<p>I believe if you DO file a 1040 (regardless of whether you are eligible to file 1040A or EZ) you do not get the auto zere. Someone here will have to verify whether I’m correct or not.</p>
<p>You seem to want it BOTH WAYS…save taxes (file 1040)…get auto $0 (say you are eligible for 1040A). I’m not sure you can do this.</p>
<p>And another thing…my understanding is that many students with auto $0 EFCs are chosen for verification. If this happens to you, you will likely be required to submit your 2010 tax forms to NYU. If you filed a 1040 long form, they are going to question WHY you did this if you were eligible to file a 1040A or EZ.</p>
<p>If your son has $20,000 from an inheritance and you can contribute $50,000, then NYU might indeed think that you don’t have as much “need” as you think you have. You appear to have low income, but substantial assets. All colleges expect parents to pay for college from a mix of current income, past savings, assets, and possibly loans. So yes, if your assets are substantial and if your son has money/inheritance in his name then NYU will expect you to use that money. And that will impact your perceived need.</p>
<p>You have a lot of “ifs” and “maybes” in your equation. I would be leery of counting on the money from an unobligated family member and of your son earning that much money. These might not happen and then where would your son be?</p>
<p>Also, I highly doubt that the NYU degree would be that much more impressive than a SUNY degree for grad school acceptances. Your son would likely be much better off attending a SUNY, making superior grades, and participating in undergrad research opportunities. Commuting from home and working might make it hard to make top grades and he might not have time for research. Plenty of people attend schools that aren’t in the top 100 and attend medical school, dental school, etc.</p>
<p>"the student’s parents filed or were eligible to file a 2010 IRS Form 1040A or 1040EZ,
they filed a 2010 IRS Form 1040 but were not required to do so4</p>
<p>4Applicants who are not required to complete an IRS Form 1040, but do so solely to claim an educational tax credit are considered eligible if they meet all the other requirements for the simplified EFC formulas."</p>
<p>Right now my son’s only other option is Albany. He was deferred at Binghampton and I need to decide for early decision at nyu. The opportunity to really learn in his field is not present at albany, so he will be closing options for his career.</p>
<p>I think your “plan” makes a number of wholly unrealistic assumptions. “Graduates 1.5 years early” - almost nobody completes a bachelor’s degree in five full-time semesters. The course load for that to even remotely be possible, coupled with the expectation of working, is setting your son up for academic disaster. You don’t even know that he’ll be able to take the required courses in that timeframe.</p>
<p>Also, if the “unobligated relative” doesn’t come through, he’ll have to find a transfer home that will accept all his NYU credits and will likely have to spend extra time there - two or three semesters - to earn enough credits at that school to meet residency requirements for a degree. He can’t just go somewhere else for a semester and walk away with a diploma.</p>
<p>NYU is not worth it. There are many cheaper options out there.</p>
<p>I believe this is for the educational tax break for college costs. Your kiddo is NOT yet in college. What “educational tax credit” are you talking about for 2010? That is what matters TODAY.</p>
<p>Does your son really want to do college this way? Commuting, hurrying through, constantly quirking? Why not take a gap year to save some money and apply to a wider group of colleges that meet need next year? College is supposed to be fun!</p>
<p>No, you are not. If you file a 1040 in order to claim certain deductions then for FAFSA purposes you are *not *eligible to file a 1040A. For instance a person may be eligible to file a 1040a but decides to file a 1040 in order to itemize deductions. For FAFSA purposes itemizing deductions means they are ineligible to file a 1040a or ez. Any school your son applies to is going to tell you the same thing. If you file a 1040 to claim capital losses you are not eligible for the auto 0 EFC.</p>
<p>I think your “plan” makes a number of wholly unrealistic assumptions. “Graduates 1.5 years early” - almost nobody completes a bachelor’s degree in five full-time semesters. </p>
<p>He will have a semester done before he enters nyu. Then he just carries the full load straight through including summers. In this scenario he does not work, but if he takes 1/2 load in the summer he works then. If I get a tap grant on top of a pell, I may be able to normalize his schedule a bit more.</p>
<p>As for the 1040, I just calculated the savings for the capital losses. They are 0 at the federal level and about $50 at the state level. I will just file the 1040a.</p>
<p>A full course load of 12+ units in the summer is very difficult. Nor will your son have any time to pursue internship or research opportunities in the field, both of which are key to graduate school applications.</p>
<p>I don’t get the hangup on NYU. It’s not the world’s greatest university, it’s absurdly expensive and it has a reputation for offering terrible financial aid packages. There are literally thousands of other colleges and universities out there to choose from. Psychology isn’t exactly a hard-to-find program.</p>
<p>You’re stretching every single possible boundary and making every possible favorable assumption just to think about financially scraping by. What if just one of those things goes wrong? Your son is left with a bunch of debt and half a degree.</p>
<p>Why not take lower-division courses at a community college for much, MUCH less money, then transfer into NYU as a junior? He won’t lose out on any financial aid because it doesn’t sound like NYU gave him any, he’ll have the same NYU degree and the same graduate school opportunities.</p>
<p>Who is going to pay for the summer courses? Those will not be free and financial aid doesn’t usually cover the full costs for private school tuition for the summer. Your son might get a Pell for summer courses but it will NOT pay the full costs. Remember too, Pell grants are prorated based on full/part time status so IF he qualifies for a summer Pell award and does not go full time, he will not get the full Pell.</p>
<p>Summer school is 4 classes in total each time. That is the same load as the school year. He should get something like 10 weeks off throughout the year. Summer school is cheaper because the classes cost less and he will commute for the summer. It is too unhealthy for him to live at home during the year. He starts with 1 semester in hand from AP & community college classes, & takes 2 summers. That is 3 semesters. Add to 5 more during the year and he finishes in 2.5 years. I used to program spread sheets for a living. The math works and we have a margin of safety.</p>
<p>The web site of the 1040a eligibility was very helpful. Thanks.</p>
<p>Have you checked carefully re the AP credits? My D graduated last year with the full IB diploma and I learned during the process that receiving credit is only half the battle in terms of graduating early. How the credit is allocated by each major (and college!) is equally important. Some places have a nice chart that says if you get X score you will receive Y credits, some even say they will grant credit for PDQ class, but when you get into the details, some majors don’t allow that and some will give you that class credit but it will only bump you up a level, not eliminate the requirement. As you may imagine, we learned this the hard way.</p>
<p>I checked with nyu. He will get credit for bio & calc with an ap of 4-5. If he decides to major in math, he will receive credit against the need for his total number of classes but will need to retake that level for his major.</p>
<p>My kids both had AP credits…they were accepted by the college. They did NOT apply to the major course of study at all. Any course they took an AP exam in that was related to the major was required to be taken AT the college they attended…no transfers, no AP credits.</p>
<p>I agree with some of the other posters, NYU is just not worth this. It seems to me you are juggling a bunch of balls in the air, if one drops, then your whole financial plan will fail. It does not sound like a typical college experience, yes it is about academics, but the students should have some fun, too! </p>
<p>At age of 18-22, those college years experienced should be looked back upon as being the happiest years! Not commuting, working, scrambling, going in the summer, looking for money to pay the next tuition bill, trying to get through school in a record amount of time! You are setting your child up for a real pressure cooker! It sounds very stressful and he could end up dropping out with no degree to show for it.</p>
<p>Steve, who wants to juggle these financial plans and ideas…your son, or you? These plans have too many “ifs” to really make sense for four year planning. </p>
<p>Surely there has to be a college plan that is financially doable and doesn’t have the overall financial “risks” involved with your current plan.</p>
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<p>Yep…this is what happened with my kids too. It didn’t save us a NICKEL because they had to take the courses anyway. They just both ended up with a LOT of extra credits when they graduated.</p>
<p>*Summer school is cheaper because the classes cost less *</p>
<p>??? Where? At NYU? Really???</p>
<p>I agree that summer classes might be cheaper if taken at a SUNY/CUNY or CC…but I’d be surprised if summer classes are cheaper at NYU. But, maybe I’m very wrong.</p>
<p>The unobligated relative will pay before he graduates, or he can stop attending/switch to a cheaper school. The need for their payment will not be until the end, but they will pay before that so we can avoid trouble. I know this may be uncomfortable for him lifestyle wise at certain points, but he knows it and will have to accept it versus his alternative.</p>
<p>???</p>
<p>this sounds odd. It sounds like you’re forcing some relative to cough up some money even though the relative may not be able to afford it. How can you expect/force a relative to contribute to your child’s education? </p>
<p>I also don’t understand what is so unique about your son’s psych major that he can’t do it at a SUNY. Psychology isn’t a rare major…it’s everywhere. And, any odd specialty can be pursued in grad school.</p>
<p>If anything, your son could go to a SUNY for 2 years, knock out the general ed and lower division req’ts and then transfer to NYU for whatever unique psych program it has. That would save you some big bucks.</p>