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I understand that. My rationale for a possible declaration of independence is rooted not in inability to obtain parental information but in homelessness–which evidently is another debate altogether.</p>
<p>Here’s an isolated question: does anyone here know whether attempting to consult professional help while sub-18 is illegal?
Lawyers I have to pay, and meeting homeless professionals themselves creates a catch-22.</p>
<p>It sounds to me like you and your parents have had some sort of disagreement. Here is my conventional wisdom…this is a time for you to mend fences so that you CAN get the necessary information for college financial aid applications…oh…and have a place to live. I’m not sure what the tiff is or was…and I really don’t care. Many kids have posted here about their parents and how they don’t get along and how their parents won’t help them. Yours is not a unique story.</p>
<p>Your claim of homelessness has no bearing. If you are being abused, document that. CHOOSING to move out of your parents’ home because you want to declare yourself homeless is NOT grounds for being declared homeless. Simply put…MOST folks in homeless shelters WISH someone would offer them a place to live. You have that offer. The best way to get your financial aid info…is to mend fences if that is possible. If you are being abused…that is another story…but you haven’t said that at all.</p>
<p>^^^Excellent advice.</p>
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<p>Do you mean will they call the police and turn you in as a runaway? No, think about it…no one would use a youth center/shelter or call a lawyer if they were simply agents of the police. If you want to check out their policies, you can always make an anonymous phone call. Trespassing and vagrancy are illegal so you may be at risk of being arrested anyway. </p>
<p>The most important thing for you to do is to find a safe place to stay on a regular basis. It sounds as if the school already knows you’re homeless and is willing to help. It would be wise to allow them to do so. I’m reading between the lines, but it sounds as if your parents are emotionally abusive or you have other reasons why you can’t face living with them. Please consider getting some counseling at your school - it should be free and will also be confidential. Some of the worst scars are the ones no one else can see.</p>
<p>I’m finding this story a little hard to swallow. No 17 year old talks like this. Interestingly, profile gives date of birth in 1983. Perhaps some sort of law school project, eh?</p>
<p>Or they mistyped their birthday year…and it’s supposed to be 1993. BUT…I also find this hard to swallow. </p>
<p>If your parents REALLY threw you out, or were otherwise not wanting you to live at home, WHY a homeless shelter? Do you not have any friends or other family members who would have provided you with a place to live? Being “homeless” for financial aid purposes if your family is abusive or puts you in danger, would require PROOF that you are in danger or family is abusive…NO residence in a homeless shelter which is a drastic move that most folks would do only as a LAST RESORT.</p>
<p>Yes…the school has offered this student priority housing but only until December. I have to wonder what kind of song and dance this student did to convince the school that he has no home…and I have to wonder if that is true.</p>
<p>If the school has already determined you are “homeless” with the offer of housing until December, the OP should continue an honest conversation with the school regarding what to do next.</p>
<p>Of course, this student has indicated he/she wants to transfer to a different school. My gut feeling is that this is more about getting financial aid without getting the parent information (even though it’s for a $0 EFC) than it is about being homeless…and the OP has stated such. </p>
<p>The only ones who can answer this question for the OP with certainty are the folks at the school he is attending AND the school to which he transfers. And clearly…because this is determined by each school…what applies to the commuter school might NOT apply to the school of transfer.</p>
<p>One would also think that the homeless status would need to be verified periodically. You know…some homeless folks actually get jobs and find homes. So…this status isn’t meant to be forever.</p>
<p>Other options for the OP are the same options as for others whose parents will not cooperate with the financial aid forms, or who can’t or won’t pay for college…go to a local college part time (finish general ed courses at a community college where the costs are modest). Work a job and find a room to rent (or a relative or friend who might be willing to help you with a room for a reasonable cost). Finish your bachelors degree. Yes…it will take longer…but your situation isn’t unlike that of other students whose parents either won’t provide the info, or can’t or won’t pay for college.</p>
<p>This OP is looking for a way to live in a dorm and attend college on someone else’s dime, as are THOUSANDS of other college students. There are plenty of other ways to finish a college degree.</p>
<p>And just an FYI…even with an EFC of $0 and homeless status, there is no guarantee that the college will continue to meet this student’s full financial need (unless he/she attends one of the small number of schools that guarantee to do so…this was NOT mentioned in the OP…and I don’t know any school that meets full need that is a “commuter school”). I don’t know where this OP wants to transfer to…but they might want to check the financial aid policies of THAT school too…most schools simply don’t meet full need…they just don’t.</p>
<p>Maybe <em>I</em> am reading between the lines, but I think this OP doesn’t want to attend the commuter school anymore…wants to transfer to a residential college. It sounds to me like this is not financially feasible for this family. This is not a unique situation.</p>
<p>Yes, what 17 year old uses ‘declaiming’ in a sentence?</p>
<p>I don’t write as well as he and I’m 51. :)</p>
<p>I agree with a previous comment, you write very well! But why go thru such extremes? You’re only 17 and will be 18 shortly. You’ll then not have to worry about any ‘homeless’ issue involving your parents.</p>
<p>I do get a fairytale feeling you’re trying to milk the aid system to the fullest extent with your politics. You seem like a brilliant man, get a job and let FAFSA deploy basic grants to your college. Down the road, consider small loans to cover any high end tuition/degrees you encounter.</p>
<p>Good luck in your journey!</p>
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<p>This is from the OP’s public profile. While there could have been ONE typo…for either the age or year, I find it unlikely that there would be two.</p>
<p>Maybe there’s a third typo - seems like OP’s birthday should be April 1st, not April 2nd!</p>
<p>thumper - I think the age is generated by the site automatically to save people from having to figure it out. It updates automatically.</p>
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Well as I said in my first post, the disagreement has been a few years in the making now.
Emotional abuse is many times harder to document. Without details, my story could sound like another one of those “rebellious-teenager-who-doesn’t know-better-leaves-home-in-a-fit-of-rage-over-not-being-allowed-to-stay-out-late” melodramas, but how convincing it is should be second in importance to the circumstances mentioned in what has been written so far.
How can vagrancy be a crime? Unless you mean trespassing out of vagrancy is a crime, a statement I agree with mentioning actions I won’t do.</p>
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From what Kelsmom has said, proof of abuse is only necessary to persuading a financial aid officer to exercise professional judgment; professional determination from a homeless director would also suffice providing that the answer to
is no.
Yes that may be true; however, the suggestion schools providing financial aid will rescind the aid the moment a student finds housing is a little hard to believe.
I’m already attending college on federal aid–a dorm would be a convenient supplement.
No my current school does not guarantee full need, but its tuition is low enough so that federal grants can cover it. I’m looking to transfer into full need schools, a category which, with prevailing circumstances continuing, every school I will consider will fall under.
Yes my parents can’t pay for a residential college (they can’t even pay for my current school’s tuition). My EFC is zero, so
is not an appropriate description of my aims. I just think that in the unlikely chance I’m accepted elsewhere, to only find out that I won’t be able to attend because my parents won’t cooperate by simply giving me copies of their tax forms would be a shame.</p>
<p>I am where I am regardless of whether I receive official determination. But if official determination is necessary to further my education then I’ll have to get it. Which is why an answer to
would be helpful.</p>
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Why should it cease immediately upon my turning 18?</p>
<p>
After looking it up and realizing only its secondary definition–use in the sense of “inveighing”–fits, I guess I should’ve used a different word. But hey, precision in diction wasn’t exactly a priority warranting conscious effort to maintain.</p>
<p>Keep in mind even if your current college gives you independent student status, it does not automatically carry over to the next college as they get to make their own determination as to whether or not you meet their criteria as an independent student.</p>
<p>in addition, most schools that meet 100% demonstrated need will require additional information and documentation.</p>
<p>If you are asking if a school will override the homeless determination of an official at a homeless shelter, the answer is no … unless they suspect & confirm that the student has lied in order to get that determination. Will they overturn the independent status DURING the award year if a student finds a home during that time? Again, they would if they become aware that the homelessness claim was fraudulent. Some might have policies that require documentation each semester. Schools might also require documentation of the homelessness each year. The government issues guidelines, and then schools develop their own policies within the framework of the guidelines. I work at a school that does verify the claim of homelessness each year before the first aid disbursement of the year is made.</p>
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Right I was thinking about thumper’s point that people who are temporarily homeless do find jobs and housing later on. So, assuming I am granted independent status for the FAFSA for the 2011-2012 school year, if I find housing subsequent to matriculation (for example, if the college itself provides it), do I lose the independent status and therefore will again be required to provide parental information for school years starting Fall 2012 and on?</p>
<p>If so, if I’m never again able to obtain parents’ tax forms and bent on attending a premier institution instead of a local community college, I’ll have to either stay homeless or find a way to fulfill an alternative independence-qualifying condition? </p>
<p>From the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth: </p>
<p>"Unaccompanied homeless youth are young people who lack safe, stable housing and who are not in the care of a parent or guardian. They may have run away from home or been forced to leave by their parents. Unaccompanied youth live in a variety of temporary situations, including shelters, the homes of friends or relatives, cars, campgrounds, public parks, abandoned buildings, motels, and bus or train stations.</p>
<p>"Between 1.6 and 1.7 million youth run away from their homes each year. Generally, youth leave home due to severe dysfunction in their families, including circumstances that put their safety and well-being at risk. " </p>
<p>Therefore, running away because of familial dysfunction–an action deemed to be by choice only because most youths hold a legal right to parental housing (a right that might cause youths to fail the “absolutely nowhere else to go” condition)–can be grounds for homelessness.</p>
<p>The OP has the same posting style and rebuttal style as somebody else that just played all the parents a couple of weeks ago. I can’t remember the thread or the poster, but I’d bet the farm that it is one and the same. New poster, yadayada. Forgive me if I am wrong, but I’m 99% sure I’m not. ■■■■■.</p>
<p>I think my posting style conforms to standard English, so if a lot of people adhere to standard English, can they all be “one and the same”?</p>
<p>I don’t know about my rebuttal style though:</p>
<p>Your use of my new poster status would be invalid if I had posted elsewhere beforehand, even if I just came here for college essay or SAT help. Since previous posts about college essay or SAT help are not relevant to this thread, my low post count is also irrelevant when used against me in discrediting arguments set forth in this, my one and only topic (and a duplicate). </p>
<p>Forgive me if I’m wrong.</p>
<p>Have you bothered to ask your school and/or whichever school you hope to attend what their criteria for granting independent staus is? Not sure what you’re hoping to get out of this forum, but we clearly have no input or influence on that decision. The rules seem fairly clear and the method for appealing is generally stated on each school’s website. If this thread is valid, it seems that arguing every nit-picking point is just a waste of time and effort…or are you just practicing on us in case you have to overcome objections from the FAO?</p>
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LOL Madison85!!</p>