Where does your sister go to college? Will she be considered out-of-state now that your parents live in Texas? It won’t affect you if your parents can’t afford to help any of you with your college expenses, but if they are helping you need to know if the move changes her status. OOS rates can be quite expensive.
Hi! No we moved my freshman year so we have been here for the last three years. She only paid oos for the first year. She goes to UT Arlington.
Just realized that while I think 3 years is “recently” for having lived in New York my whole life, it is not in fact “recent”. LOL. Sorry for all the confusion. I will be recievig instate tuition.
She doesn’t recall exactly what her EFC was in the past, but she did say it wasn’t all that great. She did recover financial aid. This year as she’s going into her senior year, she will not be receiving any financial aid. She thinks it’s bc of a combination of my parent salaries and that she filed FAFSA later than usual since my parent filed their taxes late.
There are 8 people in your family.
Once again, how many sibilings do you have? What we do know is that your sister will have graduated by the time you start college. Other than that, you have provided nothing so that we can assist you.
While,this is true…a lower EFC does NOT mean that the need based aid will be higher at colleges that don’t guarantee to meet full need for all.
To the OP…it sounds like you will be the only one in college during your freshman year IN college. Is that correct?
I don’t usually post or read FA threads…It is frustrating when OP doesn’t give much information and expects information from people here. It is very much garbage in and garbage out.
Having 8 people in the family is different than having 6 siblings in the family. Making 80K is not the same as saying if it is net or gross. Sharing academic stats would also give people a sense whether OP would be eligible for merit aid or should look outside of state.
I’m consumed…the subject says there are 7 in the family.
So to the OP…what IS the correct number?
And how many will be in college at the same time as you are…because THAT is what really matters.
@Thumper1, Doesn’t the # in the family change depending on circumstances? If OP’s sister graduates before OP finishes college, does the family size change from 2 patents + 5 kids to 2 parents + 4 kids, or only if the parents are no longer supporting the older sister?
What’s the FAFSA income cut off for Pell with a family of 2 parents and 5 dependent kids? If there’s an older sibling in college, wouldn’t her financial aid package give an indication of whether or not the family qualifies for Pell?
@sincerelyhk, The maximum Pell grant is only ~$5k/year. You can borrow ~$5500/year. How much can your parents pay? Since your sister is working 2 jobs, I’m going to guess that it’s not much. Is the $80k their gross imcome or the net? That’s important for us to know. If you tell us your GPA and test scores, we can let you know if you qualify for merit aid anywhere. If you want us to help, you need to give us more info.
The student EFC is what the Pell is based on, not family size.
Yes, possible family size will only be 6 when this student is a college freshman, but hard to predict the future. Older sib might take an extra year.
But really, unless the school meets full need for all, the only guarantees are the direct loan of $5500 and whatever amount of Pell the student is entitled to receive.
@sincerelyhk, we can give you a TON of help, but only if you answer questions. This summarizes what we need to start:
- How many siblings will you have in college (undergrad only) when you are a freshman in college?
- How many dependents do your parents declare on their taxes? a.k.a. people living with you don’t necessarily count
- What was your parents’ combined 2015 income, before taxes or retirement or anything else was taken out?
- What’s your high school GPA, weighted and unweighted?
- What are your standardized test scores?
Depending upon your answers above you might get more at public or private schools, etc, etc, so it does matter.
Adding to @Pheebers
How much did your parents contribute to pretax retirement accounts? Because that amount will be added in as income for financial aid purposes.