Question about household number

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>When applying for financial aid, I'm not sure whether to write 3 or 5 members. Here's the problem. I live with my parents, sister, and nephew. My sister had the nephew when she was 17 and ever since both has been living with us. She, however, files different income tax forms and has her own job, so I guess she is considered dependent. She has also gone to community college and completed a bachelor degree at a 4 year college. </p>

<p>When I put in info for those finaid calculators, do I write 5 members and include those of my parents' and sisters' income? Or just write 3 members and include my parent's income only? Also, when it asks how many college students are in the family, do I write 1(just me) or 2(including sister)??</p>

<p>Also, can somebody calculate how much aid I'm supposed to get? Also, what is a reliable aid calculator? I've used a few and have gotten different results.
Parent income- father working only, $32,001 before tax
income tax paid- $343, refund $1,624
Bank savings- $2,000
no property, no business, etc. Own a car. </p>

<p>Very confused, please help. Thanks.</p>

<p>I believe those numbers in the family would be based on the number on your parent's tax return.</p>

<p>As to whether your sister is included in the # of college students, it depends on the college level (undergrad vs grad) and whether she is a dependent.</p>

<p>she wouldn't be a dependent if she is married- 24- or has a dependent of her own ( for finaid purposes)
You would include your parents income and yourself- I don't beleive you would include your sister or nephew.
<a href="http://www.finaid.org/educators/irsdependent.phtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.finaid.org/educators/irsdependent.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>She isn't married and has a dependent(my nephew), and we all live in the same household. She received a 4year undergrad degree after community college.</p>

<p>so
there are 5 people in household but only one is working? is this correct?
Then presumably the rest are getting more than half of their support from the head of household
so while for your sister her FAFSA she would be independent
for yours you can state that you are dependent and that there are 5 in household
If she is already done with college- the fact that she completed college is immaterial to your aid.
I asuggest you try this calculator to estimate your EFC
<a href="http://finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://finaid.org/calculators/finaidestimate.phtml&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>no, my sister is working too, but she is currently ill and is taking 2 months off. It is true that she is already done with college. Thanks for the link.</p>

<p>For the calculator, whats the difference bet federal and institutional methodlogy and which should I pick?</p>

<p>federal methodolgy is the FAFSA and is used for public schools
Institutional methodology is for private schools and also includes property
for your circumstances I would chose the FAFSA/federal</p>

<p>Why federal? I'm applying to one public (SUNY-binghampton) as a safety and the rest are all private institutions.</p>

<p>I'm having a similar problem. My grandmother is now in a nursing home, but we're still paying her medical expenses and her address is listed as our house. I have no clue what to put her down as.</p>

<p>beginning- for that situation- it would depend on exactly what percentage your family contributes- but it is certainly something that can be explained in a letter to finaid
agro- I suggested federal because since your family doesn't have property that the FAFSA would be more appropriate and hopefully give you a more accurate #. Private schools use both the PROFILE and FAFSA as well as their own forms- so you actually would be doing both- we haven't found that the numbers vary much in our case
hopefully your school will be hosting finaid seminars to answer your questions more accurately- sometimes local free seminars are also held at the public library.</p>

<p>THe federal methodology is pretty straight forward and uses the FAFSA, so yes you would be doing the federal methodology in to calculate your EFC at your SUNY School , pretty much any other public university or any school that only asks for the FAFSA.</p>

<p>Regarding the privates the institutional methodolgy the EFC can vary greatly. A school that uses the profile will take into consideration what your parents are paying for your grandmother's care. In addition they take into consideration the amount of equity in your home.</p>

<p>Daughter applied to 7 need blind meet 100% of your demonstrated need schools. Reveived 7 different pacakages with the range as wide as almost 10,000.</p>

<p>I know a few of the colleges I'm applying to are need-blind, but I think Barnard's the only one that meets 100%. Also, where I'm a transfer student, I'll probably have a little less funding available to me at some schools. I definitely need to do more research on that.</p>

<p>Might be a silly question, but I'm new to this: Can you submit the PROFILE to schools that don't request it? It seems to be more comprehensive than FAFSA, so it might give them more information.</p>

<p>Also, do you call financial aid offices to talk about circumstances when you're applying or after you're admitted?</p>

<p>Since you have to pay to send the profile, why would you send it if not requested. Schools that are only using the fafsa are probably just using the federal mehtodolgy and the stuff on your profile will make little difference when calculating aid.</p>

<p>All federal financial aid administered by Barnard College is based on demonstrated need as determined by the Federal Methodology formula. However, need for institutional aid is determined using a Barnard Need Analysis formula which takes into consideration all sources of income and all assets. </p>

<p>Barnard also no longer meets 100% of demonstrated need.
*Barnard makes every effort to meet the need of as many students as possible with a combination of grant, loan, and employment opportunities. *</p>

<p><a href="http://www.barnard.edu/services/fa(gpolicies).html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.barnard.edu/services/fa(gpolicies).html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>You talk to the FA office about your circumstances after you have been admitted and receive your package.</p>

<p>Barnard does meet full need for all domestic students, but funding for internationals is limited, which is why FA has to phrase it like that.</p>

<p>Everywhere else, the College says things like "the College fully meets the demonstrated need of every promising student who is admitted." And if you look at the common data set and similar sources, every student with financial need (according to the school's calculations, anyway) had it fully met.</p>

<p>I've been told by Barnard's admissions office that even as a transfer, they will meet 100% of my need. All of their available stats seem to indicate this is true for all domestic students. I think primefactor's explanation makes sense.</p>

<p>Question,</p>

<p>In the past, Barnard has always been very specific about their policies concerning FA for domestic and international students. The have always met 100% of demonstrated need for domestic students and had limted aid for international students. (or at least they stated it this way when my D applied and was admitted for class of 08).</p>

<p>Since theoretically, their policy has not changed, why has there been a change in the wording as to how FA is being presented now? Now barnard even states that they only offer 3 need based scholarships for international student which is a change from its past practice.</p>

<p>I understand that the college would continue to meet 100% of demonstrated need for all students current students and to the class of 09 since their policy did state theis. However, if I had a student applying to Barnard today for the class of '10, I would not tell her with any certainty that the college is going to meet 100% of demonstrated need.</p>

<p>The change in wording is probably just to make things clearer. They have an increase in international students pretty much every year, and they're probably sick of being asked how much aid those students are eligible for. I highly doubt they are considering moving away from meeting 100% for domestic students, especially with their endowment -- they're just making things clearer for applicants, which is a good thing.</p>