<p>I'm currently at community college and am in the process of filing my FAFSA. The date for my school is March 2nd. This is my first year in community college and my first time with the FAFSA, so we are trying to take this slow and do it right. But we are also quite upper middle class so we weren't expecting much.</p>
<p>Then my mother comes rushing home and tells me about her friend whose son has already received grants, not loans, grants.</p>
<p>With one parent pulling in nearly 500K as a doctor and the other 160K as a nurse, I have no idea how this kid qualified for anything. Even if he decided not to include his dad, his mom's salary still wouldn't have qualified him for much. He goes to the same community college I do as well.</p>
<p>Can someone please fill me in?
Or maybe it was because they filed on the first day. haha something I should've done.</p>
<p>to Mrs. HighlandMom
My mother and father are both good friends with the doctor. My mother is a nurse in his unit. My father used to be the doctor's nurse practitioner, but has moved into a different unit. I've known the doctor and his family since I was nine and I'm sixteen now. I've spent numerous holidays and parties with them. They live in an estate and the son got a BMW for his birthday. When my father was the doctor's nurse practitioner, he received a Mercedes which the doctor paid for. When my father resigned/moved on/quit, he was allowed to keep the car. I think it's ridiculous how these people spend their money, but who am I to judge. I'm probably just jealous I can't throw away money like that. haha</p>
<p>vossron - My mom wasn't specific, I'm sorry I do not know. But she said he got grants from the FAFSA. Merit aid would make more sense, but this kid doesn't have a stellar GPA. I'm stumped.</p>
<p>If he got federal grants, I have no idea then.
Also, seeing as this is community college, I don't understand how the kid got financial aid with his parents pulling that in.</p>
<p>Is this son is of traditional college age? If he is 24+, then he may qualify for federal aid as an independent student. There are also several ways that a student under 24 would be considered "emancipated" (and thus the parents' income and assets aren't considered when aid awards are made). However, very specific circumstances must apply to allow for emancipation under age 24 (e.g., orphan/ward of the court, a military veteran, married, has a dependent).</p>
<p>Ms. Sally,
He's 20. And he's still living at home.</p>
<p>Maybe some things just can't be explained. haha
I do know my dad has been pushing my mom to come up with her end of the FAFSA (divorced parents). So maybe she told me that to motivate me to help her sort through her paperwork so my dad can get off her case. I mean, the two of us were slowly going about filing the FAFSA since we thought we wouldn't get financial aid...</p>
<p>But then I told her it wasn't possible, the kid's parents make too much, he doesn't have super awesome grades to get outside scholarships, he's white, and he's not old enough to be an independent.</p>
<p>If she did do that, I really don't appreciate it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
she said he got grants from the FAFSA.
[/quote]
OK, there's something wrong with her understanding. FAFSA does not give grants. In fact, FAFSA doesn't give anything.</p>
<p>FAFSA merely shows one's eligibility for federally funded financial aid. And the only "grants" available as federal financial aid are offered only to quite low income students.</p>
<p>Your mother may have misunderstood (or, as noted above, the son may be considered an independent for FAFSA purposes).</p>
<p>Don't forget, as well, that just because you may know these parents doesn't mean that they're telling the whole truth about financial aid.</p>
<p>Oh ok cool Chedva. So it's possible that the aid he got wasn't from the federal government</p>
<p>I just asked her, she said the doctor used the term "grants." Thanks for the advice. I'm just kind of finding it hard to fathom how someone with that much financial stability could fix their FAFSA up to ensure their kid gets "grants."</p>
<p>So I can assume that I won't get much financial aid other than loans since we're upper middle class right?</p>
<p>What kind of doctor is this guy? And what kind of nurse? Their salaries are high compared to median pay for doctors according to this site: Physician</a> Salaries, Average Physician Salary, Doctors' Salaries in USA - PayScale
By this data, the nurse gets paid more than most doctors! Since your parents are both nurses in the same area, they must be doing quite well also. You are lucky to have two parents employed in such a lucrative field (and getting perks like new cars!) If you don't get a grant, just sell the Mercedes and buy a very used compact car. That should help defray college costs a bit.</p>
<p>As for the other kid, maybe his parents are very generous and run a free clinic somewhere or spend all of their income on employee salaries and bonuses.</p>
<p>If the family is divorced and the mother can qualify for PELL, that could work. My good friend's ex husband is a doctor and her kids did get grants including PELL and state money. She had a very low income and few assets other than her house but she drives a jaguar and lives in an expensive house. </p>
<p>It really is a waste of time trying to count other people's money. You just never know what their actual situation is and whether they are telling you the truth, or if they are cheating on their forms. Focus on your situation.</p>
<p>They could potentially be going through some sort of a partnership adjustment wherein they did not take much pay, reinvesting in the business, but with a prior income of $500k, that is hard to adjust away. </p>
<p>People do not always tell the real & true story about their income, it could be his practice brings in $500k gross and he nets way less than that??</p>
<p>To Mrs. Weasley - My mother is an NICU nurse. It's amazing how much nurses make with overtime. My mom outdid my dad salary-wise last year and he's a nurse practitioner. But there's not going to be a lot of overtime available this year. There's even a number of limited full time positions. There's just a lot of nurses and not enough spots. It's great if you're per diem, but if you want health insurance and the whole bit, it's a little tough now.</p>
<p>And thank you so much. I am truly blessed. We did in fact sell the Mercedes. A car is a car. Whether it's a Mercedes or a Honda, it'll get you to where you gotta go. My dad in fact lives very simply. I think his boss just got sick of seeing him drive up in a little beat up corolla amongst all the Mercedes and BMWs.</p>
<p>I really didn't want to take advantage of my parents so I even went to community college instead of heading out straight to university. I had the 4.0 and everything. I just didn't see the point in making parents pay nearly $80,000 for a UC education when I can get it for $40,000.</p>
<p>oh yea haha maybe that's what they did. Would the Mercedes have been a tax writeoff for his ex-boss?</p>
<p>That's the thing, they're not divorced, they're happily married. And thank you I appreciate the tips, but the thing is this does relate to my situation. While my parents aren't pulling in 660,000 combined, they're pulling in nearly 300K combined. I was under the impression that we wouldn't get much aid, especially for community college, and so I was really surprised how this kid got it and it gave me some hope for my situation. So i was wondering if it's possible. But from the look of the replies, there doesn't seem to be any way. So I will just fill out my FAFSA and hope for the best.</p>
<p>If you really want to know, ask him. You might be surprise at the answer. He might have a merit award of some sort. My son got some funds that were a big surprise to everyone because of a special situation that is not widely known. </p>
<p>They could have flat out lied about any part of this. It's just that you can drive yourself mad trying to make sense out of some of these stories. I've heard of full athletic scholarships from schools that don't give any. I've heard merit money called finacial aid, loans called grants, outside scholarships attributed to the university.</p>
<p>The sad truth is, this does happen. You will go to college, and work parttime jobs, take the bus, forego getting a license, only to see kids there on free rides wearing designer clothes, driving their own cars, not having to work, in short, getting to enjoy college while you slave away to pay your tuition.</p>
<p>No, it isn't fair, but it happens. </p>
<p>I guess it's the same way the richest people don't pay taxes. They pay people to find loopholes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
They could have flat out lied about any part of this. It's just that you can drive yourself mad trying to make sense out of some of these stories.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Yes, yes, yes. Take it from one who has driven herself mad. The same parents whom we've known **for years **who have bragged about their HUGE income **for years **are all of a sudden applying for FA, but they call it "merit scholarship".</p>
<p>We know different.</p>
<p>I don't believe anything that people tell me anymore. :(</p>
<p>like cpt said, many kids who attend Ivies have families who brag about their athletic or merit scholarship, which we all know the Ivies do not offer. They only offer financial need aid.</p>
<p>You cannot believe some one's one paragraph spin story, it is always edited to emphasize what they want to, how rich they are, how poor they are, how smart they are.</p>
<p>Some people lie about the schools they got into, some lie about the aid they get, some don't understand.</p>
<p>Many years ago one of my DDs got a "scholarship" from Vassar, it was a big one, though not more than half the COA and I knew it was need based, but if I was not experienced on this board, I would not have known that.</p>
<p>A person could have 'financial aid awards' that are 100% loans. Maybe they are talking about loans and want to sound more impressive?</p>