I’ll spare most of the details, but I was forced to leave my fathers home due to verbal and physical abuse from both him and his girlfriend (A CPS case was opened on him, but there was no substantial evidence of the abuse for him to be charged, even though the social worker knew it was going on) Since my 17th birthday I’ve been on my own since with no support from either of my parents. I was recently accepted to a university where I will be attending this fall as an incoming freshman, and about 3 days ago I received a letter regarding missing information for my financial aid application. One of the requested items is a Special Circumstance Form and Statement. I have a long time family friend, former school counselor and both former and current psychiatrists that I might be able to reach out to in order to provide third party documentation of my home life. With that being said, what are my chances of getting approved? And what all should my statement contain, as far as information and format? Any advice regarding this subject would be very helpful. Thank you
How did you live since you were 17? Who paid your bills? How did you go to school?
Every college will have its own method of determining an override. The more detail you can give, the better your chances.
The former school counselor and a psychiatrist would probably be best for providing the supporting statements (assuming they need two).
You need a dependency override. That is the special circumstance you are requesting.
Contact the college(s) you applied to immediately and ask what you need to provide to them to get this.
But agree with others…how have you been paying your bills and where have you been living since you were 17? The schools will want to know these answers too, most likely.
We cannot guess your chances of approval. These are handled onna case by case basis.
Good luck…but do contact the schools…and get them EVERYTHING they ask for ASAP.
How did you fill out the fafsa? Were you homeless or an unaccompanied minor? If yes, did you inform your school’s McKinney-Vento liaison?