<p>determinedj since neither your grandparents nor your mother file taxes, it does seem likely that your FAFSA EFC will likely be $0 or very close to it. [You should, however, use a financial aid calculator like the one at collegeboard.com, to get an accurate estimate of your EFC.]</p>
<p>Be keenly aware of this fact: An EFC of $0 does not indicate that you are likely to get a so-called “full-ride” FA package from the colleges to which you apply since the vast majority of schools don’t promise to meet full need of all students. At many schools, and EFC of $0 does not even guarantee that you’ll get a “good” FA package since some schools do include massive Parent Plus loans or simply leave large, unaffordable gaps.</p>
<p>The federal Pell grant (assuming you’re eligible), automatic state grants (which depend on the state you’re living in), and maximum amounts of Stafford loans are what you can more-or-less count on as “financial aid” from your in-state public colleges. State grants may or may not be able to be used at privates—it varies from state to state. Institutional grants and scholarships—gift aid directly from the college—are icing on the cake: If you get them, wonderful—they’ll make the college substantially more affordable! But if you don’t, the difference between the COA and (total of Pell + state grants (if any) + Stafford loans) has to be made up somewhere. And as many people have pointed out—private loans are NOT a good idea and since your mom is unemployed and your grandparents are apparently living on just social security since they also don’t pay taxes, it’s unlikely any of them would qualify as a co-signer anyway.</p>
<p>What you will need to do early in your college search is this: </p>
<p>1) Talk to your mom and your grandparents to find out if they can provide <em>any</em> money at all for your college education. Be reasonable in your expectations—if money is as tight as it appears to be from your post, they may very well say they can’t afford to give you a dime. But at least you’ll know this fact for sure at the start of your college search instead of after you get your offers of admission.</p>
<p>2) Use a Financial Aid Estimation Calculator to confirm that your FAFSA EFC will be $0 or close to it.</p>
<p>3) Cast a wide net in your applications. Include in-state publics, particularly ones that you might be able to commute to from home. Find out whether your in-state colleges have merit scholarships that you are qualified for based on your SAT/ACTs and/or h.s. gpa. Also investigate private schools that interest you, but don’t fall in love with a particular school. And don’t write off the idea of starting at a community college and then transferring if that’s the only affordable option. Read everything you can about the FA process at every college you’re considering applying to. If a school promises to meet full aid to all students—great! but be sure to ask if they meet that aid with institutional grants, Stafford and Perkins loans, and work study or if they’re likely to add additional (large) loans such as Parent Plus that are not in your name. If a school doesn’t promise to meet full need, don’t immediately cross them off the list. You need to find out what kind of aid they’re likely to give a student with your stats. Email the FA office as well as the admissions office and ask your questions. If your stats are well above the 75% percentile for the college, you might get lucky and get a good FA package even if the school doesn’t usually meet full need for all students. [And if you’re not, then cross that one off the list when deciding where to accept admission.]</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>