<p>Well, they emailed me Wednesday a week before decisions came out saying I needed to send my ED agreement–apparently my counselor forgot to send his portion of it. They told me to fax it in and then mail the original copy as soon as possible. I faxed it by the 11th and got my email on time, but I didn’t send the snail mail version until the 17th… so I’m guessing they were holding it until that was received and now I’ll get it any day. Presuming they aren’t shut down for Christmas… @_@</p>
<p>Toward: Yes, but was RD not ED so info came out around April 15th and we had to commit by May 1st.</p>
<p>Hey guys I have a BIG problem. My EFC is fine for my bracket (which is a combo of the incomes of my custodial and non-custodial parent), but now my non-custodial parent is refusing to pay anything because he “doesn’t have the money” and my custodial parent cannot pay the EFC alone.</p>
<p>Is there anything I can do? I sent NU’s FinAid office a letter when I first turned in my CSS profile and stuff (because I saw this coming) pretty much saying thatthis would happen. I think that is why my EFC is so low… but it’s STILL not low enough. Do you think I have a chance at appealing? In the meantime I’m trying to find out a way to legally relieve my non-custodial parent of all parental responsibilities…</p>
<p>I really want to go to NU, please offer any advice you have!</p>
<p>@kczprincess,
I’m in the same situation as you [kczprincess] are, only my financial aid application ALREADY explained the situation (that is, my non-custodial parent refuses to pay for anything). </p>
<p>@kczprincess & Toward,
My custodial parent, as explained in the app, earns $30,000-$40,000 a year (I’ve forgotten the number, it’s around $36,000 I think?) while my non-custodial makes $80,000. That said, it looks reasonable that my EFC is $20,000. However, the extra space on the financial aid app allowed my custodial parent to fully explain the situation, and I’m pretty sure she explained it well - my college counselor helped us with it. Even so, my EFC is $20,000 and my custodial parent is telling me I can’t go to NU, which really, really breaks my heart and, I guess you can say, my future.</p>
<p>I’m going to send in a financial aid appeal application in hopes of clarifying my situation. If they do not provide me with more aid, I’m afraid I’ll have to stay in California and attend some other university. :(</p>
<p>@Sam Lee,
Im confused by your question. USC as in University of Southern California? I had/have no interest in that university (if that is what youre speaking about) and thus no nothing about its financial aid.</p>
<p>@SueWoody,
According to my CAESAR account, the Northwestern Scholarship is already included in my financial aid package ($18,808). My financial aid includes ~$34,000 in grants, loans, and work study.</p>
<p>There’s no free rides. NU offers no merit scholarships, which is more ridiculous.</p>
<p>Ugh HungryLearner that sucks! I COMPLETELY understand what you’re going through. At this point, I’m trying to figure out a way that can emancipate myself from my non-custodial parent so that NU will HAVE to use only my custodial parent’s income… </p>
<p>I refuse to let my non-custodial parent ruin my future.</p>
<p>I filed a non-custodial waiver petition and they accepted it and now my noncustodial parent is waived. Northwestern is really very understanding and generous as long as you explain and have documentation to back it up</p>
<p>Just got my FA info, and our EFC is about $10,000 more than we were hoping. My mom is working on an appeal now…</p>
<p>My situation is that my dad is a pastor and my mom runs non-profit organization, so their paychecks both depend on the giving of others. As such, my family also gives generously (you can’t really ask someone for money out of their pocket if you’re not doing the same yourself) and they’re not willing to decrease this giving by more than a couple thousand dollars. I know charitable giving is a “lifestyle choice” and all that, but do you think NU will be understanding and give me even a little slack?</p>
<p>Also, one more question… I have an aunt in Skokie who might let me live with her and commute, though it would a worst-case scenario for me… I really don’t want to do this, but I’d still choose it over going to a state school any day. But my question is, would NU just take that $11,000 for housing out of my NU scholarship? (Would their be a point to my taking this measure?)</p>
<p>HungryLearner,</p>
<p>What I meant was how much usc gave to your sister and asked your family to pay for her.</p>
<p>^^ University of California is not the same thing as USC (University of Southern Cali).</p>
<p>“My situation is that my dad is a pastor and my mom runs non-profit organization, so their paychecks both depend on the giving of others. As such, my family also gives generously (you can’t really ask someone for money out of their pocket if you’re not doing the same yourself) and they’re not willing to decrease this giving by more than a couple thousand dollars. I know charitable giving is a “lifestyle choice” and all that, but do you think NU will be understanding and give me even a little slack?”</p>
<p>Why should NU? In effect, your parents are asking the school to start donating to the places your parents do- they have the money to pay for you, but would prefer to continue donating at a certain level. If NU honored that preference by increasing your scholarship, they’d effectively just be funneling that money directly into the charities.</p>
<p>Yeah, I realize that. The appeal letter tries to justify it as a business expense, which is really pretty reasonable–my dad, the pastor, makes donations equaling about 10% of the church’s net budget, so it’s kind of important…</p>
<p>I’ve already asked them to consider decreasing their giving, but no luck. My only hope is a couple thousand extra in the NU Scholarship, and as many third-party scholarships as I can get my hands on…</p>
<p>Please don’t do the whole guilt trip thing, that’s coming at me from both sides right now.</p>
<p>^^^oops…my bad. i think my eyes were playing tricks on me</p>
<p>“Yeah, I realize that. The appeal letter tries to justify it as a business expense, which is really pretty reasonable–my dad, the pastor, makes donations equaling about 10% of the church’s net budget, so it’s kind of important…”</p>
<p>But that goes directly through the church, not your dad right? I mean whatever your dad makes, is AFTER the charity that the church does. Whatever your dad chooses to donate, seems like his own choice. </p>
<p>"Please don’t do the whole guilt trip thing, that’s coming at me from both sides right now. "</p>
<p>I don’t know what you were expecting, but when you go onto a thread where everyone is struggling to pay at least twice what you are, you’re not gonna get much sympathy, hell you’re probably gonna get a lot of hate. Arbiter makes a good point, if you can afford to give away money, then why can’t you afford to pay for you’re own tuition?</p>
<p>I’m just trying to figure this out, okay? I’m sorry I don’t have as much money as everyone else in this thread.</p>
<p>hey. so not to sidetrack the conversation onto my own financial aid problems, but one quick question. </p>
<p>So because my non custodial parent didn’t submit his CSS profile until this monday (i know it’s terrible!!) I haven’t gotten my package yet. How long do you think it will take them to send me my aid, just because I’m freaking out about whether or not I should go ahead and submit my other apps (just because if the financial aid doesn’t work out, my mother will most likely make me go the school that gives me the most) or if I should let the jan 1 deadline pass by.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Suggestions? Clarity?</p>
<p>@madridiana: Prob as soon as the fin aid office gets it done next year.</p>
<p>DOES any body know if the fin aid package we got includes textbooks, food point (Whatever it’s called), or is that what we have to compensate with our EFC?</p>
<p>sorry if that’s an incredibly dumb question…</p>
<p>That includes all estimated costs of attendance (including an upwards adjustment if you study abroad).</p>