<p>Hi everyone,
First of all, Im a junior in high school and becoming a senior next year. im freaking out about how am i gonna pay for college. My step-dad makes 70k a year and he has large amount of debts(his real daughters education debts, credit cards and etc.) since he has so much debts he'll mostlikely cant help me with college tuition however he counts as family household income cause he married to my mom that is now unemployed. I'm planning to apply for FAFSA but idk if i would be considered.
Do I have any chance to get grant/loan/financial aid or anything ?
When should i apply for FAFSA ? specific time </p>
<p>Im planning to ask my counselor but at my school guidance office never guide anyone :P </p>
<p>My gpa is 4.0 weighted and about 3.7 unweighted, ranked 66/370 at my school, 26 on ACT (first time, i know its bad but im retaking it) Im involved with a tons of EC's.</p>
<p>You will fill out the FAFSA form after January 1 next year. You certainly would be eligible to borrow up to $5500 from the federal government to start.</p>
<p>You should definitely fill out the FAFSA; just based on the little that you posted, you will likely receive aid (the amount depends on too many variables to guess at how much). You/your parents will be able to file the FAFSA after Jan 1, 2012. But for now, you can go to <a href=“http://www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov%5B/url%5D”>www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov</a>. Assuming your financial situation doesn’t change too much from this year to next, it can give you an idea of what your family contribution will look like. You should also start to look at schools that offer merit aid and concentrate on your grades and improving your ACT score.
Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Your stepfather’s income WILL be considered in your EFC so you probably won’t get anything beyond the $5.5K Stafford loans except at very selective schools (think the Ivies and comparable schools).</p>
<p>Ditto Erin’s Dad. Your aid will vary by school. Most schools give very little. Only a few are very generous. The federal loans are all you can be sure of.</p>
<p>That’s why I asked what state you live in. State schools have lower tuition rates, which will be very important.</p>
<p>The problem that this student may face is that he’ll have an EFC that no one in his family can pay. </p>
<p>It won’t help him to get X in aid, if the schools expect his family to pay Y and they can’t pay anything close to Y.</p>
<p>This student needs to have a strategy.</p>
<p>1) Study and retake the SAT…also take the ACT (get a practice book for that, too).</p>
<p>2) Apply to some schools that will give him huge merit for his stats. </p>
<p>3) Apply to local state schools that he can commute to.</p>
<p>4) Apply to some schools that need more males or minorities.</p>
<p>5) Find out from your parents how much they WILL contribute towards your college costs. If the answer is zero or very little, you need to know that NOW.</p>
<p>What minority are you? </p>
<p>Did you take the PSAT? how did you do on that? </p>
<p>Be aware that the OSU scholarship in your post does look at need, so you might get an award, but still be left with an amount that you can’t cover.</p>
<p>I’m Asian
I didnt take PSAT.
My mom said she has some money save up for me around 20K in case. idk if that will last for 4 yrs college. OSU tuition is 9000ish so hopefully i get morrill scholarship thingy.
I wanna major in a pharmaceutical science and hoping to become pharmacist so i hope if i get a loan,grant, scholarship it will pay off later. </p>
<p>i dont know if my step dad has high income and has large debts, will that count as financial need ?</p>
<p>Debts aren’t usually counted as part of need unless they’re medical and you get special permission from the school. I don’t think credit card debt (from non-medical spending) or prior student loans are ever counted for special adjustments.</p>