<p>After seeing my first semester grades my parents have decided that if I want to continue college I'll have to pay for tuition by myself.</p>
<p>Currently I get around $17,000 in aid from my college, and this year my parents paid $6403/semester for everything. </p>
<p>However, my sister is heading for law school this fall and she is taking care of all the expenses by taking out loans herself- and my college is sort of notorious for giving significantly less aid when you no longer have another sibling in college.</p>
<p>Is it worth it to tell the finaid office that I'm going to be paying for tuition, or do they not care who's paying?</p>
<p>All colleges give significantly less aid when you no longer have a sibling in college. The EFC is divied between the siblings - when you no longer have a sibling in college the EFC is divided by 1 - you.</p>
<p>You can talk to the financial aid office. It will probably not make a difference as your EFC is based on your parent’s income and assets regarsless of whether they are willing to pay.</p>
<p>You would be better off talking to your parents and working out a plan with them for what you have to do in order for them to continue helping to pay.</p>
<p>Can anyone estimate how much more a student generally has to pay when their sibling no longer goes to college? </p>
<p>My parents are not willing to help out in any way, I have already tried that approach. They pretty much told me if I can’t cover the costs I will have to put my education on hold and work so I can pay my way through. Although I will start applying to scholarships and work when I can etc. I’d rather not take any semesters/years.</p>
<p>Do you know that your college doesnt consider law school the same as being in college? It is interesting that your sister is covering the loans, but I dont know how that will come into play. </p>
<p>"After seeing my first semester grades " – as a mom, – can you ask your parents to be on probation for one semester and work on your grades? Why arent you getting better grades? Partying?</p>
<p>I read on CC that most colleges consider grad school students as independent, and sometimes colleges reconsidered aid if they found out the grad student was still a dependent. However since my sister is paying for it herself I don’t think the finaid office will care.</p>
<p>Not to sound spoiled but I didn’t think my first semester grades were terrible. I got a 3.4 overall and I took upper-level courses along with some “weed out” courses, all in all I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped but I think my parents are overreacting. I asked them if they would reconsider even if I (hypothetically) got a 3.8-4.0 but they said no. </p>
<p>However they said if I get into a good grad school they’d take care of the loans I’d take out for undergrad, so I still have hope.</p>
<p>Whatever the reason, the OP needs to get the FAFSA filed, apply for financial aid, and see what the outcome is before deciding anything. If would be very difficult in this day and age to work one’s way through college without wracking up huge amounts of debt. Try to stay in school if possible. Ask your parents exactly what they need to see from you in order for them to contribute to your education. Good luck.</p>