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<p>Then my mom’s house. But couldn’t anyone just say they slept somewhere they didn’t?</p>
<p>Sure, you can say whatever you want. If it’s a lie, and you obtain financial aid based on that lie, then you’ve committed criminal fraud. If you do it to obtain federal funding, then it’s a federal crime. School funding, then it’s a state crime. Not a good way to start your adult life.</p>
<p>It’s true that I live with my mom. My mailing address says I live with my dad, but from what I gather that doesn’t matter?</p>
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<p>How? I mean, what would it be based on if you lived at the college? (Because I guess it couldn’t be based on who you lived with.)</p>
<p>Mailing address does NOT matter - it’s where you slept each night.</p>
<p>How could it change in college? Well, where do you go over Thanksgiving, Christmas, summer vacation? If you spend all the breaks with Parent X, then Parent X becomes your custodial parent. If you NEVER come home again, then it remains the parent who provides the most support.</p>
<p>Another question: what does “room and board” include other than housing? I figured out how to get the net price calculator to not include housing (just because I could, I guess…they’ll probably end up requiring me to live on campus for the first two years) and they still charge a couple thousand dollars for room and board. Are they assuming I’ll have a meal plan or something?</p>
<p>“Room & board” = housing & meal plan</p>
<p>Many colleges include a cost for food and housing for students who live at home…just not the same amount as for those living on campus.</p>
<p>I’m not sure I understand your issue here. Who exactly do you RESIDE with. That is what matters.</p>
<p>You have wandered all over the place on this board. You originally started out with questions regarding a non custodial parent, and how his financials could affect your financial aid. Most schools, the ones that tend to ask for FAFSA only , only ask for custodial parent financial info (plus the student’s info). The custodial parent is defined as the one with whom you spent the most time with. You can nit pick about the definition, but in reality it’s pretty loose if it’s close. It does not have to be the parent whose address you are using, who is declaring you as a dependent or who is paying the most for you, though the last does come into play if it’s a tie, a 50/50 thing. When it’s close, it’s wise to make sure that the parent with the least income/assets is the one you spend more time with. </p>
<p>For those schools that use PROFILE, many do ask for NCP info. There is a list of those that do not, but you should call the school fin aid office directly and ask if that is the case or not, as things do change and some schools do ask later in the process, just do not do so through the PROFILE form. </p>
<p>As for NPCs, as well as the FAFSA EFC estimators, keep in mind that they are estimators only. They numbers you get there are what the expected contribution from you and your family might be. It doesn’t matter if there is room and board, or what your living situation will be. The number just tells you the LEAST that you and your family can expect to get away paying before getting financial aid. So if you can get permission to live off campus and cut down on what you actually pay, or get a free ride to the school, or pick a school close by which cuts your transportation costs down, or buy books off the internet, or get the cheapest meal plan and the a triple shared room that costs less, good for you. Those costs can be reduced. But the NPC and EFC tell you what you have to pay BEFORE you get aid based on the school’s official Cost of Attendance figures. It’s up to individual schools as to whether they permit freshmen to live off campus or not and the individual situation. </p>
<p>With uncertainites in your picture, it is even more vital that you focus on finding some choices that you know are affordable and that you know will accept you. That is the crux of the college search; to find such schools that also meet as much of what you want in a school. The rest are lottery tickets and dreams. So do put your focus where it is important. That’s where most students end up going to school. Getting a lot of money for going away to a private college is not an easy thing, and unless you apply to a school with set thresh holds as to what aid they give, it’s all a chance process. You might want to look on the thread that lists those schools.</p>