<p>Neither my mother or I have had contact with my father since they got divorced when I was about 3 (They pretty much got married because I was born). My number one school is Syracuse so I'm planning on asking for an NCP Waiver form. I know I would need a letter from me and my mom, but I don't know about the third party. We've moved around a lot so I couldn't think of any third party other than my grandmother. How hard is it to get an NCP Waiver form? We really don't have any sort of proof that I can think of. Also,what would happen if my request got denied?</p>
<p>Your colleges will be able to tell you what they need to document your situation with your NCP. Many places want documentation from someone other than a family member.</p>
<p>How hard it is depends on the school. I have not applied for a NCP waiver form from Syracuse so I don’t know how tough they are. What I did for my kids was assemble a package of sorts. I called the school and asked what they needed. I then submitted whatever form they wanted or a letter plus the documentation (including the divorce) and several letters of support. I have used letters of support from the school, the pediatrician, a pastor, a family friend. I wouldn’t just send a relative or a friend since that isn’t enough. Has your mom pursued child support? One of the things I sent was a child support order showing that he owed me in the 5-figures so it was pretty clear he hadn’t paid child support in years.</p>
<p>Oh, and to answer your question: if your request is denied, you probably wouldn’t receive enough financial aid. You might still be able to get any federal money to which you’re entitled: Pell grant, student loans and maybe any state money if that is dependent on FAFSA, but you would have to speak to the school even about that since they may just consider your application incomplete. </p>
<p>If you need a NCP waiver, you must, must, must include a school on your list that you can afford to attend either because you have the money saved up, you have merit money to pay for it or you will receive enough in federal/ state aid through fafsa to afford it.</p>
<p>Your colleges will be able to tell you what they need to document your situation with your NCP. Many places want documentation from someone other than a family member.</p>
<p>If your request gets denied, and the NCP Profile is not submitted, most schools will not process your request for institutional need based aid because your application will be incomplete. You would still be eligible for federally funded aid calculated by the FAFSA (Pell grant if eligible, Direct loan, etc).</p>
<p>@thumper1 @2collegewego Thank you guys so much for your help. I know that it is highly unlikely I will be able to afford the almost $60k Syracuse price tag without aid. I’ve selected some other backup schools that don’t require the NCP just to be safe. <a href=“http://syr.edu/admissions/undergraduate/pdfs/noncustodial_parent_waiver.pdf[/url]”>http://syr.edu/admissions/undergraduate/pdfs/noncustodial_parent_waiver.pdf</a> That is the link for last years NCP waiver and I think that using my grandmother as another source because she is a relative works, but if I sent in just the 3 do you think they would ask for more? Do colleges often request more information? Or would they just deny me without solid proof. I’ve talked to my mom to try and see what she can find</p>
<p>I don’t know what colleges “usually” do but I do think the specifics of your situation count alot-- for example, do you have proof that your mom has tried to collect child support and been unsuccessful? </p>
<p>I have several kids and only one college to which any of my kids ever applied asked for more info. </p>
<p>Personally, I always sent the strongest package I could from the outset. I didn’t want to run the risk that they would reject the NCP instead of just asking for more information. Plus, I wanted to get the financial aid package in a timely manner since it was a critical part of the decision making. </p>
<p>In your case, I think I would strive to provide more proof from category 3, like a child support order. I don’t think Syracuse guarantees to meet full need, does it?</p>
<p>@2collegewego I’m worried about finding documents because my mom said for a few months after the divorce they had contact and he paid child support, but in 2000, he moved away and we haven’t had contact since then. I don’t know what documents could potentially support that. Also, since we’ve moved around a lot I don’t know who else could write the third letter. </p>
<p>Since I’ve applied early decision, I know the forms are due soon and I don’t have a lot of time to get everything in order.</p>
<p>You applied Early Decision to a school for which you not only need substantial aid but a NCP waiver? That wasn’t a good idea. </p>
<p>Has he paid her any child support since 2013? If he didn’t, your mom probably either went to child support enforcement in your state or filed in court for back child support so she could get a judgement against him. That paperwork would be helpful. If you don’t have anything else, you don’t have anything else. </p>
<p>As far as letters, you don’t need someone to document every moment of your life. Get your grandmother to write one letter. Ask your guidance counselor to write one too. Do you go to a religious service? Ask a religious leader to write one because they do figure they won’t lie. Have you used the same doctor for a few years? That’s another person you could ask. </p>
<p>Again, a lot of this depends on the school. I had one school tell me that if the divorce was very long ago, they are rather quick about giving the NCP waivers. I had one school to which my kid applied ask for more proof.</p>
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<p>According to their form, you will need to get proof of child support and the amount that is in arrears. Your mom will have to contact your states child support collection unit. If it is court ordered support, they will be able to tell Syracuse the amount of the court order and the amount that your father is in arrears.</p>
<p>Xo…my free advice…get all of your other applications submitted if they haven’t already been submitted.</p>
<p>Syracuse is a fabulous school. BUT they don’t guarantee to meet full need at all…and they don’t. Even IF you get that NCP waiver, you may still find you have a gap between SU’s cost of attendance and your aid…that you will be expected to pay.</p>
<p>At this point…complete the waiver request. Get the info that Sybbie pointed out. and discuss this with your school counselor to see if he/she can write a supporting documentation letter. </p>
<p>I am not sure letters ALL from family members will carry much weight.</p>
<p>@2collegewego @sybbie719 @thumper1 Thank you all for the help. I plan on calling Syracuse today to talk about getting the waiver because I can not find the 2013-2014 one online. I’ve applied to other schools just in case this all doesn’t go through.</p>
<p>OP my D submitted the NCP waiver to 3 colleges she applied to early - she was accepted to one and neither of the others asked for more information than what was submitted. This is what we submitted: the NCP waiver form, D’s statement and a 3rd party statement. The 3rd party statement was written by a friend of the family who has known D since she was 3 when the divorce happened, he is also a LCSW so he wrote it on his official paper with his license number. Many of the kids who submit NCP waiver forms use school officials, GC or others. In your case, lacking much documentation, 2collegewego is right: the more letters, IOW the more corroboration you can send, the better. I also thought about using the kids doctor, that would be a good choice, but then again we have lived in the same place since the kids were little and their pediatrician does know our situation - you may not have that.
We were rushed for time, but if D had gone into RD rounds I would have added a copy of the divorce decree and documentation from local social services showing that he had not paid child support. Even if your mother has not pursued enforcement or filed petitions with the courts, you could go to social services and ask them to document that no child support payments have been made through the system (since year X). It is true that when the divorce was long ago, there has been no contact, and there is no contact info for the NCP, it is much more likely that the waiver will be approved without further investigation.</p>
<p>@honeybee63 was the NCP waiver for your D only accepted at one school? If I have third party letters from my grandmother, one of my babysitters who we have known for about ten years and is relatively aware of our situation, and potentially one of my mom’s bosses or someone at our church, along with documentation proving the divorce was 14/15 years ago that it would be enough? I know that I do not have a lot of time to get all of this in</p>
<p>Xo…submit what you have. The school will ask for more documentation if needed.</p>
<p>The length of time since the divorce really is irrelevant. What matters is the contact you have…or don’t have with your dad.</p>
<p>XO, the NCP info was waived at all three schools, but D was accepted early at one college in a binding decision and had to withdraw her other applications. One of your mother’s bosses or someone at your church could both be effective depending on their ability to describe your situation - I tend to think the person who knows you through the church would have more credibility and objectivity, but the best would really be whoever can put the most detail in the letter. Definitely include documentation of the divorce if you have it - they actually say that on the form.</p>
<p>Thumper, at least one major university told me that the length of time since the divorce was very important to their decision making. (Yes, it’s the no contact that matters but they had different requirements based on when the divorce was granted-- and it was divorce, not original separation.)</p>
<p>OP, I have several kids and had to submit NCP waiver forms to a bunch of schools over the years. It doesn’t matter if your pediatrician hasn’t known you since you were a baby-- neither has the guidance counselor. Your pediatrician may be willing to write that he or she has had you as a patient for 5 years (or whatever) and had no contact with a father. Again, by itself, these means very little. But if you have a school official, a doctor and a pastor all saying that they’ve never had contact with your father and you have a divorce decree, back child support owed and a few letters explaining what happened, it adds up.</p>
<p>College. I understand…but even with a 17 year old divorce, if the NCP sends support, comes to events, etc…a waiver will NOT be granted.</p>
<p>You’re absolutely right, thumper. In my case, because my kids were spread over so many years, my ability to find people who had first-hand knowledge and would document the whole story became harder but I had no problem documenting that there was no contact and no support and hadn’t been for many years. The ‘why’ became harder to document but the ‘why’ is less important when you are talking over 10 years of no support or contact. The school seemed to understand that well.</p>
<p>2collegewego- so far we have never had any issues with the NCP waiver but I have one more child in HS (three down, one to go :D) and she will be looking at a somewhat different set of schools from the first 3 (my children were spaced out as well, in 2 ‘batches’ lol)… so far, the ‘why’ has never come up as an issue, only the circumstances - can you tell me more about that? Do you mean documenting why does NCP choose to have no contact with his kids?</p>