Financial aid HELP!

Parents Forum
1

<p>Parents, im asking you because you have experience.</p>

<p>I am going to be a freshman next year. I am planning to go to hopefully a top school, i have already been accepted into Cornell CALS and Duke.</p>

<p>This is the matter. my mom made $16716 this year. I live with her, my parents are divorced. My dad made 68 K.</p>

<p>My dad told me he is not going to contribute to my education in any way whatsoever. Sadly, my mother said she is not either because she simply cant.</p>

<p>Because FAFSA only considers my mom's status, my EFC is 0, but when the school's see my dad's taxes, they will make me pay.</p>

<p>i have contacted already 2 schools and they told me that if i wrote them a letter explaining my situation, they told me they couldnt do anything about my case and i would have to pay for my fathers part myself, that it was his fault if he didnt want me to go to college and i could not do anything about it.</p>

<p>do you think some good school will take my situation into account?
if not, can you tell me a quick estimate of how much id have to pay, PLEASE?</p>

<p>i was hoping to win the gates millenium scholarship but was rejected on the get go, to my incredible sad amusement.</p>

<p>Basically, we dont own a home, we came here a couple of years ago, my mom recently opened a business and this year it didnt make any gains but hopefully next year it will make some more, and my dad will make less.
in addition, my mom wants to start buying a house next year. how will this affect anything?</p>

<p>in the bank, they have nothing over 1000.</p>

<p>THANK YOU SO MUCH. i really need help, your input on this would be incredible. today i stayed until 3 in the morning awake thinking about the money. i think i will have to go into ROTC to be able to pay (please, do not criticize me on that).</p>

<p>thank you SO MUCH
RoflcopterSoi is online now</p>

2

<p>Your best bet is to go to a FAFSA only school, which would only take into account your mother's information. </p>

<p>You can write a special circumstances letter to Financial Aid, but it is entirely within their discretion to still take into account your father's financial information. And most would not be swayed simply by your father's refusal to pay. Otherwise, suddenly nobody's parents would want to pay for their kid's schooling.</p>

<p>I think ROTC would be a good idea if military life suits you.</p>

3

<p>First of all, do not let your dreams go and keep on pursuing additional scholarships such as the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI) Scholarship or the <a href="http://scholarships.hispanicfund.org/applications/subsectionID.1,pageID.116/default.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://scholarships.hispanicfund.org/applications/subsectionID.1,pageID.116/default.asp&lt;/a> There are scholarships with later deadlines ... but hurry up!</p>

<p>Check the extended directory available at: Congressional</a> Hispanic Caucus Institute</p>

<p>In the meantime, keep on working with the financial aid offices at the school that accepted you. It is, however, extremely important to present current figures and be extremely respectful. In this regard, I would strongly advise to tone down any hint of entitlement and avoid any criticism of scholarship programs that did not work out as planned. In particular, watch what you write or say about the Gates negative decision. </p>

<p>It might all work out for you!</p>

4

<p>68K income will have an effect, but at the schools you mention, not that much of one, especially if your dad doesn't have much savings or other assets. have you or he filled out the CSS/Profile? (both those schools will want that.) If you have access, use his numbers to plug into an online calculator such as at College Board using Institutional Method to get an idea of what you might be expected to pay. It may be something do-able with loans, work during the summer, and frugality (schools include amounts in their cost of attendance which you might be able to save on, like books ,travel, spending money.) AFter the first year, you might be able to get an RA position, which would cut your costs. </p>

<p>You should definitely have applications at FAFSA only schools just in case, but don't rule out these schools, either. They do have a stake in diversity and including lower income students, and they may surprise you with what they offer.</p>

5

<p>I filled out the Profile with estimates for both , my mom and dad, because we just got the taxes this week. the schools told me just to send the taxes, that theyll fix them. I hope i dont get inaccurate forms, due to the fact that my dad told me he had made WAY less money than he actually did, something that made me very confident, but is now scaring me. </p>

<p>Thanks!
any addtnl input will be appreciated!</p>

<p>ill def. look into the scholarships, thanks!
however, i definitely do believe the gates committee definitely looked over my application TOO quickly!</p>

6

<p>Will your dad cooperate with filling out the forms? i think that's a bigger problem than the $68K. </p>

<p>Write a letter to the financial aid departments explaining your personal circumstances. They have the discretion to make some adjustments based on "professional judgment" .</p>

<p>Is $68K your father's total income, or the AGI? Does his income vary from year to year?</p>

7

<p>Are you a NY resident? That would help you at the CALS.</p>