The info conveyed here is correct - schools have until April 1 to notify, and then accepted students have until April 15 to make the decision. FYI these are the Graduate School deadlines, because undergrad students have until May 1 to inform the school.
Regarding the comments about affordability at a school they want to attend, it’s a major factor these days and I believe those families in the “middle class” are the ones who lose out. Schools only have so much $ to give out - if the family income is low enough, they qualify for need based aid. If their family can afford full tuition, cost of attending is not a factor. We fall in the middle, and we will not mortgage our families financial future, his future or his siblings for him to attend a program no matter how good it is. Just being honest, but I was disappointed in CIM’s offer given who they compete with. I guess it really doesn’t matter what I think as they seem to have plenty of students who either don’t mind the debt or can afford to go there. We just aren’t one of them.
@StoneMagic - are you certain your son can’t get TA work at CIM? Or private students on a secondary instrument or at Case? That’s how most grad students supplement. Have you explored the CIM site about ways to earn money while there?
Although Yale is tuition free - the only other assistance offered is federal loans - and, at the grad level, they accrue interest immediately, and payments start immediately. But there are work options, some of which can be quite helpful.
He wrote the professor about his situation, and knowing some other things he’s done, if there is a TA position or other viable options out there, he would offer them up. Waiting to hear back on that.
While I appreciate and welcome suggestions, as far as part time work and privates, my son already does all of that (works 20-30 hours a week for the SOM and he sometimes plays with the regional orchestra). That covers some travel, beer, food and spending money, but doesn’t even come close to what he would need for this to work.
DD found that even without our income, for grad school the school expected her to take out the max Federal loans available and then made up the difference in grants. Finding well funded MM programs are not as common as in the past.
As a MM, if you get awarded full tuition, that’s best case for most schools now. Doctoral candidates seem to get the best awards from what our son has seen.
You can correct a FAFSA. But in our experience, if you son is potentially “independent”, meaning turning 24 this year, the FAFSA automatically offers to leave out parents.
So you’re saying I should completely remove his parents income and just list his? Seems odd since I claim him as a dependent on taxes and they’ve already seen the numbers…does this actually work?
Yes, that is what should be done. We also claim our S as dependent on taxes, but according to FAFSA he is independent. Giving parents’ income on the FAFSA is optional, not required.
Actually, I can’t advise on that–I’m not sure if the school would have calculated his package using your income or not. There are very few full-ride or large scholarship M.M.'s it seems–loans seem to be pretty common in grad school aid packages. But definitely for sure next year, don’t list parent income on the FAFSA.
Sorry a couple more questions as I just resubmitted the FAFSA…when would he see updated numbers as far as aid? Does this only work if the student is over 21 (it wouldn’t let me make parent info optional on his younger sisters FAFSA)
Yes, it is for grad school over 21 students–it is not optional on undergraduate FAFSA’s. It confused us, too, the first time when parent info was not required. I’m not sure now how things work since you’ve already received your package. Perhaps you need to appeal in order for them to take a second look? I don’t know.
Dependency status on taxes and the FAFSA are unrelated. Graduate students in most cases are considered independent and parental income is not counted. There is a 24 year of age rule (all 24+ are independent even if undergrad). Graduate students can be independent for FAFSA. Google it and you,lll find info as follows.
Thus a graduate student may be claimed as a dependent on the parent’s federal income tax return if the student satisfies the IRS rules for a qualifying child without affecting the student’s status as an independent student for federal student aid purposes. The graduate student is independent on the FAFSA because she’s a graduate student, regardless of whether the parent supports her or not.
Am I dependent or independent?
Your answers to questions on the FAFSA determine whether you are considered a dependent or independent student. The questions change a little from one year’s FAFSA to the next year’s; for instance, the 2015–16 FAFSA asks whether you were born before Jan. 1, 1992, while the 2016–17 FAFSA asks whether you were born before Jan. 1, 1993. Here are the questions that determine your dependency status, first in a graphic format and then (for 2016–17 specifically) in a table:
You need to go on-line to view the table.
So after you spend lots of time on this, a school MAY still think your child who made $5000 can afford $40000 in tuition. Just bc there is need it doesn’t mean you’ll get assistance. We did the FAFSA without our income…and at a few schools I don’t think it matter. But you never know. You can always call the school and ask if your student could resubmit and would it matter.
Graduate students are automatically considered independent for purposes of the FAFSA, REGARDLESS of age. The following is taken from the Dependency Test Status on the Federal Student Aid Page:
“At the beginning of the 2016–17 school year, will you be working on a master’s or doctorate program (such as an M.A., M.B.A., M.D., J.D., Ph.D., Ed.D., graduate certificate, etc.)?”
What if I answered Yes to the question above?
If so, then for federal student aid purposes, you’re considered to be an independent student and will not provide information about your parents on the FAFSA.
Good stuff and lots of detail I was not aware of so thanks to everyone who contributed to that discussion…it may be too late or not matter in our particular situation, but it’s worth a shot and may help another parent down the line.
It’s hard to even know how much the grad packages are based on financial need. It seems what we saw more were merit scholarships of various sizes with loans and work study offered to cover the remainder. And this was for my S who did not list parental income on the FAFSA and had basically nothing in his coffer to pay for any college expenses.
Wanted to know whether anyone had some advice or insight in terms of waiting lists. I was put on waiting for Yale and Colburn (violin), and am on top of the list, but do the schools over-accept in the first place?
My S is also on the wait list for Yale. My understanding is that they offer acceptance to the exact number of openings they have, because the turn down rate is so small and so are the open slots. They wait to see if those offers are accepted first - and because grad students have until Arpil 15, you generally don’t find out until all of the acceptances are in, which means it could go to April 15 before you would know.
The exception is if someone they offered formally declines and you’re truly next on the list, they could offer you earlier. I would also recommend reaching out via email to the professor, letting them know you are still interested and asking if there is still a possibility - you have nothing to lose by doing so at this point.