<p>I am applying to the private college as ED that costs around 60k dollars. My family is not ready to pay that much money but I accidentally said no on the question asking whether I need a financial aid or not.
I unfortunately submitted my application on commonapp and my chance of getting there is 50~70 percent. If I get in, should I inform to the college that I made a mistake and make them consider me as a candidate for the financial-aid needed student? or should I just ask them for a student loan and make 100k dollars of debt (my father and grandfather can pay me 30k per year, but nothing beyond 30k)?
Please do not say that I have to contact loan sharks. I am okay with a student loan, but not loan sharks!</p>
<p>$100k of debt is too much. You can’t borrow that much without a cosigner that will qualify to cosign each year of college. On your own you can only borrow $5500, $6500, $7500, $7500 over your four years. That assumes you’re eligible to file FAFSA. You should inform the college now that you will be applying for financial aid, not later after acceptance.</p>
<p>Thank you for your answer,
However, I marked ‘No’ for the question asking whether I need a financial aid or not. Wouldn’t it be too late for me to inform them that I actually needed one right now?
I only need 15~22k only since my parents can pay 30k and I will borrow 5.5k from the school.</p>
<p>No, it’s not too late to inform them now. You just submitted your application; they haven’t even looked at it yet. If you wait to tell them after you have been accepted (if you get accepted), that will be too late.</p>
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<p>No, you don’t wait until you’re accepted. Call them Monday and tell them about your error.</p>
<p>And, no…you can’t ask the school for a huge loan. They don’t give loans. You can borrow $5,500 from the federal gov’t. If you need more, your parents would have to co-sign with a private lender. </p>
<p>Depending on the school, you may be getting an admissions advantage by saying you don’t need financial aid. You need to be honest and correct that before they make the admissions decision. If you inform them later you need finaid above the loans amounts, they could rescind their decision. They may also deny you aid and then you would be stuck with a commitment to a school you can’t afford.</p>
<p>Thank you for an advice.
Can you double-check whether I qualify for financial aid or not anyway?
My father is currently unemployed since he sold out his business few months ago and is trying to start new business. He had positive income from 2000 to 2011 but it turned minus on 2012 and 2013. However, my parents and grandparents can still pay me 30k as right now per year. This disqualifies me from need-based loan I think.</p>
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<p>The only way to know whether or not you qualify for financial aid is to fill out the forms that the school requires and send them to the school. The school will evaluate your situation and let you know.</p>
<p>Would colleges consider my father unemployed anyway? He does have a lot of money on his banking account but does not currently own a business right now.</p>
<p>Are you an international student? If you are, you won’t be filling out FAFSA. Most likely just PROFILE. PROFILE has a section where you can explain any unusual situation. You can let the school know that your father was unemployed as of whatever date, and is trying to start a new business. The form will ask for assets and that money in his banking account will be listed right there.</p>
<p>Issues for you are the questions asking you what your contributions will be from your parents and your relatives. What you iist there will likely be taken into account if they are MORE than what the actual formula will compute as expected contributions from your parents, and yes, they’ll likely include your relatives’ expected contributions. I suggest you run the NPC for that college to get an idea what you and your family would be expected to pay before any extras are thrown into the equaiton. I would then but slightly below that amount to leave leeway. But this is just my opinion. </p>
<p>Be aware that if you are international, admissions is often determined on a need aware basis, so there are some decisions you have to make. Also at some schools if you get accepted as a freshman saying you have no need, and then apply for aid later, there will be issues and you may not get it. The colleges are aware of that “Trick”. So some balancing might be in order. What some kids do is fill out the FAFSA one way, send it to certain schools and then change it for other schools where maybe they want parental/relative contributions taken into account for a better chance of admissions. </p>