Recently, I had been accepted to my choice college, Harvard, SCEA as a low-income student. I had applied to 2 universities: Harvard, and University of Florida. Back in March, I turned down University of Florida (with essentially a full ride with Bright Futures, UF’s $20,000 Presidential Scholarship, and a few minor scholarships) because it looked certain that I would be able to attend Harvard with full financial aid.
Unfortunately, within the past two months, my mother had been blocked from filing her taxes due to legal issues from her small business which she founded with her (now ex) boyfriend two years ago. I’m not sure how to even handle this dispute, since 1) it is possible that my family contribution may go above $0 as the result of this dispute 2) even if a favorable resolution is possible, there’s no telling how long the legal battle could last. Bills get sent in July, and apparently the deadline is in August. If my mother files her taxes based off the current agreement of ownership, she could be in legal trouble (I think) with not only the IRS, but Harvard as well.
Now it should only be a matter of time before the ex runs out of steam, since he doesn’t really have (as far as I understand) a case, and that his mismanagement of the business will have his customers demanding his head on a spike soon, but time is a precious commodity. I don’t want to end up not going to college or having all of my efforts to go waste. I’d probably just join the army. What should I do?
Perhaps the most annoying thing is that, had the legal dispute started earlier, I could have applied to major scholarships (HSF, Gates Millenium, etc.) or even taken University of Florida’s offer + possibly transfer a year later once the dust had subsided. I can’t believe this scumbag waited until it my college situation became precarious to begin his legal assault. Ugh.
Also, your mom can file her taxes using an estimate of the business disputed income allocated to her. she can just disclose this. When it settles, she can amend her tax filing.
Fafsa only cares about her tax return, not the business. If they are arguing over 50/50 vs 60/40 in a partnership, she still has to file her personal return. she can estimate her share, disclose this with a statement attached to the return.
Worst case, her income goes up a little after the litigation, and she pays that extra plus interest to the IRS. No different than if she keeps asking IRS for extensions bc of the litigation.
I’m worried that, should things go sour, that my admission to Harvard would be jeopardized if we were to use the favorable (precedent) ownership split, but then we lose after the financial aid is distributed.
^ Your admission to Harvard will not be jeopardized in any case, since you the student did nothing wrong.
Your financial aid might be reduced if your mom gets an influx of cash, but most likely it’ll still be affordable, since the school’s quite generous. Your mom just needs to abide by all rules & procedures; tell her that if she doesn’t, then your aid could be jeopardized.
I suggest you get in touch with an admission counselor as well as a financial aid counselor at Harvard to calm your worries. I’m sure everything will be fine.
You may need to ask H if you can delay starting by a year. do not take any classes anywhere during that time.
Since H is a CSS school, things like “fafsa estimates” means nothing. And, likely the business is going to negatively affect aid. Estimates only give estimate aid. They’ll want final numbers in order to actually give the aid.
I’m confused. You say that you "recently " were accepted to Harvard SCEA? Recently? Weren’t the SCEA acceptances to Harvard for 2015 sent out in December? The ones for 2016 have not been sent yet…
Please clarify.
Are you saying that you did not complete the FAFSA or a Profile yet…using estimates…and with a “will file” status?
You need to contact Harvard. They are the only ones who can answer your questions.
Your admission will not be affected unless there is evidence that there was some sort of dishonesty on your part when completing the estimated fafsa and Profile.
Did you complete the FAFSA with estimates? Did your mom complete the Profile using estimates? Did your dad complete the non-custodial parent Profile?
Did you use accurate numbers on your estimated FAFSA and Profile forms? Did you include the business earnings on these forms?
I don’t think the concern is that his admission will be revoked. I think the issue is that H is waiting for “real numbers” to determine the actual FA pkg (so it can be applied to the July/Aug bill), rather than the estimated ones previously given.
I don’t see how H can or will award actual aid without “real” numbers, particularly since the income is from a business and schools really “go over” the finances of a business and typically determine that EFC is higher than what was previously thought.
The student can ask H for a one year delay in enrollment, but not take ANY classes ANYWHERE in the meantime.
Many business owners don’t file their taxes until October…they get the extension to do so. I’m sure this isn’t the first time Harvard has seen this issue. The OP needs to contact Harvard.
My read of the posts is that the OP had a zero family contribution, and is concerned that this will increase. Well…simply put, if the parent income is shown to be larger than reported on the estimates…this is possible. And if it increases enough, the family contribution should increase. The added income the mom receives can partially be used to fund college.
Also…if the mom ends up being the sole owner of the business, then all income will be hers in the future (rather than split with the BF). That can significantly make an income difference in the future…and may mean little/no aid in the future.
I think it’ll work out. Honestly, the OP won’t find a better need-based package
There comes a point where merit aid gets you a better deal, of course.
However, it’s likely that their EFC will not increase to the point where that’s the case, since it was $0 to begin with. A 7k-10k EFC will be more affordable than merit/need-based aid elsewhere, for example.
Wait it for a finalized package; it could still be affordable. Still contact Harvard though/make sure they’re informed of the situation.
How can the student receive a “finalized package” if mom can’t file her taxes?
Even if H did award based on “estimated numbers,” and the student starts at H, then once the “real numbers” are known, what will the OP do if suddenly H says that they over-awarded and now the student/parent owes XXXXX dollars??
Ask Harvard for a 1 year gap year. they will say yes and you and your mom will have time to get your financial house in order.
JUST be SURE not to enroll in any classes for credit at any college- you will then be considered to be a transfer student and your admission will be revoked.
@mom2collegekids ^ I meant that they should get an estimated package from the estimated tax returns. At that point, Harvard will have added those deductions and the package will be based on that.
Then when they turn in an amended tax return, they’ll get a finalized package.
If the final tax is very similar to the estimated one, then the final package should be similar to the estimated package. Deductions shouldn’t vary wildly from an estimated tax return to a final one, right?
But yes, if none of this is sorted on time, defered enrollment is the only option.
Folks…the OP clearly said that the business status could be changing and that will mean a change in the financial picture. It very much sounds like the estimated numbers will hit along with the real numbers IF the situation places the mom in the position of having very increased income from this business.
The OP needs to contact Harvard ASAP. Harvard is the only place where the OP is going to get any kind of accurate answer about this situation.
It might be beneficial to have the two scenarios available to discuss with Harvard so the OP will know the best case as well as worse case scenarios regarding his need based aid.