Financial Aid Question

<p>Bit of explaining first:</p>

<p>My parents are divorced. I live with my mother and my father got remarried and lives in Texas. He already filled out the Non-Custodial Profile, although it WAS late (BU received it April 1’st). My FAFSA gave me an EFC of 0.</p>

<p>With that in mind, I have a few questions:</p>

<p>I’m kinda nervous about how my dad’s income will affect my aid offer…While I’m not quite sure how much he makes, it’s definitely a lot more than my mother. I would estimate his income is around 30K. Will his wife’s income enter into the equation? She is an elementary school teacher, so I predict she makes around 35K to 40K. How big of an effect will this have on my aid decision? Also, will the fact that my dad turned it in late affect the amount of grants?</p>

<p>I don’t think his wife’s will factor in.</p>

<p>Your dad’s income may affect things, but if you don’t typically receive any help from him or very minimal or he isn’t planning on helping at all, write a letter and explain your situation to BU. They will usually take those things into account.</p>

<p>You also don’t have to have him fill out anything after freshman year, so keep that in mind. </p>

<p>Not sure about lateness.</p>

<p>They don’t take your stepmom’s info into consideration, only your dad’s. But, you may not get as much money because of the lateness of your application.</p>

<p>I remember my application was quite late freshman year, and I got a considerable amount of financial aid. (It is best to get it in on time though!) Then again, the economy was not as tight that year. I had the same problem though, I don’t live with my father (and I never visit him), so I think they’ll understand your situation. As others have said, they do not take your stepmothers income into consideration.</p>

<p>Alright, that’s good to know SUBlime…my mind is more at ease now.
Hopefully they’ll reply with an FA decision soon. It’s funny, I’m more nervous about the money than I was at getting accepted. Hopefully, they’ll give me more aid than NYU did. At NYU it’s about 20K in loans every year…not too stoked about that.</p>

<p>Okay, I got my decision today:</p>

<p>Aid To Be Credited to Student Account:</p>

<p>Grants:
Boston University Grant: 23,500
Supplemental University Grant: 2,000
Academic Competitiveness Grant: 750
Federal SEOG: 2,500
Federal Pell Grant: 5,350 </p>

<p>Total in Grants: 34,100</p>

<p>**Loans: **
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan: 2,000
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan: 3,500</p>

<p>Total in loans: 5,500</p>

<p>It’s less than what I wanted…I’m still missing over $10,000 for housing.
Should I write an appeal? Maybe I can get a few extra thousand?</p>

<p>You can always ask them but that’s a pretty generous number. They don’t specifically give grants for housing, AFAIK.</p>

<p>i would’ve been psyched to get that amount. student loans can be just as good as subsidized loans if your parents cosign and they have good credit.</p>

<p>But again, if there’s extra information about your dad or anything that might improve the situation, don’t hesitate to send it in.</p>

<p>That is a pretty excellent package really good package RedOktober! BU is usually very generous, so you can always ask for extra money. You might want to look into getting a Parent PLUS loan if it seems like a viable option to your parents. If you are denied, you are eligible for additional money. <a href=“Loans & Financing Options | Financial Assistance”>Loans & Financing Options | Financial Assistance;