process. Op willfully misrepresented and falsified his application by putting in his mother’s maiden name which not her legal name. Her legal name is her married name if she took on her husband’s name regardless of whether or she is with her husband. THe only way she can go “back to her maiden name” if she request a name change at the time of a divorce, or she legally goes through the process of having her name changed (if she remains married). </p>
<p>I agree with Thumper, Op needs to contact the schools that he applied to and rectify this situation and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>Even if OP were to keep up this ruse, his fafsa would not be processed in his mother’s name because her name and SSn would not match up.
They would not have her by her maiden name with the SSA or her maiden name would not show up with the IRS.</p>
<p>Yes, the school is likely going to come to the wrong conclusion…that the separation was temporary, but now they’re back together.</p>
<p>Either the school is just going to “go with that,” or they might call and ask if the parents are together or separated. The student will say “together.” I don’t think the school is going to want to ask too many questions because of what they think will be embarrassing for the child…that his parents separated and are now together. If the FA papers say that the couple is together, I don’t think the school is going to be thinking that the student is trying to get more aid.</p>
<p>And, if the student never applies for aid (since it sounds like he might not qualify), then why would the school know/care…even if it’s not true. </p>
<p>I think the school would only get more agressive if the FA docs were to indicate separation…because that’s what affect the money issue. The app means rather nothing in the world of FA. </p>
<p>We’ve never applied for aid. So, if my kids had done this stupid thing, I don’t think their schools would have ever known the truth. </p>
<p>Again…the lying was bad, bad, bad…but I don’t see why it’s fatal as long as the kid either provides the correct info on the FA paperwork or doesn’t apply for aid at all.</p>