<p>Depends on whether the private school in question offers you enough financial aid to make it feasible. What school is it, and do they guarantee to meet full need of their accepted students?</p>
<p>You will likely be eligible for max Pell Grant, which is only about $5,500, plus another $5,000 in Stafford loans. That is guaranteed federal aid. Any aid beyond that is entirely dependent on your state and the colleges you’re applying to. Borrowing more than the Stafford loan limit in any given year is foolhardy, and anyway, your family likely wouldn’t qualify for private or PLUS loans.</p>
<p>I have not decided if I am going to a state school (tuition about $15,000) or a private school (tuition about $35,000) yet.</p>
<p>We need more info…</p>
<p>1) what state are you in?</p>
<p>2) What schools are you considering?</p>
<p>3) What are your stats?</p>
<p>Some states have better aid programs.</p>
<p>Some privates don’t give much aid…so we need to know which ones.</p>
<p>Many privates cost more than $35k for tuition , fees, room, board, etc.</p>
<p>You’re saying that a family of at least 3 people are living on less than $10,000 per year? How is this possible?</p>
<p>there’s a big difference between low income and what low income folks are really living on because of the various social programs and tax credits… …free school breakfast and lunch, subsidized housing, subsidized utilities, food-stamps, healthcare, etc. The family could be living on $35k+ per year in various benefits that they receive.</p>
<p>This is why it matters what state and what school. TAP is a New York state program, and only New York residents at New York colleges are eligible. Similarly, California has CalGrants and the Blue and Gold Program, only for California residents. Georgia has the HOPE Scholarship, Florida Bright Futures, etc.</p>
<p>Lots of states have their own programs, but they’re only for in-state residents at in-state colleges.</p>
<p>well my parents are only taxed on an income of less then $10,000 a year but my dad has lots of stocks and does tons of trading so we get money from that. Plus my gradnfather lives with us and he worked his entire life and just retired…so it is possible. </p>
<p>I live in PA</p>
<p>I am considering Drexel, Penn State, John Hopkins</p>
<p>I am number 10 in my class, 2030 SAT (still taking it once more), I do FBLA, Student GOV, NHS. I am VP of FBLA, i went to FBLA states 2 years in a row. Excellent teacher recs., tonns of community service at local libraries and nursing home.</p>
<p>*well my parents are only taxed on an income of less then $10,000 a year but my dad **has lots of stocks and does tons of trading *so we get money from that</p>
<p>Your EFC is going to be based on INCOME AND the VALUE of all those stocks.</p>
<p>You need to have your dad do some online calculators to see what your likely FAFSA EFC will be since those assets will count. </p>
<p>I would possibly look into colleges that give good merit aid as well as good financial aid (100% need is always good). I’m not super familiar with good merit aid schools, but I’m sure with some thread searching you could find them. I’m not sure what your stats are like, but if you could get some merit aid plus some financial aid, I’d think you’d be good. (But to be honest, with an income of less than $10,000, I think any 100% need school is going to cover you fully.)</p>
<p>Why do people like to leave stuff like that out?</p>
<p>“We only make $10,000 a year.” [10 minutes later] “By the way, my dad’s Gordon Gekko.”</p>
<p>No, but seriously, mom2collegekids is right. you’re going to have to find out your FAFSA EFC, then come up with a list of schools. depending on what your EFC is, you might not be able to get much federal merit aid, and depending on our state the state program might be not be helpful (if it exists). once you have a list of colleges that you’ve been expected to, you can have a realistic consideration. start also by checking with your parents to see how much they can put up per year so you know what you’re working with. sometimes assets can push up our EFC very high even if our income is low, unless you can get something like a simplified needs test.</p>
<p>To the OP…does your family receive any federally funded benefits (food stamps, free lunch, etc) AND is their adjusted gross income less than $30,000? If so, you would have an automatic $0 EFC I think. If your family income is less than $50,000 (adjusted gross income) and they receive one of these benefits for low income students, your assets would not be counted (I believe this is the criteria for the simplified needs test…someone else can verify).</p>
<p>HOWEVER as pointed out above, your family income WILL include money EARNED from these stocks/trading. </p>
<p>Someone else more familiar with simplified needs test will need to pipe in, but if the family adjusted gross income is LESS than $30,000 a year, I believe the value of those stocks would not be used (as they would be an asset and if the student/family qualify for simplified needs test, assets are not used).</p>
<p>You need to find out if your family qualifies for the simplified needs test, as Thumper says, and you also need to get your parent’s tax return from 2010 for starters (you’ll need the 2011 version for the real thing if you are applying to college for the 2012-13 school year) You need a list of assets as of right now, including the value of any properties such as your primary home or rental units. </p>
<p>You can complete the FAFSA for an EFC. That will determine eligibility for PELL up to $5500, Stafford loans upt to $5500 with some subisidized and depending on the school for possible other funds. You mentioned TAP which is available for NYers staying instate. We also have HEOP as a program in our state and the colleges may have SEOG and Perkins money as well.</p>
<p>Most of the time, the state schools will use the FAFSA EFC to for your need, but most state schools do not guarantee to meet need nor do they often do it . So, with what you are guaranteed to get through federal and state monies, you know up front that you can afford to go to a local state school and commute. To live away from your home may not be affordable. You will have to get other money either from the school, outside scholarships, loans, work, your parents to bridge that gap. </p>
<p>If you apply to private schools that tend to be more generous, they will want a PROFILE application which is why you still need all that asset information even if you qualify for the simplified need test and get a zero EFC. Those schools will take those assets in to account and come up with their own need figure. You can get some estimate using the institutional methodology estimator but that is not as accurate as the EFC estimator since each school has its own requirements and the estimator is generic. </p>
<p>My suggestion is for you is to apply to a few schools that you knew you will be able to afford–the commuter schools, and then take some chances and see what will come up in terms of other funds. If you have good test stats and grades, there are also merit possibilities. Also look at Momfromtexas’s thread on how to get a full ride scholarship. That way you have several things going and if you hit the jackpot somewhere, you’ll have that option, but if not, your bases are covered.</p>