For instate options, can she commute from home? Her reach schools are not in line with her scores etc. Even with the best financial situation. I also think while resitting the ACT etc is fine, the idea of catapulting form a 30 to the 34 plus range that is not really helping, those scores might allow her to apply to reach school that already have horribly low acceptance rates. Even WUE Is $$. If she is already a successful model has she considered putting off college if she has earning potential? Or is this just a little hobby that doesn't make bank?
OP is in Arizona. Kid wants NYU and UCs but is now low income . Dad is possibly still married to mom? and has a decent income. Kid can cut out all CA schools on the list., and NYU isn’t an option either.
Eta If kid is a working model, his/her income will come into play. How much has your kid made from all these gigs? 
If the parent makes under $25,000 and household receives free/reduced lunch or SNAP, then auto zero EFC would apply, then student income and parent/student assets are not considered.
ASU Barrett honors college might give her merit, also UNM has the Amigo scholarship.
If she wants to attend college, then local options should work out with merit, Pell, federal student loan and student work earnings.
Or schools where she gets enough merit and need based aid.
But better to give up on the UCs and NYU now.
Her income as a model is relevant to financial aid. There is nothing wrong with ASU Barrett Honors or Honors at U of A. Different philosophies for the two schools on honor college so compare. Barrett is more separated and U of AZ is more integrated.
With a pending divorce, it might not be bad to stay closer to home. Getting up to 32 will get good scholarships. I know U of A posts needed scores on their website.
If it helps, UC’s problably weren’t doable before. They are $60,000+ per year for an out of state student. NYU probably wasn’t either. Even at $200,000 per year income, $60k is hefty annual bill.
If it helps, UC’s problably weren’t doable before<<<<<<<<
This certainly bears repeating for both mother and daughter. Mother needs to make sure that DD understands that these were never going to be on the table midlife crisis or not. It is important this fantasy isn’t used as fuel. NYU at over 70K at full pay? I can’t see it.
We generally stick to: the only loans should be the fed student loans, max about 27k over 4 years. Even that can be tough to pay back, depending on major and career ideas.
Parents in a precarious position shouldn’t take loans. Period. You can’t project the ability to pay them back and they aren’t wiped out by bankruptcy.
We know NYU usually shorts kids and it’s a fact the CA publics won’t support oos kids. Tippy top “meet full need” schools, like Stanford, will need higher scores and a spot-on application package, no simple matter. There are some next-tier colleges that meet full need and where her ACT may be ok, but right now it seems you’re only focused on “dreams.” Much to learn.
And my impression was Dad has no present income, right? If he has totally flaked out, it’s sometimes possible to work with a CSS college, but first the student has to be very high on their radar, in every way that matters. This is much, much more than what she hopes and “dreams.” You need a realistic view of her chances, in the first place.
Dreams are just dreams. Best safety position is to help her understand her new reality…and get excited about other, truly feasible options. Then, if something changes for the better, fine. But manage this now.
Best wishes, but it needs level thinking. My expression: “no college is a dream school, if you can’t afford it.” That still leaves many choices. But be “eyes wide open.”
Others have summed it up well. Did I miss her intended major? What is that?
- The UCs give NO need institutional need based aid to out of state students. The $11,400 total of the full Pell, and $5500 Direct Loan will not be sufficient to cover the costs there.
- NYU costs $70,000 a year. The school uses the Profile, and the non-custodial parent Profile. And as others have noted...the modeling income will be considered as well.
- Regarding loans. Your daughter will be able to take a $5500 loan in her name ONLY for freshman year...it increases to $6500 for sophomore year...and $7500 for junior or senior year. Any additional loans would need to be either taken out by you (the parent) or cosigned by a qualified cosigner (not sure an income of <$25,000 a year would be sufficient but that's between you and the lender). And remember...college is for four years....so you would need to be able to take these loans for all four years.
This does not sound sustainable to ME.
My opinion…
- If she wants to apply to schools like NYU or the UCs, she needs to understand that without suffficient aid, she is not going to be able to attend. Period.
- Remember, for schools using the Profile, there is NO simplified needs test or auto $0 EFC. Profile schools WILL ask for all income and assets. Many will also require the non-custodial parent information.
- What is your daughter doing with her modeling earnings? How substantial is her bank account?
- She could pick a more affordable school...and use her earnings to buy plane tickets to her modeling gigs. This would be way cheaper than paying almost the full cost of attendance at a UC, for example.
She needs to start looking a little outside the box.
A 30 ACT and 3.8 UW GPA will get some strong merit at the Arizona schools. The ASU scholarship estimator shows $10000 merit with those grades and scores, which is nearly full tuition. UArizona will be similar. The honors colleges at these schools are excellent options. These schools are a reasonable drive or short flight from LA, as you know.
A top student from my AZ kid’s high school is at Chapman in the LA area on a merit scholarship. I know some performing arts kids were accepted and some attended Hofstra in NY with some merit money. I don’t know the amounts of merit or final costs for these families. It may be nowhere near what you need.
Your D’s geographic preferences are understandable for her but make finding college money all the more difficult.
Some test prep to bring the ACT up may very well open up a few more merit money options as well as giving her a better shot at admission to the schools with better financial aid policies.
Check Western Undergraduate Exchange. There’s a few WUE schools in CA, but not super near the major metro areas. They still may be too expensive for you and will not offer aid to her. Some of the WUE schools in other states may very well offer merit aid in addition to WUE rates, and have a lower cost–Wyoming for instance, but it’s not near where she would like to be.
Keep asking questions and doing your research. She will have good options, but they will be different than they would have been with a larger budget, and you will need to be armed with good information to find them.
Also consider her modelling earnings. That may affect her eligibility for financial aid as well and you need to know what that will mean.
How well is she doing in her career? Is she likely to age out of it? It may make best sense for her to focus on that career now, and go to college later. Especially if she can bank at least some of her earnings to help pay for college.
Sorry for the situation. I had a student with a similar case couple years ago. Dad flake out and left with a younger woman, with mom and daughter got left behind with no ability to pay for college (all the savings were gone, and Mom was a stay-home mom for 20 yrs and had to get a job in a local retailer making 12 dollar/hr). Similar to the case here, the daughter GPA was great but standard test scores were good-to-ok, but not excellent (but way too late to change for the admission process - the family crisis happened during the 2nd half of her junior year). Making things worse is the kid is White, not URM, First-Gen to give her enough a hook to squeeze into the top schools which gave out a lot of aid. The final outcome was a bitter pill to swallow. The kid “decided” to attend a local community college, commuting and saving money for the 1st two yrs (and working part-time to support her family). After she got a GPA of 3.95 from the CC, she transferred to a top 30 school in the state for her major. The process was difficult but the kid proved she was a survivor, able to handle hardships that would crush most people, and was able to cross the bridge thru transfer. Also, the top school she transferred into gave her enough aid (loans, work, and grants) to squeeze through. So there is a hope at the end of the rainbow so to speak. Try the local state schools that would give out aid 1st. Forget NYU or Stanford. These dream schools are distractions. NYU is notorious for the expense and little aid. Stanford just being too far a reach when you are not an URM/FG in financial crisis. I do hope things will work out at the end. JMHO.
she can go to LOTS of colleges, but NOT to any public U’s that charge OOS students MUCH more than the children of taxpayers in that state. .
Tell her its time to forget the UCs, NYU, and any colleges that require the Profile application.
That will STILL leave her with PLENTY of colleges to choose from.
Her life wont end if she cant go where she has always "dreamed "of. Most students dont get into their “dream” colleges, and they do just fine. She will too.
she can go to LOTS of college<<<<<<
For example, where? Wth a 30 ACT and no money for college, where? Even room and board costs at least 40k.
Where is room & board 40K? It is more like $20K. But I do agree that this student has choices, but I’m not sure “lots” is right.
I think he means at least $40,000 for the four years…not one.
But in metro LA or NYC, room and board is going to be a LOT more costly than in other areas. And this does need to be considered.
I do think this student’s best bet is to go for ASU or another AZ school. If the student can get merit aid AND stack with need based aid…it’s possible that costs could be met…with the student having a full time job in the summers, and about 40 hours a month during the school year.
Her dad has made no income since June of 2016 (after ten years as a VP and 200K so there is an earning history)SHe models part time now but she is having success and pretty strong demand (earned about 8k last six months --which is only 4K after agency fees, taxes etc ), She has had offers to go to Tokyo, Milan etc. where it would be full-time 8 week commitments and they can make 20-50K in just a summer. Models do age out at about 25 but I would hate to see her put college off and it is not a great full time job for a young girl though-- so I hoped to find a school nearby that she can do it part time. She is interested in health field possibly Physician Assistant or engineering. She is a math/science girl. She is still exploring through shadowing. I am thinking about asking Dad to sign custody over–would that help in any way? I talked to him for the first time in months today and told him she is in trouble with college. He did seem concerned and may cooperate. I appreciate the honesty on UC and NYU etc–we don’t have time or energy to spend where it is not reality. Thank you all very much I am learning so much from you.
She could apply and get a spot and take a gap year, if she is able to leverage financial security from such an adventure, then why not? She can go to college later if she truly is successful vs being one of the many starry eyed or plain exploited.
So dad has no income, how does he live?
You have custody if she lives with you the most. FAFSA doesn’t care about legal custody, just physical.
If she picks a FAFSA only school (and she really should as I don’t think you are going to get enough aid if her father’s income is added from 2016) and you made under $20k, you’ll qualify for simplified or auto zero assets. Her income won’t be included. She’ll get ~5900 in a Pell grant, most schools will grant her a little extra in SEOG (maybe $1000), she’ll have a $5500 student loan (and if you have a recent bankruptcy, will qualify for an additional $4000), and she’ll have anything the school gives in merit or need based aid. At ASU or AU, she’ll do just fine.
Even if she went to school in LA or NYC, she wouldn’t have time to do day long shoots or work on a model’s schedule. School doesn’t stop and unlike high school, you can’t make up the work.
What do,you mean have him sign custody over? For financial aid purposes…this will do NOTHING at all. NOTHING?
- Your daughter resides with you...and you are separated from her father. On the FAFSA, you will put ONLy your income and your assets...nothing from the father unless you receive spousal or child support.
If your income is really under $25,000 a year, I would suggest you apply for free/reduced lunch. If your income is really THAT low…AND you qualify for this means tested benefit, your FAFSA EFC will be $0 AND your daughter’s income will not be taken into consideration for FAFSA purposes. For 2018-19, the income from 2016 will be used.
- If your child applies to ANY school which requires the Profile and the non-custodial parent profile, YOU will complete the Profile and the father will be REQUIRED to complete the non-custodial parent Profile. There is NO auto $0 for the Profile schools. For 2018-2019, the income from 2016 will be used.
Once your student is accepted, you could ask for a special circumstances consideration…it would be because of loss of income…but there is NO guarantee the school will consider this…or significantly change need based aid.
- I do hope she will retake the ACT. Did she take the SAT? A higher score will give her better options in terms of acceptances...and possible higher merit aid...which could be helpful to you.
- Imhesitate to ask this...but how is her father paying HIS bills if he isn't working and has no income or assets?
<<<am thinking about asking Dad to sign custody over–would that help in any way<<<
No, that won’t help.
She scored a 1400 on SAT. Dad has not paid any of his bills in a year and I still pay his phone and insurance to make sure that he doesn’t crash and I get sued and that the kids can contact him…and no money to us. His siblings help him as he has convinced them he is a victim. My mom helps my kids with clothes and food. She is ill though so this is not long term situation. At lease we are safe here in my childhood bedroom. ugh He was a pretty good guy that just freaked out after three loved ones passed and a job loss… And there must be hidden addiction or mental illness (seems manic with all the spending and grandiosity?) I will be declaring bankruptcy next year— is that true she will be eligible for 4K more in loans @2inanddone? That’s encouraging. How do gap years work?