Hi,
I’m a high school senior, going to be a college freshman at UC Riverside this fall.
I am planning on legally changing my first name (and gender marker) over the summer so that I can enter college with my preferred name. However, I’ve been hesitant to start the process because I’m unsure if this will affect my ability to receive financial aid (I already filed my FAFSA form in mid-October 2022) and enroll in college.
I also don’t yet have an official Cali ID and wanted to get one after I get the court order to change my legal name and gender marker, so that my ID will have my preferred info.
When I filled out my UC application, I put in my preferred name in the “preferred name/nickname” section, and since I already paid my Statement of Intent to Register at UCR, my name in my ucr.edu email is my preferred name, and so is for most parts of my UC student account stuff, so I suppose the main issue is financial aid and scholarships.
I really do not want there to be any technical complications or discrepancies. I’m a trans FtM student, so it is very very important to me that I enter college with all my legal documents listed as my preferred name and gender marker.
I know that name changes are common, so FAFSA and UCR probably know how to navigate this, but I just came here to make sure.
Will it be fine if I legally change my name and gender marker over the summer before college, or should I wait until the fall 2023 semester starts?
Any guidance with this is greatly appreciated.
Note: I will be changing my birth certificate and social security card, of course, as well as getting my first ID under my preferred info
Also, when UCR mailed me by admitted student packet, the name on the front of the letter and in the acceptance letter had my legal, not preferred name on it, so idk
Your best bet is to contact the school.
Don’t send an email. Call them and speak directly to someone in financial aid, and the admissions office, not a student.
Ask your question and see if it will present any issues. What I would do is add an “AKA” to your record (also known as). If they keep referring to your birth name, at least they will have it on record that you are using your preferred name first and the birth name will be an “also known as”.
Note exactly what you’ve told us.
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Agree that you want to contact UCR directly about this. Use both phone and email (the latter to have some record of what UCR does and needs you to do).
It does appear that the biggest risk is that records under your preferred name end up being incomplete due to some records under your old name not being converted or linked to your preferred name. Financial aid is not the only thing that could be affected. If you are taking any AP tests this year, consider what name will be on your score report when it is sent to UCR (and also if you have prior useful AP scores under your old name, make sure that they do not get lost).
Colleges are used to this, but the biggest issue is making sure everything syncs up. Where I used to work, the Dean of Students would let me know what was going on, and I would handle updating financial aid and records when I received the required documents. Because you will need to change a number of things, it makes sense to do it in the summer, before starting school. I suggest contacting the school’s LGBTQ Resource Center & asking them for guidance: https://out.ucr.edu/.
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Make sure you change the SS records. You need to do that in person. Take ALL your documents, old and new, and the court order. You should receive a new SS card in the mail a few weeks later, but if you don’t follow up! They are notoriously bad at pushing changes through.
Your SSN must match your name for loans and other aid. A good way to check that it is all ‘on your permanent records’ is when the 1098-T is issued in Jan 2024.